Static electricity causing reboot?

[westom]

this happens during winter around the office all the time.

Which means you have a diagnostic test fixture to find defective office equipment.

 

[Radeon962]

I did not buy the 650hx due to the rating as I know the 400cx has more than enough juice for my system. I have only used Corsair PSU's in the systems I have built for the past few years as they run nice and quiet and the 400cx is the first one I have had any questions about. I wanted a modular PSU and the 650hx is the smallest that Corsair makes that is available in the US.

Bill

 

[Zargon]

Which means you have a diagnostic test fixture to find defective office equipment.

I put my hand on the hutch of a coworkers desk, shocked the piss outta myself, and shut his pc off.

 

[pcgeek11]

Through something conductive - ie computer, wooden table, power cord. Through floor to charges located between shoes.

Since when is wood and power cord insulation conductive to the floor? Hog Wash!

Why the #1 defect causes computer crashes. Motherboard ground and chassis ground should be separate except where both meet at a single point.

If they are connected anywhere it is electrically the same point. That is why it is called common ground. Again Hog Wash.

(because other materials such as wood are too electrically conductive). Simply static shock the chassis at various corners. The connection to floor (and charges beneath the feet) is probably through the power cable. So static discharges that cross the chassis will also pass through the motherboard.

Again we go with the conductive wood and power cable insulation. Bologna!

Yes, the motherboard is one big copper ground sheet.

What! Nuts!

Motherboard ground must connect to chassis ground at only one point - where the power cable and IO cards are also located. Only that one standoff should be conductive. All others nylon.

All Motherboard standoffs are grounding points. They are designed that way to prevent stray currents etc from effecting the circuits. The opposite of what you are saying is true.

And why, for example, so many interconnected grounds are also electrically different.

An interconnected ground Cannot Be Different because they are Interconnected, they are ground they are electrical common points.

Discharge static electricity to any electronic device with great pain. That electronics must work 100% without crashing. If not, a human has made a wiring / design mistake.

I will give you this one as it is the only true statement in your entire post. He probably does have a grounding problem, but it has nothing to do with the items above as they are all in the direct opposite of the truth except for the very last item.

Sorry about picking your post apart, but I've worked in the electronics field for 35 years and I couldn't stand the false statements being passed off as facts.

pcgeek11

 

[westom]

Since when is wood and power cord insulation conductive to the floor? Hog Wash!

So when Ben Franklin watched lightning use conductive wooden church steeples to connect to earth, it really did not happen? Wood is an electrical conductor. Linoleum tiles may be electrically conductive. Why did Dr Ufer use concrete to conduct direct lightning strikes so that munitions dumps stopped exploding? Even concrete is an electrical conductor. But only those who learn science before posting would know that.

Significant is his handle - pcgeek11. A major consumer magazine created minor electrical problems. Took those computers to repair shops. Rarely got minor electrical problems solved. Most computer geeks have little electrical knowledge. Explains so many denials without any numbers. Too many pc geeks just know - forget to first learn the science. Another reason why the Silicon Valley cannot find electrically knowledgeable employees in America - must import a majority of their new employees from India and China.

From minimal knowledge, a motherboard includes one big copper ground sheet. He does not even know that? Yes, scary that a pcgeek does not even know that! Radeon962 - he demonstrates why I was so sharp about technical ignorance widespread among America's self-proclaimed computer experts. He knows so little as to not even know about a motherboard's copper ground plane. If he understood impedance (a first semester electrical concept), then he would know why multiple standoffs can create your problem.

 

[Zargon]

Significant is his handle - pcgeek11. A major consumer magazine created minor electrical problems. Took those computers to repair shops. Rarely got minor electrical problems solved. Most computer geeks have little electrical knowledge. Explains so many denials without any numbers. Too many pc geeks just know - forget to first learn the science. Another reason why the Silicon Valley cannot find electrically knowledgeable employees in America - must import a majority of their new employees from India and China.

there are tons of CE/EE's at the University of Illinois that are US Citizens, a couple thousand, let alone at other big ten eng schools

its because they are cheap.

