# Static Shock through power button = dead pc?



## AlabamaMan (Dec 29, 2012)

Greetings everyone,

Let me preface this by saying that I live in an almost eternally humid part of the southern US, as such I rarely deal with humidity levels conducive to large static discharges, and they are something I almost never think of unless it’s to ground myself when getting gas.

Yesterday morning I went to turn on my pc to perform a few routine tasks; unfortunately I had been out and about all morning and hadn’t yet kicked off my shoes. When I hit the power button on my PC I gave it quite an electrostatic shock. My case & CPU fans came on, as well as case lights, my monitor did not come out of sleep and no post / bios came up, and about 3-4 seconds after my fans came on everything shut off. 

I then tried to turn the computer on again but got nothing out of hitting the power button, if I turned off my power supply, waited a few seconds then turned it back on I would get the same result as when I first shocked the pc, fans and case lights but no post / bios, followed by shutting off 3-4 seconds later.

Today I had time to open my case and try to pin down what exactly what failed. I was hoping for something simple like the power button itself or maybe the wires running to the motherboard. I unplugged said wires from the motherboard and completed the circuit on the pins with a screwdriver. No dice there, I left the button unplugged and turned off my power supply, my motherboard has a light indicating power status so I waited for that to go off then turned my power supply back on, same results as yesterday, fans and case lights but only for 3-4 seconds before it cuts off. I tried leaving the power supply on to see what happened, and the light on my motherboard indicated steady flow of power but the only way I could even get it to do the bit with the fans was to turn off the power supply for a few seconds till said light went off then turning the power supply back on.

The conclusion that I have drawn here is that my motherboard was damaged by the shock and my current PC is more or less sunk. I’m looking for some advice or input as to what else could be causing me this problem and shots in the dark as to if a shock like this could kill off other components of my PC, processor / RAM, etcetera.

I’m fortunate in the fact that I have friends in IT with the tools and knowledge that should let me act on any hunches that you guys throw my way.

Thanks in advance for reading through my issue and any advice given.

My build is roughly as follows:
Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Pro v 3.1 
Processor, can’t remember the model but it’s an i7
Ram, I want to say 16 GB of ddr3, I don’t recall the manufacturer.
GPU: EVGA 560ti
PSU: This is the oldest thing in my PC by like 2 years, I know it’s 750w and not modular, so it’s a tad older.
Throw in a HDD or two and that’s pretty much it, I can update these specs with specifics tomorrow when I swing by the house if that will aid anyone in forming advice.


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## jaythorpe522 (Sep 7, 2010)

Do a bench test: http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f255/how-to-bench-test-troubleshoot-your-system-171424.html

If the same thing happens, try a different stick of RAM.

If the same thing happens, borrow a known-good PSU and do a bench test.

Hopefully, a component was damaged and not the MB.

I made lightning in my apartment a few winters back -- pulled headphones from outboard processor, went to plug them into back of computer. Dunno what I was thinking -- horribly dry air, rolling around the chair on the carpet, shuffling feet on the carpet... ZING, massive shock of light from hphone plug about 3 inches away from the chassis. Felt like my brain was sizzled through my ears...

Anyway, had the same problem (refusal to start more than fans for a couple seconds). ONE pin on ONE RAM stick was burnt to a crisp. Might not be so lucky for you -- my computer was on at the time... Still, can't hurt to test components before junking MBoard.

jw


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## AlabamaMan (Dec 29, 2012)

Here's an update.

Thank you jaythorpe522 for your input and advice.
I performed the bench test and I'm sad to say that I didn't have any luck; I tried each RAM stick in turn but got the same result each time.

I don't have a good old PSU and I probably won’t be able to borrow one till next weekend.

Now that I've got my tower gutted is there anything else I could try in the meantime, like breaking down and buying a PSU from a retail store to see if that works?

Specs: 
Motherboard: Asus P8P 67 Pro v 3.1
Processor: i7
Ram: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3
GPU: EVGA 560ti
PSU: Ultra 750 watt atx power supply


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## AlabamaMan (Dec 29, 2012)

Hey guys,

Here’s another possible explanation for my problem.

I’ve noticed over the past month or so that when I bring my computer out of sleep mode my top case fan will rev up to where it’s at almost max speed and quite noisy.

I also usually put my computer into sleep mode instead of shutting it down, last Friday was the first time in quite a while that my computer had actually been shut down for more than 24 hours.

It is possible that the shock wasn’t so huge and my PSU just croaked on me when I turned it on.

I did a bench test, but I didn’t even get to use a screwdriver on the power button pins on my motherboard, because as soon as I switched the PSU on, my CPU and GPU fans would come on then everything would shut down in a few seconds with no post.

All of this in addition to the fact that my PSU was the oldest thing in my build by 2-3 years seems to suggest that my issue lies there.

Unfortunately I don’t have access to a good used PSU so I picked up a Corsair Enthusiast Series 850-Watt from Amazon which should arrive Wednesday for me to try out. (Amazon.com: Corsair Enthusiast Series 850-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i3, i5, i7 and platforms - TX850: Computers & Accessories)

I’ll update here once I have that and have tried another bench test, but how plausible is this conclusion to you guys, instead of the static discharge through the power button frying something theory?

