Current flowing thru my case..

[pX]

When I touch any metal on my case i get a little zap and then I can feel current going thru it. Its really wierd. Definitely not static charge. Any idea as if this is really bad? Or how to stop it? I guess my mobo is possible touching a part of the case?


pX

 

[jamarno]

This is potentially very dangerous because electricity is leaking, and you need to stop using the computer right now until it's been repaired. I am serious.

I suspect that your computer is not plugged into a grounded 3-prong outlet because if it were, the leakage would go to ground, and you would not feel anything. But some homes have 3-prong outlets that aren't really grounded, and a 2-wire cord will nullify any ground connection.

Very likely a high voltage component inside the power supply is touching the metal case, but other possibilities are the wiring for the power switch of any AT supply (but not an ATX supply - no high voltage goes through its switch wiring) or a transformer inside the supply. Or the problem may lie in the power supply of one of the other peripherals, including the monitor or monitor. Regardless, your problem must be diagnosed properly, but I would not have faith in the typical computer tech because most aren't very familiar with electricity. A better bet would be a tech who specializes in video monitors or TVs.

You or the tech needs to measure the AC and DC voltages between the chassis and earth ground, but a low voltage reading does not necessarily mean all is well. Readings should be taken with the computer system and all its peripherals hooked up and also with the peripherals disconnected and unplugged.

Very likely you need a new power supply.

 

[RentaCow]

Is your carpet slightly wet or moist or something?

Jamarno pretty much said most of it...

Either your house wiring is messed up (ex: someone wired up the outlet backwards... most people don't realize that with household electricity it IS important which direction things go...), and you are somehow connected to "earth ground" (ex: through a wet carpet) which is wired up backwards and really isn't ground, but your computer case is properly grounded, or... Somehow your household ground is wired up correctly and one of your computer products are wired up wrong such that "ground" is backwards...

I suspect the latter. However, unlike Jamarno, I doubt you need a new computer power supply. I'm confident the problem lies inside your monitor.

The reason I believe this is because I have the exact same problem. Some experimentation discovered that the monitor is the culprit and that after doing some rewiring my house wiring is now correct. If I unplug my computer monitor (not just turn it "off" with the little button on it), all shocks disappear. Since I have verified that my household wiring is NOW correct, it has to be the monitor.