Static electricity problem with computer-in-desk build

[sedativechunk]

Hey everyone,
Over winter break, I decided to build a customer computer desk out of pinewood. My computer is actually inside of the desk; similar to those nice ones you see on Google, the desk houses my motherboard, GPU, PSU, etc. so that I no longer need a tower. It's covered overtop with plexiglass and LED lighting so you can see all the components. I would post pics but not sure if I can post images on here. It took me several weeks to build and is really nice with stained wood and everything.

Anyway, one problem I've been having since I built this thing; static electricity! Sometimes when I get up out of my chair, I hear and feel static electricity come off of me. And sometimes, it (troublingly) messes up my computer. I will either freeze or reboot. And sometimes when it happens, it even resets my BIOS!

This problem is obviously not good, with an expensive i7 skylake and a GTX 1080, I don't want to damage my hardware. But what can I do about this static electricity??? The surge protector where the computer is plugged into is plugged into grounded GFCI outlet (in fact, I ran the wiring myself and installed the outlet, I have strong knowledge of house wiring). Other than that; I don't know what else to do about the computer itself. If it's maybe the metal IO plate making contact with something. I want to mention; the motherboard is mounted to the back side of an old NZXT case I cut out, so I would have a perfect mount/template to put a motherboard on. Maybe the metal backing is causing the issue, making contact somewhere, or it's close enough that static discharges from it?...

I'm just baffled how and why this is happening when the computer is enclosed in this desk. And there's no metal on the outside. It's all lumber, stained pinewood. But somehow static is coming on (or off of me) when I get up, and making the system crash. What do you guys do to deal with static electricity?

 

[toms_hard_where]

I've not got an answer for you, but it would be great if you could post some pics (photo sharing site links perhaps?) as I'm planning a similar desk build myself.

 

[g-unit1111]

Are you building the motherboard directly into the desk? If so you would definitely need some kind of metal conduit or backplate to offset the static electricity, otherwise that's going to happen every time. You can't just build a motherboard on top of a piece of wood without some kind of metal grounding to back it and expect that it's going to work every time. When you're working with electrostatic sensitive equipment you always need to keep your products free of static electricity especially with whatever kind of case you plan to be building into.

 

[sedativechunk]

I've not got an answer for you, but it would be great if you could post some pics (photo sharing site links perhaps?) as I'm planning a similar desk build myself.

I made a small album on Instagram here if I'm allowed to post links: https://www.instagram.com/p/BeCfxJCH8WJ/?taken-by=edwardtboot

So I made a split desk design; I wanted something to also hide a bunch of audio equipment, so the right side of the desk houses my mixing board and a drum machine. The left is dedicated to all the PC components. I built a compartment in the middle for hiding cables/wires.

As far as the mounting, like I said and as in the photos, I used the backing from on old NZXT phantom case. That way I wouldn't have to worry about drilling perfect holes for a motherboard or anything. I also knew mounting to wood might not be the best idea.

Anyway, yeah, I'm still pretty clueless as to the static electricity problem.

 

[sedativechunk]

Hello all,
I wanted to post an update on here to help others potentially. Yesterday I took my computer desk apart. I removed the metal NXZT phantom plate back casing I used to mount the motherboard on; I wasn't crazy about aesthetically, and more importantly, I think it may have been part of the problem of the computer rebooting and the static electricity building up. The motherboard wasn't mounted well, and the metal casing with it's uneven surface didn't screw down all that nice/even into the wooden case.

I think it may have been making the slightest bit of contact, or maybe close enough where it was causing a charge onto the metal plate. I've seen this problem before with conventional towers/cases in the past (I think a lot of manufacturers should be making larger standoffs to give more space between the mobo and case).

The side portion of the metal case, however, I did keep (the slots/holes for the IO shield and the PCI expansions). I very carefully drilled holes directly into the wood using the motherboard holes as a guide and installed special metal standoffs I got from a mom and pop shop many years ago that are longer than conventional standoffs; it give breathing room between the pinewood and also elevates the motherboard nicely in the position it was close to before.

So far, I haven't had any shutdown/static electricity issues now. I not longer feel it coming off of me when I stand up out of my chair, either.

 

[g-unit1111]

Hello all,
I wanted to post an update on here to help others potentially. Yesterday I took my computer desk apart. I removed the metal NXZT phantom plate back casing I used to mount the motherboard on; I wasn't crazy about aesthetically, and more importantly, I think it may have been part of the problem of the computer rebooting and the static electricity building up. The motherboard wasn't mounted well, and the metal casing with it's uneven surface didn't screw down all that nice/even into the wooden case.

I think it may have been making the slightest bit of contact, or maybe close enough where it was causing a charge onto the metal plate. I've seen this problem before with conventional towers/cases in the past (I think a lot of manufacturers should be making larger standoffs to give more space between the mobo and case).

Yeah that could absolutely happen, you have to guard your PC components against all possible static discharge especially if you're using a custom built case. Working with live equipment in an unsafe environment can potentially lead to disaster.