Curious phenomenon

CORed · 27th November 2010, 03:22 PM

A few minutes ago, I had an unexpected event. My forearm made contact with the table some of my comuter equipment, including an LCD monitor sits on, and there was an audible static discharge. The monitor blinked (very briefly went dark then lit back up again).This is a rather old table, with steel legs, a strip of metal (aluminum?) around the edge and a laminate (wood and plastic) top. The table sits on a carpeted wood floor and is not grounded.

In looking for a cause, I notice that both the power cord and signal cable for this monitor are in contact (physical, not electrical, as they are of course insulated) with the metal edge of the table, so my best guess is that the electrical pulse, caused some sort of inductive effect in one of the cables (probably the signal cable), with enough voltage to briefly interrupt the signal or power to the monitor, or else the voltage of the discharge was high enough to jump through the insulation.

elgarak · 27th November 2010, 03:38 PM

I don't think so. Pretty difficult to get a static discharge through the insulation of modern equipment.

My first impulse would be to check all cables and making sure they are seated correctly in their respective receptacles. In my experience, such events are nearly always mechanical (you hit the table, and the cable wiggled enough to momentarily loose [lose? Never can remember the correct one] contact in the receptacle). The sound you heard was probably a power-on/off (dis-)charge within the monitor.

W.D.Clinger · 28th November 2010, 09:15 AM

delete

CORed · 29th November 2010, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by elgarak

I don't think so. Pretty difficult to get a static discharge through the insulation of modern equipment.

My first impulse would be to check all cables and making sure they are seated correctly in their respective receptacles. In my experience, such events are nearly always mechanical (you hit the table, and the cable wiggled enough to momentarily loose [lose? Never can remember the correct one] contact in the receptacle). The sound you heard was probably a power-on/off (dis-)charge within the monitor.

Maybe, but I have not observed any blinking of the monitor before or after the static discharge. Otherwise, I would think that I had a loose cable or other malfunction and that the blink happening at the moment of the discharge was a coincidence. Of course, I can't rule this out completely. I'm not at home now, but I will check the seating of power cord and signal cable.

AvalonXQ · 29th November 2010, 12:58 PM

Poltergeist. Probably a young male. Get a psychic reading of your computer table area at once.

27th November 2010, 03:22 PM	#1
CORed Illuminator Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 4,292	Curious phenomenon A few minutes ago, I had an unexpected event. My forearm made contact with the table some of my comuter equipment, including an LCD monitor sits on, and there was an audible static discharge. The monitor blinked (very briefly went dark then lit back up again).This is a rather old table, with steel legs, a strip of metal (aluminum?) around the edge and a laminate (wood and plastic) top. The table sits on a carpeted wood floor and is not grounded. In looking for a cause, I notice that both the power cord and signal cable for this monitor are in contact (physical, not electrical, as they are of course insulated) with the metal edge of the table, so my best guess is that the electrical pulse, caused some sort of inductive effect in one of the cables (probably the signal cable), with enough voltage to briefly interrupt the signal or power to the monitor, or else the voltage of the discharge was high enough to jump through the insulation.
CORed Illuminator Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 4,292

28th November 2010, 09:15 AM	#3
W.D.Clinger Master Poster Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 2,442	delete
	Last edited by W.D.Clinger; 28th November 2010 at 09:24 AM.

29th November 2010, 12:55 PM	#4
CORed Illuminator Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 4,292	Originally Posted by elgarak I don't think so. Pretty difficult to get a static discharge through the insulation of modern equipment. My first impulse would be to check all cables and making sure they are seated correctly in their respective receptacles. In my experience, such events are nearly always mechanical (you hit the table, and the cable wiggled enough to momentarily loose [lose? Never can remember the correct one] contact in the receptacle). The sound you heard was probably a power-on/off (dis-)charge within the monitor. Maybe, but I have not observed any blinking of the monitor before or after the static discharge. Otherwise, I would think that I had a loose cable or other malfunction and that the blink happening at the moment of the discharge was a coincidence. Of course, I can't rule this out completely. I'm not at home now, but I will check the seating of power cord and signal cable.
CORed Illuminator Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 4,292	Last edited by CORed; 29th November 2010 at 12:59 PM.

29th November 2010, 12:58 PM	#5
AvalonXQ Guest Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 11,853	Poltergeist. Probably a young male. Get a psychic reading of your computer table area at once.
AvalonXQ Guest Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 11,853

27th November 2010, 03:38 PM	#2
elgarak Graduate Poster Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: No matter where I go, there I am Posts: 1,859	I don't think so. Pretty difficult to get a static discharge through the insulation of modern equipment. My first impulse would be to check all cables and making sure they are seated correctly in their respective receptacles. In my experience, such events are nearly always mechanical (you hit the table, and the cable wiggled enough to momentarily loose [lose? Never can remember the correct one] contact in the receptacle). The sound you heard was probably a power-on/off (dis-)charge within the monitor.