Static electricity causing startup issues

[Patrick_182]

Heya,

I've seen plenty of threads about avoiding ESD while building a rig, but nothing on general use.

When I leave the office in the afternoon and leave my PC on, I come back the next morning to find the PC is unable to power on. There is definitely power running through as the GPU light is on.

The only way I can get the PC to start is to unplug everything and wait a few seconds before plugging it all back in.

My local computer store guy said it was static electricity; the office is carpeted so this made sense to me.

So now I'm wondering, how can I isolate the PC from static? Could it be another peripheral causing the static, i.e. monitor? Do I purchase an anti static mat to put it on? Or am I missing something?

Cheers!

 

[Rustycarrot]

Hi Patrick,
I don't want to discourage you from being safe with ESD when working with computers, however it is not as big of a deal as people make it out to be. Simply grounding yourself on the chassis before you touch your PC is almost always enough. Also, if you have all side panels on your PC, your chassis will protect it from static.
Does this issue occur every time you leave the office and come in the next morning? Also, I assume you leave your PC on when you leave for the day?
Assuming you have experienced this more than just once, I would say it is a hardware problem. I would be surprised if static kills your PC every time you leave the office. Unless a janitor comes by and vacuums your PC every night, your computer store guy's theory sounds far fetched.
Because this is at work, do you have a tech guy that can issue new equipment? I would get him/her involved (if you have one) to look into hardware. If you have power problems, the first thing I would look at is a power supply. I would also try turning your PC off when you leave and see if you can power it back up when you arrive in the morning.

Please note, these are my opinions from my experiences and some may disagree. I am curious about what is causing this, so please keep us up to date!
Good luck!

 

[Patrick_182]

Hi Rustycarrot!

Thanks for your response!

From what I've understood from my research ESD is rarely an issue.

I had initially thought it was an issue with the PSU, however the problem persists with other power supplies.

It only became a visible issue when I rebuilt this machine with a new MB because the old one got fried somehow - maybe related?

Unfortunately I'm the closest to an IT department, so I don't have anyone here to bounce ideas off. :c

I would usually switch off the PC at night, but I've been rendering some graphics projects when I leave so I don't have to wait around for it to complete.

The weird thing is, as far fetched as his theory is, we couldn't replicate it at his store!

Cheers

 

[Rustycarrot]

I had initially thought it was an issue with the PSU, however the problem persists with other power supplies.

It only became a visible issue when I rebuilt this machine with a new MB because the old one got fried somehow - maybe related?

This would be your next course of action. The problem started occurring after the motherboard replacement so it is a good bet that the problem has something to do with that.
You could try reseating all components, but if that doesn't help I would look into a new motherboard. I would contact the motherboard manufacturer and see what they think. They will likely have you run some tests as well, but in the end they will hopefully issue you another board!

 

[Patrick_182]

I will be getting back the old motherboard from repair so will switch everything over...

The issue is also occurring if I leave the machine powered off in the evening..!

Very perplexed by this