Corsair Graphite 780T Grounding/Short-Circuiting my PSU

[suedemonkey]

Hello,

After a week of diagnosis, and even purchasing new PSU, Motherboard, and CPU, I found out that my CORSAIR GRAPHITE 780T is shorting my PSU. I have already searched the internet for 2 days and 2 nights to look for a solution but I got nothing.

The following were the steps I took to arrive at the conclusion:

1. OLD MB, OLD PSU, OLD CPU inside CASE = Not turning on.

2. Removed OLD PSU, did the paperclip test and OLD PSU runs.

3. Put OLD PSU back inside case = Not turning on.

4. Bought NEW PSU and put inside Case with OLD MB and OLD CPU = Not turning on.

5. Thinking that I found the problem with a faulty MB and CPU, I went out and bought NEW MB & NEW CPU.

6. NEW MB, NEW PSU, NEW CPU inside CASE = Not turning on.

7. Removed all HD, Fans (except for CPU and MB fans), and GPU while NEW MB, NEW PSU, and NEW CPU is still inside CASE = Not turning on.

8. Removed NEW MB and NEW CPU, attached it to OLD PSU outside of CASE = TURNS ON!

9. Tried OLD PSU, OLD MB, and OLD CPU outside of CASE (I should have done this in the first place!)= TURNS ON!

10. Tried NEW MB and NEW CPU outside of CASE while NEW PSU is inside of CASE = Not turning on.

11. Tried NEW PSU, NEW MB, NEW CPU outside of CASE = TURNS ON!

12. Checked Front Panel for open wires, but none seen.

My Specs are as follows:

CPU : i7 6700
Cooler : Cooler Master V8 GTS
MB : Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1
GPU : Nvidia Geforce GTX 780
RAM : Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 16G (2x8G)
PSU : Seasonic X 850W
OS Drive : SSD Samsung Evo 850 500G
Game Drive : SSD Zotac 240G
Document and Work Drive : 2TB x 3 HDD Western Digital (Blue)

Everything is out of the Case as I am checking for open wires. I have not seen any for the last 6 hours. Any help will be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Are you certain on #10? My guess would normally be that the motherboard wasn't correctly installed on the standoffs, so was touching the case or a standoff somewhere.

 

[suedemonkey]

Are you certain on #10? My guess would normally be that the motherboard wasn't correctly installed on the standoffs, so was touching the case or a standoff somewhere.

Yep, very sure. I should also probably mention that I even tried laying the MB inside the case with the Anti-static plastic in between the MB and all metal parts of the Case. I have also put Electrical tape on all the standoffs, but it still won't boot.

I wanted to try NEW MB and NEW CPU inside CASE while NEW PSU is outside CASE, but I'm a bit scared I might damage the NEW MB, so I'll just wait for any answers here.

Thanks for replying!

 

[Someone Somewhere]

11&10 are the ones confusing me. The only change should be that the PSU is touching the case - nothing else. I can't think of any way that that would stop it starting.

 

[suedemonkey]

11&10 are the ones confusing me. The only change should be that the PSU is touching the case - nothing else. I can't think of any way that that would stop it starting.

You and me both. I could not figure out why having the PSU touching the CASE would cause the issue. I'm real close to buying a new case, but since I just spent a fortune buying the new CPU, PSU, and MB, it might not happen in the near future.

 

[techgeek]

When you had everything out of the case but the PSU, what did you have connected from the case to the motherboard? Power switch, reset switch, USB, front panel audio, etc? If there was a front panel USB port shorted, then it would keep your system from powering up.

 

[suedemonkey]

When you had everything out of the case but the PSU, what did you have connected from the case to the motherboard? Power switch, reset switch, USB, front panel audio, etc? If there was a front panel USB port shorted, then it would keep your system from powering up.

I only had the 24pin MB Connector and the 8pin CPU Connector attached to the MB from the PSU.

 

[techgeek]

Are you using the blade of screwdriver or coin trick to short the Power On pins on the front panel connector header?

 

[suedemonkey]

Are you using the blade of screwdriver or coin trick to short the Power On pins on the front panel connector header?

Yeah, sorry I forgot to mention that, I'm currently rechecking some CASE wiring. I used the flat screwdriver to short the Power On pins on the panel connector header.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Is the case electrically connected to anything other than the PSU (only via mounting screws)? Disconnect all the front panel stuff, put the case on a non-conductive surface (could be a building wiring fault or something and the case is touching a grounded pipe).

If that doesn't work, it's freaking magic. Or RF.

 

[techgeek]

Do you have anything in the case that is connected to any power connector? Are you powering any fans directly by the PSU? Do you have a fan controller card powered by the PSU? Anything inside that case that has either a molex or SATA power connector from the PSU going to it?

 

[suedemonkey]

Is the case electrically connected to anything other than the PSU (only via mounting screws)? Disconnect all the front panel stuff, put the case on a non-conductive surface (could be a building wiring fault or something and the case is touching a grounded pipe).

If that doesn't work, it's freaking magic. Or RF.

The case is on top of a wooden workbench, the PSU is screwed to the CASE, when the MB is outside the CASE, I put it on top of the MB box. I'm losing sleep on this strange thing! I have started talking to the case even.

 

[suedemonkey]

Do you have anything in the case that is connected to any power connector? Are you powering any fans directly by the PSU? Do you have a fan controller card powered by the PSU? Anything inside that case that has either a molex or SATA power connector from the PSU going to it?

I have nothing connected to the PSU aside from the MB Power Connector (24pin and 8pin). The CPU Cooler is powered through the MB, same as the small fans that comes with the MB.

Thanks for replying guys! Really appreciate it!

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Do you have the front panel connectors connected? Disconnect them and use a screwdriver.

Or post a picture.

 

[suedemonkey]

Do you have the front panel connectors connected? Disconnect them and use a screwdriver.

Or post a picture.

All the Front Panel Connectors were not connected, I short circuit the Power On pins with a Screwdriver to start the MB. I will try and post pics tomorrow, I have already put the NEW MB away to keep it safe from accident. (currently 1:30AM from where I'm at at the moment).

 

[suedemonkey]

Hey Guys,

My PC is working now, the Corsair distributor here in Singapore replaced my case with a new one and everything is working great. I still can't figure out what happened, even my guy from the distributor have no idea what's causing the issue.

I promised a photo of the set-up in testing the MB, PSU, and CPU, so here it is:

when it's set up like that, it works. But when I put the PSU inside the old CASE, it won't boot. Hopefully I can find the cause soon so I can prevent it from happening to my new set-up.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[techgeek]

Just a word of caution, you probably shouldn't run the motherboard on an anti-stat bag, they are conductive. That's what makes them anti-stat. They aren't like a straight "short" but they do conduct electricity, so it's best not to tempt it.

 

[suedemonkey]

Thanks! It only stayed for about 10 seconds while taking a picture then I remembered about the bag thing.