cpu heatsink running current through it

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onecha

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Jun 14, 2017
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Hey, im having a (probable) issue with my cpu heatsink, because its running an electrical current through it. Have been touching it a few times since i smelleled something weird and felt an electrical surge. Any advice of why it should do that? Am using non conductive paste.
 
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The only place electricity is delivered to a heatsink is from the motherboard to the fan.
Perhaps is static electricity :??:
Could you post your system components?


 
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Hey, my components are: i5 7600k, gtx 1070, msi z270 carbon gaming, and the cooler is the lga 1151 cooler master evo. My cat broke a wire on the cooler fan but i isolated it. Although i bought a new hdd a week ago and after i installed it the problem came up (yesterday). Dont know what to make of it, everything is connected the way its supoosed to be.
 
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But as i said i isolated the wires, and the problem came up again. So it cant be that. And have been getting it again, at random times, i feel a surge of electricity from the heatpipes that come out of the sink, completely random, dont have it for an hour and then it comes again. Is it even safe to run my pc like this?
 
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How did you isolate the wires?
Unplug the fan wire from the motherboard and see if you still have the current on the heatsink.
You might need to configure the BIOS or press a key to continue without a fan.
Temperatures will be a little higher but don't run any apps.

You have to understand that I have been building and repairing devices for 22 years and I have never seen those to episodes together.
I have seen chewed keyboard, mouse, USB cables, network cables, power cables, printer cables, etc.. and also current thru components because motherboards were installed without stand off or cheap PSU, or chewed power cables.
 
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I isolated them with regular tape, each individually so there is no way they could be touching and creating a short. Just took everything apart, checked the connections and applied new paste to the cpu. Been running it for half an hour now and havent felt anything this far. But it could just happen randomly like it has been happening. That's the weird part tho, that its not a steady current running through the board but it just kinda spikes out of nowhere. What else could be causing something like that?
Thanks for the help so far!

Update: it seems to be related to the load im running on the cpu, because it happens mostly if im running a game.
 
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Does it happens when you touch the heatsink or you have a multimeter to measure the current?

If only happens when you touch the heatsink, then that is static electricity. Be careful, since static electricity could damage PC components.
Try touching metal or ground yourself before touching the heatsink and see if it happens.

 
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The first time i felt it, i was touching it by hand but it wasnt static, it wasnt just a zap it was a steady flow of electrical current. The second time it was more of a zap if i put my finger between the heatpipes. But i took it all apart today and checked the connections and everything and am runnin a stress test atm to see what changes under load, but so far there is no current to be felt by hand. Have had prime95 on for half an hour now atleast. So whatever the problem was it seems to be fixed right now. But im still kinda worried that something might burn sooner or later because i dont know the exact cause of why there was electricity flowing into the heatsink in the first place. It first happened after a day after i installed a second hdd, so i might have twisted a connection or something? If that could cause something like that?

Ill keep the thread updated, shall the problem return.
Thanks for the replys!
 
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Just make sure the motherboard does not make direct contact with the case. Standoffs should always be used between the motherboard and the PC case.
 
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Just figured it out, when i put my foot on the pipe under my room radiator and touch it i get shocked, like theres a stable current in it, but if i take my foot off of the metal pipe, i dont. What does that mean?

Update, only when i touch the metal pipe under the radiator i get a current flowing through me. But only that, the table chassy nor the radiator itself dont get me shocked.
Update 2, unpluged the fan plug from the mobo and tried while holding the pipe with my other hand and still, i feel a current. But have been running the pc like this for 2 days almost, and while stresstesting everything was fine aswell, what should i do?
 
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That pipe, or something connected it, is either touching a live wire or there is a ground wire connected to it.
In the past was common practice to ground wires from some devices (water heater, pump, dishwasher, garbage disposal, etc) unto pipes. Now the is prohibited to avoid problems like yours.

A qualified professional (electrician) should be contacted to diagnose and fix the issue, immediately.
 
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Meaning the pc is fine but the pipe is transferring the electricity? If i were to grab another ground and touch it i would get shocked too right? Cause the heatsink cant be transferring a positive charge of electricity?
 
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If it was, that PC wouldn't be working properly.
If I were you, I would not be touching that pipe :no:
 
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