Originally published at: IKEA chair responsible for computer screen malfunction | Boing Boing
…
6 Likes
It’s really an IKEA partnered promotion for “The Power”
5 Likes
… has no one ever heard of ESD floor mats?
Or for that matter, put a drag chain on the bottom of the cylinder or something- there’s a couple ways to dissipate static charge from things…
9 Likes
This sounds suspicious on the other hand I have some monitor oddities and that chair… I am going to have to test.
5 Likes
OH MY GOD THAT’S WHY THAT WAS HAPPENING??!?!
I thought my graphics card was dying… but problem persisted even after a graphics card / monitor / cable replacements. Finally stopped when I moved… to an apartment with hardwood floors.
I spent dozens of hours troubleshooting my set up over this. Never even thought of my chair being the culprit.
…on the upside: it’s a wonderfully comfy chair for how cheap it is.
12 Likes
I feel like some deeper details of the situation are needed. The monitor just randomly blanks when you sit down or stand up? Are you touching the desk, the mouse/keyboard, or computer in any way? If just sitting in the chair is creating an enough of a charge to disrupt a monitor several feet away with no physical touch I feel like the moment you go and touch a light switch screw (or other grounded surface) the shock is going to feel like a cattle prod.
I’m not even sure I want to know what happens if you have a pace maker.
I’ve already seen that movie, and it was epic.
6 Likes
As said above folks may try to attach a wire to the seat fabric then let it touch the floor & see if that doesn’t ground the static build up
1 Like
This is a quite general and well known phenomenon.
Synthetic fabric on the chair, carpets, gas suspension, cheap display cables, bad grounding, dey air yadda yadda are all possible causes.
Singling out a single IKEA chair is disingenuous at best.
EtA:
insulating the chair with copper foil
Nope, it’s quite the opposite. Insulation is not your friend here.
9 Likes
I thought that was going to be the one where the typist’s chair is raised three inches.
Apologies, it’s an old sexist joke.
That reminds me, I need to figure out how to replace the cylinder in my chair. I like my chair, but it won’t go down any more . 
Ironically, the STAT is one of the few IKEA chairs that does not have this problem.
4 Likes
So THAT’S why none of the (strangely lightweight) TVs or computers on display in the IKEA stores work! Mystery solved!
9 Likes
Which is good, because copper is a pretty crap insulator.
3 Likes
Back in the days of CRT monitors, in my office we had a safe next to one, and when you opened the door, all the colors on the monitor shifted.
2 Likes
1 Like
Wait…
Yazz
Didn’t realize that there were 2 bands called Yaz/z…
3 Likes
So I experimented: part of the problem is that my monitor issues are not that easy to replicate on demand.
I had my daughter run up and take my chair away. It did not seem to work. I removed the chair and went about a more complicated but more reliable method of getting the problem. The problem was definitely less severe. So I suspect my base issue is something else but the chair makes it worse.
1 Like
I’ve been using an IKEA Markus chair for a couple of years now. No sign of monitor problems here.
2 Likes
Humidify!
9 Likes
