6 ms·

I never had that issue in the US (even when using a two-holed outlet), but I had that problem when I was visiting Israel. So it seems to only be an issue when u

by arikrak 10y ago

I never had that issue in the US (even when using a two-holed outlet), but I had that problem when I was visiting Israel. So it seems to only be an issue when using 220 volts and not a proper ground connection.

mbreedlove 10y ago
Same here. I've only had the issue in Thailand. No shocks at all in the US.
WayneBro 10y ago
I have this problem every winter. With my Macbbok it was the worst, it even caused the trackpad to stop functioning once, but it has also happened to some of my other devices as well. It's happened so often to me that I've trained myself to touch something to discharge the static before touching my equipment.
burger_moon 10y ago
I get it in my apartment (I live in the U.S.) which is brand new with 3 prong sockets if I have my feet on the ground (concrete floor) while roughing the laptop. I've experienced it a few more times at different peoples houses as well.
- xenadu02 10y ago
  You might buy an outlet tester and see if your hot/neutral are reversed or if ground isn't connected. If it all checks out you can use a multimeter* to check potential between neutral and ground. If your apartment is wired correctly there should be almost no voltage between the two. At the breaker box the neutral and ground are supposed to be bonded together. That means only minor induced charges inside the building wiring would show up between the two. If there is any significant voltage then something is leaking on one of the lines or ground might not be bonded... it could even be floating if they didn't bother driving the grounding stake deep enough and the soil dried out a bit.
  - mnw21cam 10y ago
    > At the breaker box the neutral and ground are supposed to be bonded together. Note this advice is country-specific. In some countries, the bonding is done further away from the house. In any case, you should never trust the neutral line to be an earth. If a fault occurs that disconnects the neutral line from the supply, your neutral line will have deadly voltage on it by virtue of being connected to live through your appliances. Moreover, depending on the multimeter you use, if you measure the voltage between neutral and earth, you could possibly trip the RCD in the distribution unit (if you have one). The rules are simple in most countries - if it has any touchable metal parts, it must be earthed.
et-al 10y ago
I noticed the vibrations while charging in France and Germany with my American iPhone and MBP, but just chalked it up to my universal power adapters being not 100% native. Reading jordwest's 60Hz comment, it seems to do with grounding. So do MBPs and iPhones purchased in Europe still experience this issue if the apartment isn't grounded properly?

by arikrak 10y ago

mbreedlove 10y ago

Same here. I've only had the issue in Thailand. No shocks at all in the US.

WayneBro 10y ago

I have this problem every winter. With my Macbbok it was the worst, it even caused the trackpad to stop functioning once, but it has also happened to some of my other devices as well. It's happened so often to me that I've trained myself to touch something to discharge the static before touching my equipment.

burger_moon 10y ago

I get it in my apartment (I live in the U.S.) which is brand new with 3 prong sockets if I have my feet on the ground (concrete floor) while roughing the laptop. I've experienced it a few more times at different peoples houses as well.

xenadu02 10y ago
You might buy an outlet tester and see if your hot/neutral are reversed or if ground isn't connected. If it all checks out you can use a multimeter* to check potential between neutral and ground. If your apartment is wired correctly there should be almost no voltage between the two. At the breaker box the neutral and ground are supposed to be bonded together. That means only minor induced charges inside the building wiring would show up between the two. If there is any significant voltage then something is leaking on one of the lines or ground might not be bonded... it could even be floating if they didn't bother driving the grounding stake deep enough and the soil dried out a bit.
- mnw21cam 10y ago
  > At the breaker box the neutral and ground are supposed to be bonded together. Note this advice is country-specific. In some countries, the bonding is done further away from the house. In any case, you should never trust the neutral line to be an earth. If a fault occurs that disconnects the neutral line from the supply, your neutral line will have deadly voltage on it by virtue of being connected to live through your appliances. Moreover, depending on the multimeter you use, if you measure the voltage between neutral and earth, you could possibly trip the RCD in the distribution unit (if you have one). The rules are simple in most countries - if it has any touchable metal parts, it must be earthed.

et-al 10y ago

I noticed the vibrations while charging in France and Germany with my American iPhone and MBP, but just chalked it up to my universal power adapters being not 100% native. Reading jordwest's 60Hz comment, it seems to do with grounding. So do MBPs and iPhones purchased in Europe still experience this issue if the apartment isn't grounded properly?