 

[mfenn]

I don't have a well-reasoned argument so I'm going to resort to ad hominem attacks.

Yep, sounds like AT alright.

 

[westom]

there are tons of CE/EE's at the University of Illinois that are US Citizens, a couple thousand,

And so insufficient that the term 'IC' now discusses 'Indian and Chinese' - the most common source of new employees in the Silicon Valley.

A business school graduate *knows* cheaper means a better engineer. Others who must innovate never hire on the cheap. They hire the best. A serious problem in the US: we no longer graduate sufficient technically educated students. Two examples.

pcgeek11 did not even learn what Ben Franklin saw hundreds of years ago - wood conducting electricity. That comes from elementary school science.

mfenn previously posted, "Could be a swapped hot/neutral wire." Obviously not relevant. Obviously would not cause any properly designed computer to crash - let alone be susceptible to static electric problem. Electronics must work normally with reversed wires. Another example of "knowledge" without first learning even simplest electrical concepts. 'Reversed wires' provided no useful solutions to making static electric discharges irrelevant.

OP's crash is typical of currents passing through the motherboard ground plane when a routine single point ground is not implemented. Also provided is an experiment to locate other possible reasons for that crash.

 

[pcgeek11]

So when Ben Franklin watched lightning use conductive wooden church steeples to connect to earth, it really did not happen? Wood is an electrical conductor. Linoleum tiles may be electrically conductive. Why did Dr Ufer use concrete to conduct direct lightning strikes so that munitions dumps stopped exploding? Even concrete is an electrical conductor. But only those who learn science before posting would know that.

He was using a wet silk string and an Iron Key for his experiment with the kite.

In 1752, on a dark June afternoon in Philadelphia, the 46 year-old Ben Franklin decided to fly a kite. With the help of his son, William, they attached his kite to a silk string, tying an iron key at the other end.

The Steeple lightning rod was done with a pointed Iron Rod using a conductor ( iron strap ) to an Iron post driven into the ground.

"May not the knowledge of this power of points be of use to mankind, in preserving houses, churches, ships, etc., from the stroke of lightning, by directing us to fix, on the highest parts of those edifices, upright rods of iron made sharp as a needle...Would not these pointed rods probably draw the electrical fire silently out of a cloud before it came nigh enough to strike, and thereby secure us from that most sudden and terrible mischief!"

Significant is his handle - pcgeek11. A major consumer magazine created minor electrical problems. Took those computers to repair shops. Rarely got minor electrical problems solved. Most computer geeks have little electrical knowledge. Explains so many denials without any numbers. Too many pc geeks just know - forget to first learn the science. Another reason why the Silicon Valley cannot find electrically knowledgeable employees in America - must import a majority of their new employees from India and China.

Here is the scoop from almost Any BASIC course of Electronics:

Conductors
Do you remember the copper atom that we discussed? Do you remember how its valence shell had an electron that could easily be shared between other atoms? Copper is considered to be a conductor because it “conducts” the electron current or flow of electrons fairly easily. Most metals are considered to be good conductors of electrical current. Copper is just one of the more popular materials that is used for conductors. Other materials that are sometimes used as conductors are silver, gold, and aluminum.

Insulators
Insulators are materials that have just the opposite effect on the flow of electrons. They do not let electrons flow very easily from one atom to another. Insulators are materials whose atoms have tightly bound electrons. These electrons are not free to roam around and be shared by neighboring atoms. Some common insulator materials are glass, plastic, rubber, air, and wood.

From minimal knowledge, a motherboard includes one big copper ground sheet. He does not even know that? Yes, scary that a pcgeek does not even know that! Radeon962 - he demonstrates why I was so sharp about technical ignorance widespread among America's self-proclaimed computer experts. He knows so little as to not even know about a motherboard's copper ground plane. If he understood impedance (a first semester electrical concept), then he would know why multiple standoffs can create your problem.

