Question Static discharge is shutting my two PCs down

[89739876]

I custom built two similar PCs and recently i'm having frequent issues where a static charge on my hand trips something in the computer and shuts it down when I touch anything near the computer. The weird part is that the power to the PC doesn't shut down. All of the fans, LED lights, lights on the motherboard, RAM lights, cooling lights, everything stays on consistently and doesn't even glitch for a millisecond, but my Windows 10 OS completely shuts down and I have to power cycle the PC to reboot it.

One PC is sitting on my home office desk and the several times it did this, I just touched the bluetooth keyboard which has a metal case. The millisecond the keyboard discharges the static on my hand the computer trips as described above.

The second PC is for a golf simulator and is wall mounted. The PC itself is on a metal bracket attached to the wall. Above it is a separate wall mounted monitor with metal keyboard/mouse tray. Both are bluetooth. It happens much more on this PC. The millisecond I touch anything near it, it trips. This includes the metal keyboard tray, the keyboard. I even tried to discharge the static on a metal pipe thats about 2ft away that does have HDMI cables zip tied to it and even discharging on the pipe caused it to trip.

This golf sim PC was just installed last week. Prior to that, I had a different Dell PC there and never had an issue.

The two PC builds are similar, but do have different cases and a few other different components. Both are Windows 10 and the build components are:

PC #1:

• MSI Z590 Pro Motherboard
• Radeon RX 580 graphics card
• Corsair 32gb ram
• Corsair iCUE 220T RGB case
• MSI MAG Series coreliquid cooler
• Corsair TXM series TX750M 750 watt power supply

PC #2:

• MSI AMD Ryzen B450-A PRO motherboard
• Radeon RX 580 GTS graphics card
• Deepcool castle 240ex cooler
• Corsair TXM series TX750M 750 watt power supply
• Aigo Atlantis ATX case

Is it a power supply issue or motherboard? Again, the PC doesn't lose power, it just trips something and the entire OS dies.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

It's not the PSU's issue, it's either your wall outlet lacking a grounding on it or that you're living in a severely static environment. I'd try and look into getting a certified electrician into your crib to verify the first part. The latter part, would need a little more information, as in, where are you located, exactly? as locations/regions where humidity is very low tend to have high static...or you live in a carpeted environment and you wear socks around the house.

 

[89739876]

Both computers are plugged into normal wall outlets with a ground plug. They're also in separate locations. One PC is at my home another is about 15 minutes away in a shop. My home PC is on a wooden desk in a normal carpeted room. The other is in a loft that has porcelain tile flooring. According to the internet the average humidity on an annual basis in my area is 65% and in December its 86%.

I'm not talking extreme static shocks. These are small and infrequent but almost always trip my computer.

The fact that a previous Dell PC had no issues for months while plugged into the same outlet makes me think it has to be something related to my custom built PC.

 

[helper800]

Both computers are plugged into normal wall outlets with a ground plug. They're also in separate locations. One PC is at my home another is about 15 minutes away in a shop. My home PC is on a wooden desk in a normal carpeted room. The other is in a loft that has porcelain tile flooring. According to the internet the average humidity on an annual basis in my area is 65% and in December its 86%.

I'm not talking extreme static shocks. These are small and infrequent but almost always trip my computer.

The fact that a previous Dell PC had no issues for months while plugged into the same outlet makes me think it has to be something related to my custom built PC.

Did you build the computers yourself or did you have them built for you? If you built it yourself, did you make sure that everything to and from the PSU is plugged in firmly? Did you use all the motherboards standoffs when you installed it? Are all the USB ports that are being used by the peripherals that are plugged in clean and free of dust and dirt or lint? Have you tried plugging in the peripherals into different USB ports on the back of the PCs? Did you install the motherboard EMI shield on the case for the motherboard properly? Sometimes when installed the retainer clips on the EMI shield end up bending back into the USB ports and this can cause shorts.

I would have an electrician come and make sure the the outlets are definitely grounded, as Lutfij has suggested. When they come to check it out explain the situation to them and I am sure they may have an idea or two as to what's going on. Most electricians that are high voltage (house circuits) also know low voltage (computers). He can probably check the ground on the motherboard, PSU, and other components with a multimeter as well.

 

[89739876]

Did you build the computers yourself or did you have them built for you? If you built it yourself, did you make sure that everything to and from the PSU is plugged in firmly? Did you use all the motherboards standoffs when you installed it? Are all the USB ports that are being used by the peripherals that are plugged in clean and free of dust and dirt or lint? Have you tried plugging in the peripherals into different USB ports on the back of the PCs? Did you install the motherboard EMI shield on the case for the motherboard properly? Sometimes when installed the retainer clips on the EMI shield end up bending back into the USB ports and this can cause shorts.

I would have an electrician come and make sure the the outlets are definitely grounded, as Lutfij has suggested. When they come to check it out explain the situation to them and I am sure they may have an idea or two as to what's going on. Most electricians that are high voltage (house circuits) also know low voltage (computers). He can probably check the ground on the motherboard, PSU, and other components with a multimeter as well.

I did build these myself. Everything is plugged in firmly, I used all standoffs, USBs are clean. I don't recall having an EMI shield come with the motherboard. So I don't believe it has one. Is this something that is purchased separately from the MB? I attached a photo of my setup.

I have a receptacle tester and have checked both outlets. They are definitely properly grounded.

 

[89739876]

When this happens, since the PC doesn't lose power and everything is still running (fans, LED lights, MB lights, etc) but Windows 10 instantly shuts off and there's no signal to the monitor, does that point toward a specific component like the MB or the hard drive?

 

[helper800]

I did build these myself. Everything is plugged in firmly, I used all standoffs, USBs are clean. I don't recall having an EMI shield come with the motherboard. So I don't believe it has one. Is this something that is purchased separately from the MB? I attached a photo of my setup.

I have a receptacle tester and have checked both outlets. They are definitely properly grounded.

SO the EMI shield should come with the motherboard box. Sometimes its reapplied to the motherboard I/O. I would thoroughly make sure there is no contact between the motherboard I/O and the case as this can cause a short to ground. Also make sure there are no cables that protrude from those ports touching the case where a short could happen (metal on case contact).

When this happens, since the PC doesn't lose power and everything is still running (fans, LED lights, MB lights, etc) but Windows 10 instantly shuts off and there's no signal to the monitor, does that point toward a specific component like the MB or the hard drive?

Are you sure the monitors are not just turning off but the PC itself is running fine just with no display? This could be cause by inadequate quality HDMI or DisplayPort cables. This can also potentially happen if the cables are plugged in but are being torqued at a downward or upward angle.