Question PC case is giving me low voltage shocks ?

[Jacob Hardware Enthusiast]

My PC has been giving me current shocks for like 10 days. (Rainy season going on too) It is a low voltage shock, kindof like a 3 volt. Comes from the case, the HDMI. I opened it up for cleaning today and I think I found the culprit. The 3 RGB fans on my PC are connected by a small ANT Esports thing that has ports for 10 fans, and it is connected to the PSU with a wire.

But the RGB lights on the front of the case and one fan that came with the case, both came with the case, are connected by those round type connectors, old type, those which were used in the Hardrives in older times. So I feel some current when I touch those connectors, Even if the PC is off. There is a little voltage going on there.

And to add to that, the fan isn't working. It is only connected to the power but doesn't run anymore. I did not realise it until now, because this fan is placed infront of the case and is not visible unless you really want to. It worked before though.

So this PC has been around for like 3 years, I made it myself. Case is ANT esports ICE model, closed from front and having RGB lights at the front. PSU is high quality Cooler Master 450 watt 90+ certified bronze rating.

CPU: Core i5-3470
GPU: GT 1030
RAM: 12GB

 

[Aeacus]

PSU is high quality Cooler Master 450 watt 90+ certified bronze rating.

Exact model (or part number) of the PSU is? Also, how old it is and was it bought new or used/refurbished?

Btw, there is no such thing as 90+. If it is listed as 90+ on there (which i doubt, knowing Cooler Master), then what you have, is a scam and crap quality unit.

What i have, is high quality. Namely Seasonic PRIME 650 80+ Titanium (part number: SSR-650TD). What you have - is not.

 

[bill001g]

Generally you can not feel very low voltages unless there is a lot of current. You can take a 9 volt battery and put your finger across both terminals and feel nothing. Maybe if your finger was wet.

If you do not have one buy a very cheap voltage/ohm meter. You do not really care about accuracy for this application you just care if any voltage exists where there should be none.

Although it could be a wire going to a fan I can't see how the fan itself could be the issue they are all plastic.

This almost seems like a grounding issue on the power supply or maybe the outlet it is plugged into. Lets say you did something crazy and directly connected a fan wire to the case. The power in theory at least should flow though the metal case to case of the power supply since it is all metal screws and metal contacts. The power supply should then dump the power into the ground.

This might damage something on the motherboard or power supply but that is the reason the ground exists on power outlet to protect the people and sacrifice equipment.

What I would start with is some simple resistance/conductivity tests. With the machine off and unplugged test some basic stuff. Find a area on the case that is not painted and test that there is a connection to the outside of the power supply and then test that the power supply case also is connected to the ground pin on the power plug.

The only way you would feel power when you touch something is the voltage is for some reason thinking that going into your body is a better path to ground than some other path inside the machine.

Also generally you have to be touching 2 things. One of say your hands would need to be on some better path to ground. In the case of a bad ground wire in the outlet it could be a table or the floor.
I would take the voltage meter and try to see where you detect voltages between. Obviously you do not want to test to anything inside the computer unless you know what you are doing.