Well I will agree that any circuit board for the most part Starts Off as copper sheet bonded to an insulating layer of material. But after it is etched into circuits it is a very far distance from being a copper plate.

Impedance?
Sure I do, but tell me how many mainboards have you seen with only One Grounding Point? I'll bet the answer is ZERO! And guess where they are all manufactured?

Silicon Valley cannot find electrically knowledgeable employees in America - must import a majority of their new employees from India and China.

Westom I am trying to be civil but it is obvious that all you want to do is bait and then attempt to belittle Americans and the technical abilities we possess. However the answer why all of these corporations are importing and using employees from India and China is CHEAP LABOR! Most are good at what they do but saying that they are better or worse than an American just based on them being Chinese or Indian is just plain stupid. I think this tells us where you are mentally. Get my drift?

Really all joking aside I think you have made the most uneducated posts that I have ever read on these forums. Really I do!

pcgeek11

 

[westom]

Westom I am trying to be civil but it is obvious that all you want to do is bait and then attempt to belittle Americans and the technical abilities we possess.

I am trying to be civil when your posts repeatedly insult basic science, the American education system, and me. Much of what you are posting in error you should have learned in school. Wood is an electrical conductor. Also provided was a reason why you should know that. Instead you insult me by calling me names - and using facts that clearly are incorrect. And now even post about a kite which is obviously not relevant to a 'wooden church steeple conducting electricity'.

My god sir. You did not even know of the copper ground plane routinely found in PC. Instead your entire reasoning is, "It must not be true because other holes exist." What kind of science is that? Junk science reasoning. Those other holes exist because standoffs are needed.

Maybe you just do not remember the story. Franklin put a lightning rod on the church so that lightning was conducted on a wire - no longer conducted destructively by wood. That story is taught in elementary school science.

If insulators are so perfect, then why are insulator measured in conductivity numbers?

All insulators conduct electricity. Some just conduct less than others. Which is why the 'glass table and leather slipper' experiment is best not performed on wood - that is too conductive. You would have known that long ago if you were civil. Asked questions rather than post attacks and denunciations based in insufficient electrical knowledge.

The OP has a computer crash due to static electric currents where none should be. Where do you provide the OP with one useful solution? None. Instead you want to insult, argue, and disparage. You did not even know wood is an electrical conductor. Having been exposed in error, your ego apparently will not let you admit, "I did not know that." Shame on you for not even knowing that obvious fact - and continuing to be so insultingly uncivil. Please learn simple electrical concepts before knowing something. If you post technical lies, expect to be challenged accordingly.

Civil? No. Insultingly naive? Yes. Do to insufficient knowledge, you apparently did not realize how insulting you were being.

 

[pcgeek11]

Wood is an electrical conductor. Also provided was a reason why you should know that.

You did not even know of the copper ground plane routinely found in PC. Instead your entire reasoning is, "It must not be true because other holes exist." What kind of science is that? Junk science reasoning. Those other holes exist because standoffs are needed.

Maybe you just do not remember the story. Franklin put a lightning rod on the church so that lightning was conducted on a wire - no longer conducted destructively by wood. That story is taught in elementary school science.

If insulators are so perfect, then why are insulator measured in conductivity numbers? All insulators conduct electricity. Some just conduct less than others.

The OP has a computer crash due to static electric currents where none should be. Where do you provide the OP with one useful solution? None. Instead you want to insult, argue, and disparage. You did not even know wood is an electrical conductor. Having been exposed in error, your ego apparently will not let you admit, "I did not know that." Shame on you for not even knowing that obvious fact - and continuing to be so insultingly uncivil. Please learn simple electrical concepts before knowing something. If you post technical lies, expect to be challenged accordingly.

Civil? No. Insultingly naive? Yes. Do to insufficient knowledge, you apparently did not realize how insulting you were being.

