Suckage: Thinking That Your GameCube is Zapped!

[coleslaw]

I nearly had to change my shorts after this incident:

It has been somewhat cold in my apartment (heating is not in my control), so the static electricity has been very bad recently. I get zapped everytime I touch anything! It's makes me so paranoid! Anyway, I finished playing Wave Race: Blue Storm on my GameCube and as I stood up to set my controller down, I felt a big ZAP in my hand, which was holding the controller! At that same instant, the GameCube suddenly turned off, leaving a blank screen on the TV. My heart sank into my stomach! I thought, NO! My GameCube is Zapped! Noooo!! :eek:

However, I also thought that there was no way that the Nintendo engineers would allow such a thing to happen. So I turned the GameCube back on and it seemed to be functional, but there was nothing on the screen. I then turned my attention to the television. I pushed the power button, but nothing happened, so finally I flipped the switch on the power strip (into which the TV was plugged) off and then back on. Pushing the power button again allowed me to finally turn the TV back on!

It boggles my mind how a static discharge onto the GameCube controller could cause the TV's internal circuit breaked to trip, but that appears to be what happened. I am just happy that nothing is permanently damaged! :P

[Two Cents]

Originally posted by coleslaw
I am just happy that nothing is permanently damaged! :P

Besides your psyche? :P Yeh, I would go postal if I zapped my Game Cube, if I had one that is :)

[GlassHopper]

ColeSlaw ...

You can minimize the static electricity problem in your apt. by humidifying the air. The cheapest way is to put a large pot of water on the stove, get it boiling, then turn down the heat and let it simmer. The water will evaporate into the air, humidifying it, and reducing the static problem, possibly eliminating it alltogether.

Alternatively, buy a humidifier for your apt.

BTW, having more humidity in the air will also make your apt. feel more comfortable, as the moisture in the air will help hold the heat.

Good luck!

[Blu]

That is kinda sensitive. I wonder how many volts/amps were in that little spark. Also, if the spark traveled up the video/audio leads, I imagine their fault tolerance is lower b/c they aren't setup to handle alot of power under normal conditions.

A few years ago, the pole outside my house was struck by lightening. We lost 3 stereos, 4 light bulbs, a microwave, and our TV's internal fuse blew. What a pain in the a$$ that was to replace!

Blu

[coleslaw]

Originally posted by GlassHopper
You can minimize the static electricity problem in your apt. by humidifying the air.Someone must have actually read my article (http://www.gotapex.com/reviews.php?rev=esd/index.html)! I am impressed! ;)

[Memo]

Haha Cole, i would have shat my pants in a second if that happened to me. Good thing it's all ok now :) You must be like Powder or something.

[coleslaw]

Bastids!! I just zapped my floppy drive and killed it!! I was putting in a floppy disk and I zapped the drive somehow and now it won't work!! :angry:

Good thing it's just my floppy drive though. That could have been ugly!