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PC conducting electicity - ideas?

zooecium

Have a work PC that had not been used for about 2 months. Turned it on got message that hard drive was not found. Opened up PC to check that nothing had become loose or dusty. Replugged in power supply and found that the back of the tower was conductive (PC powered off). unplugged power supply and there was no conductivity. Checked the power strip and all was ok. Replaced the power supply cord PC returned to conductive.

Anyone have any ideas?

svidgen

zooecium;1092867 wrote:
Have a work PC that had not been used for about 2 months. Turned it on got message that hard drive was not found. Opened up PC to check that nothing had become loose or dusty. Replugged in power supply and found that the back of the tower was conductive (PC powered off). unplugged power supply and there was no conductivity. Checked the power strip and all was ok. Replaced the power supply cord PC returned to conductive.

Anyone have any ideas?

I'm not sure what you mean. The metal frame is always conductive. Do you mean it's holding a charge? ... Does it shock you when you touch it while plugged in?

zooecium

I feel a low grade charge running through the case. It is not a static jump. when the power is off the charge is not there. With the power on the charge can be felt on the case. --

Looking around the web has me believing the possibility that I might have a low grade short inside the PSU (wire insulator melt touching metal). I am hoping for another possibility that is actually fixable without replacement.

criterion9

PSUs are super cheap. You can get a cheapo one for around 20-30 at the big box stores to check if the problem is actually the PSU or possibly your grounding points having been shaken loose on the mobo. (That btw could be as easy as tightening the screws on the mobo or as difficult as needing to re-make the mount points on the frame).

zooecium

I will check the grounding points. Thank you.

tirna

sounds like your pc is not properly earthed. If it was, any charge/current 'leaking' to the exterior case should be taken away via the earth connector on your power plug.

If it was me, not being a pc or electrical technician, I would take the pc to a registered repairer.

zooecium

tirna;1092947 wrote:
sounds like your pc is not properly earthed. If it was, any charge/current 'leaking' to the exterior case should be taken away via the earth connector on your power plug.

If it was me, not being a pc or electrical technician, I would take the pc to a registered repairer.

Thank you.

I think the next step must be to disconnect the PSU from everything inside the PC -drives and the mobo- see if I still have current running through the case. If that is the situation then it can only be the PSU. If it is not the situation then I will reconnect things 1 at a time until I find where it is coming from.

Should have done that to start with.... just hoping for a quick/simple fix.

zooecium

Turns out it was the PSU. I had a spare - but as the original was an old Dell (POS) and they tend to have their MoBos made to their own specifications I will have to try slaving the suspect HD (the thing that started all of this) to another PC.

Thanks for all of your thoughts/suggestions