I'm done with you anyway, as you are obviously too retarded to have an intelligent conversation, and I'm just a dumb @ss American that can barely draw his name.

Good luck to you in your electrical endeavours as you will obviously go far.

pcgeek11

 

[Googer]

That's what I was leaning towards. I picked up a Corsair 650HX as I wanted to replace the 400cx with a modular as I may just swap the whole thing out and put it in a Lian Li PC-V351B once they go on sale down the road.

Bill

A few years back, I knew someone who had done a few upgrades to their pc which came stock with a cheap sub 200w PSU. The PC would boot. But if you left a CD in the drive, the CD-ROM would spin up and drain power away from the motherboard causing it to randomly reboot. This would happen anytime the CD drive would activate; particularly on boot up.

The solution was to get a 350w PC Power and Cooling Turbo cool and random reboots were no more, even with the same CD drive.

 

[Zargon]

And so insufficient that the term 'IC' now discusses 'Indian and Chinese' - the most common source of new employees in the Silicon Valley.

A business school graduate *knows* cheaper means a better engineer. Others who must innovate never hire on the cheap. They hire the best. A serious problem in the US: we no longer graduate sufficient technically educated students. Two examples.

pcgeek11 did not even learn what Ben Franklin saw hundreds of years ago - wood conducting electricity. That comes from elementary school science.

mfenn previously posted, "Could be a swapped hot/neutral wire." Obviously not relevant. Obviously would not cause any properly designed computer to crash - let alone be susceptible to static electric problem. Electronics must work normally with reversed wires. Another example of "knowledge" without first learning even simplest electrical concepts. 'Reversed wires' provided no useful solutions to making static electric discharges irrelevant.

OP's crash is typical of currents passing through the motherboard ground plane when a routine single point ground is not implemented. Also provided is an experiment to locate other possible reasons for that crash.

neither of your examples prove that the US doesnt produce enough of them. Just because YOU claim that SV hires chinese/indian engineers is most certianly not proof.

I live with a few hours of a handful of top tier engineering schools, and you are basically telling me that they dont graduate an EE/CompE's

 

[piasabird]

At the time that Ben Franklin invented the Lightning Rod, it was believed by people of the day that when a building was struck by lightning that it was an act of divine providence if the building was burned down and churches would not allow him to install his lightning rod on their church.

I guess over time they got smarter.

It is odd that many things are termed as an act of God or Nature in some insurance contracts today.

 

[piasabird]

Why go to school if you cant get hired for all the illegal hires and H1 visas. Not to mention the foreign college students on student visas that just decide not to return to their home country.

It is not that students dont want to go to school, it is that they cant get hired. There is no demand for the US Graduates. People are not going to go to school if there is little or no chance of a return on their investment. This is why our college cancelled our CIS program.

This is a case where the government is the enemy of the people.

 

[frostedflakes]

Since when is wood and power cord insulation conductive to the floor? Hog Wash!



If they are connected anywhere it is electrically the same point. That is why it is called common ground. Again Hog Wash.



Again we go with the conductive wood and power cable insulation. Bologna!



What! Nuts!



All Motherboard standoffs are grounding points. They are designed that way to prevent stray currents etc from effecting the circuits. The opposite of what you are saying is true.



An interconnected ground Cannot Be Different because they are Interconnected, they are ground they are electrical common points.




I will give you this one as it is the only true statement in your entire post. He probably does have a grounding problem, but it has nothing to do with the items above as they are all in the direct opposite of the truth except for the very last item.

