Grounding problem - Antec Sonata III - Confirmed w/cust support

el_brio

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I originally posted this problem in Graphics ard section but moved here because I think the problem is ground-related.

New system:
8800GT
5000+ BB
Biostar TA770
2 gig kingston 1066 ram
400GIG SATA HD
SATA DVDR

Case:
Antec Sonata III Quiet case w/500W earth power PSU.

Problem:
When I touch the front bezel inset (metal and has the lights, esata, and 2 USB2.0 connectors on it) the screen goes blank and I need to reboot. This only happens sometimes but I am pretty sure it is static-electricity related. I removed all the front bezel plugins from the mobo and the problem still occurs. I think it must be a grounding problem between the front bezel and the case. Any tips or help?

Thanks!


ALSO:
Ran prime 95 10hrs last night successfully.
On reinstall of all front bezel connectors I double checked to make sure polarity matches on all plugs.
Brian
 

smokegfx

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akhilles

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Are you sure the front bezel is conductive? It looks plastic to me. If you mean the front connectors, why would you touch those?

If you suspect a ground issue, remove the mobo & look for a loose screw or an extra standoff. While you're at it, tie up the power cables so that they aren't dangling around.
 
I had a similar problem that was completely resolved by moving my parts to a new case. That's supposed to be a decent case, so you should not need to do anything quite as extreme. A search for unintended contact of wires or pins, or something loose somewhere might turn up the cause.
 

TrentB

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I had a bunch of weird problems like that with a recent build. I have a 1000W PS with 12 drives on a Xeon board. I bought a anti-static pad and attached the groundwire to the ground on my electrical plug and I had no more issues. I know my house has ground to neutral issues and have not been able to fully solve them. So the ground pad corrects my electrical issues in my house.
 

smokegfx

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this is more a workaround, not a solution imho.
he should not be having this problem.
though it is better than nothing i guess.
 

michiganteddybear

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here where I work (repairing pc's), its quite common to cause a reboot or blank screen when a static shock when touching a case. Assuming the ground situation in the home is good, and the power supply is properly grounded to the case and plug, the 0nly solution is to eliminate the static before you touch the case.

 

el_brio

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The thing is, I am pretty sure the mobo is grounded because when I installed it I used ALL of the standoffs and made sure that all of the mobo screws were tight. I have a multi-tester. Does anyone know if I can test the grounding of my case with this? Also, how is the case grounded? Does the housing of the PSU ground the case which grounds the mobo?

Also, that little front panel insert HAS to be metal because when I touch it, the computer resets. Unless it is some sort of secret preassure switch or something, the only explanation is that it is conductive and transmitting a static discharge.
 
My system reset even though the PSU has an additional ground wire that I had screwed to the case. Apparently the grounding did not extend to whatever on the front panel caused the problem. If my gloriously fluffy cat so much as walked within a few inches of the front of the case, the PC blacked out.
 

el_brio

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Yup. Same case here. My cat (being curious of the new case/light) put it's nose up to the panel once and it did this. Maybe I could take apart the case and rig up a ground to case?
 

el_brio

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UPDATE!!!!

Called Antec customer support. They said they are aware of the problem and have no fix for it. They actually told me that the only thing that seems to work at this point is to tape a wire to the front bezel and connect it to a screw in the back of the case. Also said they are working on a harware fix and will send it once once is found.

UGGGG. What a POS case. Back to the store w/ this one. I hope I have the receipt still! Damn shame too. The rest of the case is rock-solid and looks great.
 
I got limited relief in the short-term by taping a piece of aluminum foil across a section in the front of my case. As ugly as it sounds, and reduced but didn't eliminate the problem, but it's a thought.
 

el_brio

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I am gonna tear it open tonight. He said there is a ground strap in the front of the case. I will take it off clean and reattach it. Maybe the paint is insulating it. I will also inspect the back of the front panel insert that is the cluprit. If I can fix it so that it is cosmetically OK I won't bother returning it. It is a good case for the $$ I guess. Man, this time around I have had bnothing but problems upgrading!
 

akhilles

Splendid
Sorry to hear that, but I can't believe Antec would let out a major design flaw and not do a full-scale recall, or at the very least, offers to replace your case with another one of similiar price at their expense. It's the 1st time I've heard of it. My Sonata II doesn't have this issue.
 

el_brio

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If you don't believe it, call their tech support and tell them you have a Sonata III and it resets when you touch the front panel. If they give you a different answer, I'd like to hear what they say!
 