Thanks for your time and input.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Ultra PSU's are low quality so hopefully the new Corsair will resolve the issue. 850W is overkill for a 560ti but it won't hurt and the Corsair is "OK"
for quality.

When doing a bench test and no joy, refer to the last paragraph.

Remove EVERYTHING from the case.
Set the motherboard on a non conductive surface. The motherboard box is perfect for this. DO NOT PLACE THE MOTHERBOARD ON THE STATIC BAG! It can actually conduct electricity! 
Install the CPU and heat sink. 
Install 1 stick of RAM.
Install the video card and attach the power supply connection(s) to the card if your card needs it.
Connect the monitor to the video card.
Connect the power supply to the motherboard with both the 24pin main ATX Power connection and the separate 4 pin (Dual Core CPU) or 8 pin (Quad Core CPU) power connection.
Connect power to the power supply.
Do NOT connect ANYTHING else. Make sure you have the power connector on the CPU fan connected.
Use a small screwdriver to momentarily short the power switch connector on the motherboard. Consult your motherboard manual to find which two pins connect to your case's power switch. Then touch both pins with a screwdriver to complete the circuit and boot the system.

If all is well, it should power up and you should get a display. Then assemble the parts into the case and try again. If the system now fails to boot, you have a short in the case and need to recheck your motherboard standoffs.

If the system does not boot after this process, then you most likely have a faulty component. You'll need to swap parts, start with the power supply, until you determine what is defective.


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## AlabamaMan (Dec 29, 2012)

Hey guys, minor update.

Thanks Tyree for your input on PSUs, I had the PSU from my cheap AMD build a few years back.

I hate to say it but I got the exact same result as with my old PSU.

I performed bench test with just the motherboard + CPU, GPU & one stick of RAM.

The moment I turned on the PSU, my GPU & CPU fans would start then everything would shut down a few seconds later.

Completing the circuit for my power button did nothing, the only way to get anything was if I turned off the power supply and waited for the “Idle power” light on my mobo to go off, (which at least took far longer than with my old PSU) then turn the PSU back on and get the same result.

Asus seems to honor a 3 year warranty with my Mobo model, I’ve had to RMA a friends’ mobo before and that was a good 3-4 week process.

Do you guys have any advice on an alternative route or is that my best course of action at this time?

Thanks again for your help and advice.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Quick Mobo check- remove all RAM, power on, listen for beep codes from the Mobo speaker. No RAM and no beeps indicates a Mobo problem.

NOTE: A Mobo speaker is required.



Tyree said:


> When doing a bench test and no joy, refer to the last paragraph.
> 
> 
> If the system does not boot after this process, then you most likely have a faulty component. You'll need to swap parts, start with the power supply, until you determine what is defective.


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## AlabamaMan (Dec 29, 2012)

Sorry for not updating this, been dealing with the flu.

Thanks for your input Tyree, unfortunately I couldn’t find the mic that came with my motherboard and I didn’t have an old one lying around, so I couldn’t test the no RAM boot.

I ended up filling out a RMA with Asus and shipped off the motherboard last weekend, given their (supposed) 10 business day turn around I’ll ideally know if the issue was indeed my mobo by the 23rd of this month.

One facet of my issue is that my system would never try to reboot after shutting off while I was doing the bench test, it would just shut down and sit unless I completely removed it from power.

I talked this through with a friend that knows far more about hardware issues than I do and he figured that above fact (system never trying to boot after initial failure) suggested a motherboard problem more so than a RAM/CPU one since I cut everything else out doing a bench test with a new PSU.

I’m definitely out of my depth with this problem, does that conclusion seem sound to you guys?

I’ll update once I hear something back on the RMA.

Thanks again for the aid in working through this problem.


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## AlabamaMan (Dec 29, 2012)

Here’s an update guys.
I RMA’d my motherboard to Asus and they claim that it was a software issue and updated the firmware on the board.

I received the board back from them this morning and will have time this afternoon-evening to try to get my pc together and working again.

I have a friend that claims if they just updated the firmware I won’t have to reinstall my OS or anything, it should be fine plugging back together like it was.

Should I start with a bench test with just the mobo/cpu/gpu/1_stick-o-ram to see if that works before I put it in my case and connect all my HDD shenanigans?

Thanks for any input and I’ll update once I’ve done some more.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I would suggest testing on the bench and replacing the Ultra PSU with a good quality unit asap.

Newegg.com - Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - XFX Core Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply


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## AlabamaMan (Dec 29, 2012)

I don't know if it's appropriate to reply to a thread more than a year after the fact, but Asus returned my motherboard which worked fine on a bench test and without issue once I put everything back together. 

Thanks to everyone for your help and feedback.


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Hi AlabamaMan and a belated welcome to TSF :wave: :grin:

Glad to see you got it working and thanks for the update - Another mystery put to bed :lol:


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