Sorry about picking your post apart, but I've worked in the electronics field for 35 years and I couldn't stand the false statements being passed off as facts.

pcgeek11

Actually you can have different potentials at ground points, it's called a ground loop. Kind of a big deal for audio circuits, but I've never heard anybody suggest single-point grounding for a computer motherboard before. :/

 

[larslake]

Ok. Electricity takes the path of least resistance. I think what is trying to be said in this thread. is- a Motherboard has specific grounding requirements. Normally a Mainboard has multiple grounding connections located at its mounting screws and these screws are normally flanged a bit to make a good connection to case through the use of brass stand-offs. A power supply, through its physical mounting, extends that grounding to the case. A high voltage low current (like a static discharge) power surge could possibly trip a power surge protection circuit on the mainboard, on the power supply, or on a surge protector strip, thus causing an auto reset to the system (or in case of the power strip a manual reset). The fact that a static discharge resets the system means that a good ground connection exists (at the wall outlet). The main question is whether the mainboard is conducting the static discharge to the case (common ground) thus affecting the mainboards protection circuitry and causing a reset. What this would mean, basically, is that the mainboard's grounding is offering a better path of least resistance for the static discharge to follow. You could insulate or isolate your mainboard by mounting it on nylon stand-offs. This means that the only ground would be from the power supply. It also means the static discharge would have less effect on the mainboard because it has a better route to ground through the case. Another way would be to offer better grounding of the power supply to the case and mainboard and better grounding of the mainboard to the case. Keeping in mind that a mainboard is comprised of various separate circuits and components working together. That doesn't mean that they all have the same grounding characteristics. Some of the older boards actually had visible ground straps connected at different places. There's one more thing that I would guess it could be. An influence spike. All things equal and all components grounded, just the passing of a voltage spike through the case to ground could trip the threshold of a transistor and cause a reset. In this case, about the only thing you can do is insulate the board with nylon stand-offs and or reduce the possibility of a static discharge through your case by grounding various items that you would touch before your finger touches any part of the computer. Also control the humidity to limit the amount of static build up while traversing the carpet. Good Luck.

 

[pcgeek11]

Actually you can have different potentials at ground points, it's called a ground loop. Kind of a big deal for audio circuits, but I've never heard anybody suggest single-point grounding for a computer motherboard before. :/

I understand a ground loop in an audio circuit. However a ground loop is caused by a poorly designed/connected ground system in the audio circuit. An example is having both ends of an interconnecting cable between two pieces of equipment with different impedances will cause feedback noise. That is a totally different animal.

Main points of BS:

1. Wood is a conductor of electricity. Why were wooden spools used as insulators for house wiring before we had insulated wires in the homes.

2. Single point grounding for a motherboard. How many on this forum have seen a MB with only one grounding point?

pcgeek11

 

[pcgeek11]

The fact that a static discharge resets the system means that a good ground connection exists (at the wall outlet).

That is the opposite of what the truth is. Ground should take the static directly to ground vice effecting any circuit on the motherboard An ungrounded or poorly grounded motherboard would be effected more so than a properly grounded motherboard.

 

[westom]

I live with a few hours of a handful of top tier engineering schools,

I live next door to a genius physicist. Therefore I can build a nuclear weapon? Zargon's reasoning only confirms what engineering firms, IEEE Spectrum, and other sources complain of. We have a serious shortage of people trained to think logically. We have a serious shortage of people who even know how electricity works. Too many eyes just glaze over as soon as numbers arrive.

No electrical knowledge is required to pass the A+ Certified computer technicians tests. So serious is this shortage that one who lives hours from a university must automatically be so smart as to have doctorate knowledge? Scary is his proof of knowledge and training.

Radeon962 - I am making a point. An overwhelming *majority* who recommend have near zero if any electrical knowledge. Two factors that identify responsible recommendations: provided are reasons why AND with numbers. At least three now demonstrate knowledge without any supporting facts, provide no numbers, and defend their accusations with disparaging remarks rather than technical facts. One lives hours from a university - therefore is smarter? Scary logic because it comes from an American. Demonstrates why America needs so many immigrants.

Solution for your static electric problem was provided with reasons why it works. With feedback from those tests, additional reasons for your static failure can be provided. We traced same problems to original IBM PCs - because experience and knowledge of your problem is that significant - but only from a tiny minority. A minority who is attacked because reality contradicts popular myths. Scary how someone is smarter because he lives within hours of a university.

