PSU static issue

Aug 7, 2014
29
0
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Hi

I am currently building my pc. I have used my PSU to test a few components.
I used it outside the case last night, connected a few fans to test the fans. And because I on and off the PSU, i get a small static or electric shock from the PSU. This happens when i touch a metal part of the PSU, not the plastic switch itself.

Tonight i run the pump for water cooling to circulate the water, this time i touch the screw connected to the pump and i get the same electric shock or static what ever you call it. My wife who is helping me touched the case on a separate occasion and got a small shock/static too.

The PSU is a super flower 1200W platinum. Can i ask how and why this shock happens. Is it dangerous and will it damage my components and how do you get rid of this from happening
?

TY and cheers
PS: sometimes on some other electrical appliances you may get the same thing.
 
Solution
If it is really just "static" then that would be your body accumulating a charge from walking on synthetic surfaces in dry weather.

If you mean more like a tingle from an AC current, that would probably be a bad outlet/building ground. Your equipment is likely safe but bad ground is a potential electrocution hazard for you. The shocks you are getting are simply leakage current from the power supply's surge suppression and noise filtering circuitry which has nowhere to go due to missing/broken/bad power ground. If a primary-side fault occurs though, you may end up with full line voltage on that case and no current limit.

In other words: probably a job for an electrician unless you know how to check building wiring. With a good ground...

makkem

Distinguished
Hi
If that is static then you are grounding it by touching the PSU,if you are generating that amount of static then you need to be very careful when handling PC parts as some of them are very sensitive to static shocks and it will damage them.
You probably need to get an anti static wrist strap and use it when handling components.
The other possibility is that you have a high resistance to ground problem and have an appliance in the house which is leaking voltage to ground this will give a voltage in the ground line which could manifest itself in small shocks.
How to tell ?
If it is static then once you have had the shock then it will not happen again for quite a while,if it is a ground fault then you will get a shock whenever you touch the PSU.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
If it is really just "static" then that would be your body accumulating a charge from walking on synthetic surfaces in dry weather.

If you mean more like a tingle from an AC current, that would probably be a bad outlet/building ground. Your equipment is likely safe but bad ground is a potential electrocution hazard for you. The shocks you are getting are simply leakage current from the power supply's surge suppression and noise filtering circuitry which has nowhere to go due to missing/broken/bad power ground. If a primary-side fault occurs though, you may end up with full line voltage on that case and no current limit.

In other words: probably a job for an electrician unless you know how to check building wiring. With a good ground connection, the only shocks you should be getting is static buildup
 
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Solution
Aug 7, 2014
29
0
4,540
Hi Both, many thanks for getting back to me. I correction to my initial message,

Tonight i run the pump for water cooling to circulate the water, this time i touch the screw connected to the psu (instead of pump) and i get the same electric shock or static what ever you call it. My wife who is helping me touched the case on a separate occasion and got a small shock/static too.

Ok now i know for sure its not called static. Static seldom happen here in my country. Its humid but hot here. I know for sure that the shock comes from the PSU. And only if i touch the psu. And it is not a touch once, get a little shock and thats it.

And it appears to depend on each time i turn the psu on. So for example, if i turn it on this time, and touch the psu and it does NOT give me a shock. Then you can consider this time to be safe. So each time i touch the psu, there will be no shock. Then at another time when i turn it on, if it gives a shock when i touch the Psu part, it will also give the shock everytime i touch the psu until i turn it off. Touching my case during this shock cycle will not give a shock.
So makkem, this shows it is not static. Thanks for clarifying this.

And invalid error, I will try to get a electrician to have a look.

thanks
Jus
 
Aug 7, 2014
29
0
4,540
After speaking to an electrician, he asked me to connect the green wire to my case. I was like what????
then it all made sense. I think by connecting the 24 pin then to my mobo, it means i am earthing it too I guess.

I did the testing by bridging the 24 pin. So it has no earth and hence these little shocks. Now that i have hooked up to the mobo,
the problem is gone.

thanks both for pointing me in the right direction.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
The green wire on the ATX connector is for PS_ON and has nothing to do with grounding. The green wire the electrician was most likely referring to is an extra earth-bonding wire but PCs do not have that because they are expected to get grounded by their PSU's 3-pin IEC plug. The IEC plug ground is bonded to the PSU's case and usually to the output ground as well, the PSU is screwed to the case, components are screwed to the case and may get additional grounding through ground wires.

In principle, anything connected to anything else that is connected to the PSU which is connected to building ground through the IEC plug and cable should be grounded unless there are broken grounds somewhere.