Installing the stand-offs and making sure the screws are tight is not always enough. I've had a few grounding issues over the years and the solutions are (usually) easier than you think.

Regardless of what Antec says about any defects, there are still things you can do to ensure the system is insulated/grounded properly.

Put a cardboard or plastic washer between the mobo and stand-off. Put a washer or one of those noise reducing plastic dampeners between the power supply and the case. And, a grounding strap on the case can never hurt.

Good luck!




 

el_brio

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Read my posts. Antec said there is a problem with the front panel grounding. Mobo to case groung is not the problem.
 

I did read your posts but something obviously needs to be grounded and/or properly insulated. And given that the front panel is attached in one way or another to the power supply and mobo, and given that the leads for the front panel are connected to the mobo, and regardless of what Antec says; it stands to reason that if you take the extra steps to properly ground or insulate the parts in your case, the issue will go away.

Hey, either you take the advice or you don't, I don't care, I'm not the one with the problem. You've got nothing to lose by trying it out.

Whatever...
 

DiscoDuck

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If your house has modern electrical, the ground and neutrals are always connected or bonded in the meter/main. Without this bonding a fault on the ground wont cause the breaker to trip. If you are having a serious static problem, it sounds like you don't have a good ground in the outlet.
 

DiscoDuck

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I would discourage insulating between the power supply and the case. You want to allow current to travel from the case into the psu and into the building's system ground. And unless there are metal parts in the front panel, I doubt there is a static issue. If you touch the grounded slot for usb or Esata then you may complete a circuit but its unlikely elsewhere.
 

el_brio

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Well I disassembled the front of the case and popped the metallic insert off the front. Taped a wire to the BACK side of the panel and snaked the wire through to the ground point for the front panel components. Everything is 100% cosmetically OK. Put everything back together.

Scuffed around and shocked the panel a few times and no resets.

Looks like everything is OK now. This solution (albeit very similar to the tech support solution) works much better because you don't have to have wire taped to the front of your case which would look like crap.

Thanks everyone for the advice.
 

Zorg

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I was reading the thread, and saying to myself that it was a case failure. At any rate it is nice to see a resolution. I do want to chime in and say that I have a very cheap Antec SLK3000B, and I have built 2 systems with 180/182s and Antec makes good cases. Your situation is probably related to the USB, or other headers that you have plugged in. That is easy to verify by unplugging all headers and determining the result. However you did talk about your cat etc. sending static to the machine. It is not acceptable that you should assume that the case / machine should work properly under extreme conditions. High static discharge is one of those conditions. Although you would hope they would. Use the anti-static spray or 20/50, 50/50 Bounce and water, and spray it on the carpet. Don't slip. I assume that Antec screwed the pooch, but I'm sure you will work it out.
 

sdr984

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I have confirmed that Antec is working on this as well. As far as the front panel, it is metalisized plastic. Tested it and it does pass a current. This straight from Antec:

"Comment: 1. We are working on this problem with a high priority, and have already tested multiple proposed fixes. Unfortunately, the problem is turning out to be more difficult than anticipated. The case is currently being tested in a special ESD lab.
2. The metallicized plastic IS grounded. That fact is one of the reasons this problem is proving so difficult to pin down.
3. We cannot refund monies that were not paid to us, but if a customer needs help returning product to a distributor we can usually help arrange that if the distributor is being uncooperative.
4. We actually expect an answer fairly soon, and as soon as we can we will be making it available to customers encountering this problem. We definitely apologize for the inconvenience, but Antec is well known for the quality of its customer service and for the way we stand behind our products."
 

sdr984

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I just recieved a replacement part from Antec that seems to have fixed the static issue. They shipped a piano glossy black plastic insert to replace the metalic plastic font panel insert. Seems to not have the static issue anymore.