Some of the more ridiculous suggestions are a grounded wall receptacle, larger power supply, and reversed hot/neutral wire. Each provided without reasons why it is relevant. No reasons why immediately implies a conclusion based only in wild speculation.

Post results of the experiment to obtain further information. No properly designed electronics should be crashed by static electric discharges.

 

[westom]

Main points of BS:
1. Wood is a conductor of electricity. Why were wooden spools used as insulators for house wiring before we had insulated wires in the homes.

So AC electric wires from telephone pole to telephone pole are held in place on wooden crossbars? Of course not. Wood is too conductive. So electric wires must be separated from wood by less conductive (ceramic) insulators. It wood is an insulator, then why do electric companies spend so much money on expensive ceramic insulators? Apparently pcgeek11 is calling all electric companies dumb. He knows wood is an insulator.

The only point of contention is you continued posting without even minimal electrical knowledge. You are being used as an example. A majority of computer experts do not even have minimal electrical knowledge. So little is their grasp as to keep posting when numbers and examples demonstrated insufficient knowledge.

Why do AC utilities waste so much money on ceramic insulators? Because wood is an electrical conductor.


Digital motherboard ground connects to tabletop ground connects to breaker box bus bar ground connects to earth ground connects to chassis ground connects to microwave ground connects to neutral wires connects to telephone ground... Therefore, according to pcgeek11, we can ground a lightning rod to the motherboard. Reality. All those grounds are electrically different.

A wall receptacle safety ground does nothing to keep static electric currents from passing through the motherboard digital ground. And does nothing to protect any electronics from damage due to static electric discharges.

Obvious once one learns some basic electrical concepts that are not relevant to the OPs problem. Obvious when one learns enough to know that wood is an electrical conductor - as demonstrated by Ben Franklin's wooden church steeple and demonstrated by the AC utility's ceramic insulators.

 

[mfenn]

So AC electric wires from telephone pole to telephone pole are held in place on wooden crossbars? Of course not. Wood is too conductive. So electric wires must be separated from wood by less conductive (ceramic) insulators. It wood is an insulator, then why do electric companies spend so much money on expensive ceramic insulators? Apparently pcgeek11 is calling all electric companies dumb. He knows wood is an insulator.

The only point of contention is you continued posting without even minimal electrical knowledge. You are being used as an example. A majority of computer experts do not even have minimal electrical knowledge. So little is their grasp as to keep posting when numbers and examples demonstrated insufficient knowledge.

Why do AC utilities waste so much money on ceramic insulators? Because wood is an electrical conductor.


Digital motherboard ground connects to tabletop ground connects to breaker box bus bar ground connects to earth ground connects to chassis ground connects to microwave ground connects to neutral wires connects to telephone ground... Therefore, according to pcgeek11, we can ground a lightning rod to the motherboard. Reality. All those grounds are electrically different.

A wall receptacle safety ground does nothing to keep static electric currents from passing through the motherboard digital ground. And does nothing to protect any electronics from damage due to static electric discharges.

Obvious once one learns some basic electrical concepts that are not relevant to the OPs problem. Obvious when one learns enough to know that wood is an electrical conductor - as demonstrated by Ben Franklin's wooden church steeple and demonstrated by the AC utility's ceramic insulators.

I notice that you conveniently keep forgetting to address pcgeek's point about the motherboard being designed with multiple ground points.

Oh wait, you know more than the EE's who designed the damn thing.

EDIT: Here's some numbers for you: 10's of amps @ 110kV != 10's of uA @ 16kV. Just because wood is a conductor at 110kV doesn't mean that it is at 16kV.

EDIT2: A swapped hot and neutral wire could cause a shock if someone touches the case (think about an old lamp) which some people may perceive as a static shock. Maybe YOU should think a bit before you post another screed.

 

[westom]

I notice that you conveniently keep forgetting to address pcgeek's point about the motherboard being designed with multiple ground points.

