static electricity on tower case exterior

I was bringing my computer tower into a shop for repairs (new HD, more RAM) and in the action of lifting it up onto the counter, I felt a static electricity shock as I touched the metal back panel of the tower.

I am terrified that I am going to hear that when they tried to start it up to begin the repairs, they will find the motherboard blown or some other such disaster.

I know static electricity is death to a computer, but is there a chance that no damage was done, because it occurred on the tower case, and not the interior components?

If it makes a difference, it was a Dell Dimension XPS-T500

 

Forget it! Unless you are really charged!!!! Lol!

Now if it happened on the inside to the CPU or other chips you might have a chance to do some damage.


Mike

 

That wouldn't cause any damage since it was applied to the housing which is tied (electrically) to the neutral point of all circuit components. All circuit components would be uniformly increased in voltage at the same instant so no potential difference would exist between them so no harmful current could flow.

It's only when you cause a static electric discharge to a single component or an isolated subsection that harmful current may flow through it to the neutral conductor and cause damage.

 

I love it when you talk like that Zephyr!

all em air teknikal termnolagys.

Mike

You crack me up!

 

Aw thank yew done mispelled terminoligies Mike.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will now be able to sleep tonight. I am almost faint with relief...I imagined that in one second I had totally destroyed my machine.

You've rescued me from an evening of needless worry, and I am grateful for how fast you all replied to my question.
--carol

 

Yeah Carol, and if we had known you were a chic, we would have been even faster, huh Mike?

 

Fiddle-dee-dee

You're a Dudley Do-Right for rescuing this damsel in distress.

 

10-4 to that Zep!

Mike