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I was getting electric shock from my USB ports, so I decided to check. All the ports on my motherboard also have electricity (I'm using a tester to test it). There fore I removed my motherboard outside and placed it on a wooden surface and plugged it in. Still the outer covering of all the ports on motherboard have electricity. I also tested the PSU after removing it outside from cabinet. The screws on the PSU have electricity. Is that normal? Or my house does not have proper earthing anywhere? I tried multiple plugs in the house with same results. For mother board as well, all the back ports have electric current. Kindly help. Just need to confirm this if I need to call a electrician to check for earthing of my house.

Update:

A more strange thing just happened. In the morning I disassembled complete PC to check and then reassembled it. Now when I started it there was no charge/electricity on any ports. Surprised. Then I removed some cables to recheck how it happened, and charge is back. I did more testing and it is like when I'm having my HDMI cable plugged in my BenQ display charge is going. As soon as I'm removing it from my display, charge is coming back. Is it like my display working as some kind of earthing here?

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    What kind of tester did you use? Is it a full voltmeter? Besides that, no metallic part you can touch should carry any significant voltage, it's never normal note expected or secure.
    – Mario
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 7:14
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    Chances are it is not "just the screws" but that the case of the PSU has a layer of material that is effectively insulating it. Scratch the surface of the metalwork slightly and you'll find that the entire case "has electricity".
    – Mokubai ♦
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 10:02
  • @Mokubai You were right... The whole PSU has electric charge. I removed some paint and yes it is there.
    – Sandeepr
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 10:19

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It definitely sounds like your PSU is not properly grounded. You should not use it, as you can damage your computer or yourself. It is highly unlikely your house's ground is not properly earthed.

PSU's are relatively cheap. I would buy a new one that matches or exceeds the specs of the one you have. If you are still having issues, then it would be time to call an electrician.

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  • I have just now bought a new Seasonic M12II 750. It's hardly 2 months old. I removed all the equipments and tested only PSU. Pushed power cable into 3 pin wall socket and tested. The screws on the PSU still have electricity (not the body, only screws). So that's not normal right? The tester lights up as soon as i touch any screws on PSU.
    – Sandeepr
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 7:09
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    No. this is not normal.
    – Keltari
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 7:10
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    " It is highly unlikely your house's ground is not properly earthed." That depends on where you live ... and the quality of your wiring ...
    – DavidPostill ♦
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 8:00
  • @Frostem Get an electrician. Sounds like your in-house wiring has an issue. I presume you use on e of those screw-drivers with a small light in the handle to check for live circuitry. Those should NEVER light up when touching the outer case of ANY plugged in device.
    – Tonny
    Commented Nov 5, 2017 at 10:36
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The power outlet you have your PC plugged into is probably not grounded. Get a receptacle tester (very cheap) from your local hardware store and validate that the wiring to this socket is correct.

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Thank you everyone for your inputs... I have tried different things to check why my cabinet was carrying the electricity. The cable that came with my Seasonic M12II PSU was 2 pin, I knew I need to have 3 pin for proper earthing. I bought a 3 pin cable online and was using it for testing. And was still having electricity over my cabinet. After a lot of testing and completely ripping my hardware to pieces, I came to know that it's the cable. I used my display's 3 pin cable and I felt no current. Returned the cable and now waiting for replacement. Just a last question, the cable that came with my PSU was 250V and 16AMP. The new 3 pin cable I bought is 240V and 6AMP. Will this have any effect on earthing? Thanks again everyone.

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