So you again failed to read what was posted. A motherboard needs only one standoff? One need not be an engineer to know why the motherboard must be supported from the chassis at multiple points. Holes for multiple standoffs must exist. Is that simple enough? Standards define where those other holes must be located.

A swapped hot/neutral does not avert static electric problems. Does not cause computer failure. And must never cause anyone to suffer a shock. You should have known all three.

Who said anything about 110KV? Well at least you posted a numbers - albeit fictional. AC utilities use ceramic insulators on 13Kv, 2Kv, and 120 volt wires because wood is an electrical conductor.

Back to the point. To perform that static electric test successfully, wood (and other materials) may conduct too much electricity from microamps or nanoamps discharged by a finger. Reposted because you still don't get it.

Please tone down your obvious insult. You post without any valid numbers. And so little technical knowledge as to think a swapped hot/neutral could explain static electric induced crashes. Even foolishly assumed that reversal will make the chassis hot - which is completely irrelevant to the discussion. But you are posting to argue - not to contribute. Posting because you have repeatedly demonstrated posters who forget to first learn how electricity works.

With knowledge, you knew that a hot/neutral reversal must never cause the chassis to become hot. Just another example of you posting accusations rather than asking questions to learn. Many who know the least so often claim to know best. A problem in America that I thank you for demonstrating by example and with obvious venom.

 

[C1]

The MB will be grounded internally to the case via the standoffs & the PSU connectors each have grounds to MB. Your ohm meter should show a closed circuit between the computer case & the receptacle's ground.

Normally a static discharge to the case should have no effect as the electrons just flow to the house ground system (ultimately to earth via the center tap of the outside line transformer which is earth ground and/or to a metal stake in the ground which may be located at the side of the home).

Probably what is happening is that your getting the discharge into or onto a terminal of one of external port connectors. Besides being not a good idea, anything could happen such as damage to a port supporting chip on the MB.

A Fun thread

 

[mfenn]

So you again failed to read what was posted. A motherboard needs only one standoff? One need not be an engineer to know why the motherboard must be supported from the chassis at multiple points. Holes for multiple standoffs must exist. Is that simple enough? Standards define where those other holes must be located.

Nice straw man. I never said that it only needed one standoff, I said that it was designed with multiple ground points. Take a close look at the mounting holes on this motherboard and get back to me. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ImageG...%20Motherboard

A swapped hot/neutral does not avert static electric problems. Does not cause computer failure. And must never cause anyone to suffer a shock. You should have known all three.

Another straw man. Never said anything about it causing static electric problems. I said that it can cause a shock hazard (which it can) which people may attribute to static electricity.

Who said anything about 110KV? Well at least you posted a numbers - albeit fictional. AC utilities use ceramic insulators on 13Kv, 2Kv, and 120 volt wires because wood is an electrical conductor.

No fallacies here, just plain wrong. 110KV is a common transmission voltage.

Back to the point. To perform that static electric test successfully, wood (and other materials) may conduct too much electricity from microamps or nanoamps discharged by a finger. Reposted because you still don't get it.

Don't even know what you're trying to say here

Please tone down your obvious insult. You post without any valid numbers. And so little technical knowledge as to think a swapped hot/neutral could explain static electric induced crashes. Even foolishly assumed that reversal will make the chassis hot - which is completely irrelevant to the discussion. But you are posting to argue - not to contribute. Posting because you have repeatedly demonstrated posters who forget to first learn how electricity works.

With knowledge, you knew that a hot/neutral reversal must never cause the chassis to become hot. Just another example of you posting accusations rather than asking questions to learn. Many who know the least so often claim to know best.

Here's an appeal to authority. You cannot claim an assertion is invalid without posting WHY it is invalid.

A problem in America that I thank you for demonstrating by example and with obvious venom.

Wow, the logical fallacies never end. Please read up on the hasty generalization, ad hominem, and appeal to ridicule fallacies and understand why they don't help your case.