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Zap, zap and zap!

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    #1

    Zap, zap and zap!

    My friend's laptop keeps zapping her, and only her. I used it the other day and it didn't zap me whatsoever which is quite strange. Whereas if she uses it, we have an issue.
    Now the laptop is an Asus F5 entertainment series laptop. I checked the power cable and it is a grounded one. But I wanna know what the hell is going on here?!
    Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Zap, zap and zap!

    Carpet.

    Tell her to pick up her feet or get rubber socks.
    Mann-Made Global Warming.
    - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
    -
    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
    - Dr Seuss
    -
    You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
    -

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Zap, zap and zap!

      it happens on concrete as well for her. last time i used that laptop on carpet, i didn't have any issues.
      Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

      Comment

        #4
        Re: Zap, zap and zap!

        Does it only do it with AC adapter plugged in?
        - Perhaps she has an outlet with no or a bad ground.
        Mann-Made Global Warming.
        - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
        -
        Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
        - Dr Seuss
        -
        You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
        -

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Zap, zap and zap!

          Only on AC power. On battery power, it's all fine.
          Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Zap, zap and zap!

            It sounds like it may be specific to that outlet. I'd check to make sure the ground and neutral are at the same potential.

            With a DMM on AC go between ground and neutral record the voltage then from hot to ground the voltage should be the same. A difference in potential can cause little irritating shocks on grounded metals. The neutral and ground are bonded together at the service panel to avoid differences. The only way for there to be a difference is a poor connection in a box somewhere down the line.

            On a few Wan Hung Lo laptop PSUs I opened they had the 3 terminal IEC connector but on the PCB the ground pin went nowhere. Hopefully this one was built properly.
            Last edited by Krankshaft; 08-24-2010, 06:14 AM.
            Elements of the past and the future combining to make something not quite as good as either.

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Zap, zap and zap!

              Originally posted by stevo1210 View Post
              Only on AC power. On battery power, it's all fine.
              You probably have a bad outlet -and- a bad brick.
              A good brick shouldn't result in a shock even if the ground is missing.
              Mann-Made Global Warming.
              - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
              -
              Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
              - Dr Seuss
              -
              You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
              -

              Comment

                #8
                Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                Well I haven't inspected the brick yet. But why don't I get a zap from it too? or am I just built differently? LOL
                Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                  Originally posted by stevo1210 View Post
                  Well I haven't inspected the brick yet. But why don't I get a zap from it too? or am I just built differently? LOL
                  Were you using the same wall socket?
                  Mann-Made Global Warming.
                  - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                  -
                  Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                  - Dr Seuss
                  -
                  You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                  -

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                    Sort of related but not a lappy. My Dell desktop took to shocking me when I touched any of its bright metal. The issue was caused by a power strip that was missing its ground pin. I would think that if the socket being used by her had a ground fault her lappy could zap her just like my desktop was doing to me.
                    "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."
                    Mark Twain

                    "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way."
                    John Paul Jones

                    There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.
                    Rod Serling

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                      To get shocked you need a bad ground + some defect sending current to ground in the chassis.
                      .
                      Mann-Made Global Warming.
                      - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                      -
                      Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                      - Dr Seuss
                      -
                      You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                      -

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                        Originally posted by PCBONEZ View Post
                        Were you using the same wall socket?
                        Yup, same wall socket. I used it in the same spot that she uses her laptop every day.
                        Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                          Perhaps she wears a lot of polyester clothing and is generating a lot of static?
                          Ludicrous gibs!

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                            The fact that she gets shocks and you don't depends on how thick you skin is, and how moist your hands are, amongst other things...
                            Not that I would recommend you to do this (death is likely outcome)
                            But if standing on a dry wooden floor you can actually touch the live AC wire at 230VAC and not get shocked, because there is not a "good enough" path to ground through you (it's like the bird sitting at the powerline wires)

                            However static electricity can still shock you, even if you are not properly grounded to earth.
                            That is due to the very very large potential difference, if you have been rubbing up against something creating static electricity and then touches your car (which is not itself grounded, since it stands on rubber wheels) you will still get a tremendous shock, this is because you and the car are brought to the SAME potential
                            You could have static electricity at 8000volts (this is the start of where you will see a blue flash from your fingertip when touching the car) and the car is at 0v so therefore it gets charged by your potential

                            Something similar could be happening with the laptop, if it IS properly grounded but you have allot of static electricity in you the static electricity gets a great path to ground when you touch the laptop, similar to the car analogy....

                            You could also do like I once did, use a 12v > 230VAC inverter in your car to give the laptop power, and get one HELL of a chock, this time because the car and laptop do NOT share grounding planes, because this particular inverter did not have a grounding prong

                            That analogy is similar to when you have a washing machine and some other electrical machine, when you make contact with them both you are suddenly the medium creating the "grounding" wire which is bringing these two devices to the same potential

                            It's all quite spooky and I could well be wrong on a count or two, but this is my general understanding of it anyway
                            "The one who says it cannot be done should never interrupt the one who is doing it."

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                              Originally posted by dood View Post
                              Perhaps she wears a lot of polyester clothing and is generating a lot of static?
                              That could be possible.
                              Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                              Comment

                                #16
                                Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                                Originally posted by stevo1210 View Post
                                Yup, same wall socket. I used it in the same spot that she uses her laptop every day.
                                Same type shoes?

                                Maybe she's just hot for ya and can't help it....
                                Sweaty hands and all....
                                Mann-Made Global Warming.
                                - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                                -
                                Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                                - Dr Seuss
                                -
                                You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                                -

                                Comment

                                  #17
                                  Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                                  Originally posted by stevo1210 View Post
                                  Originally posted by dood
                                  Perhaps she wears a lot of polyester clothing and is generating a lot of static?
                                  That could be possible.
                                  Tell her to take off her clothes then repeat the experiment.
                                  And rub against everything (including you)

                                  ....
                                  I had a similar thing happen to me with a laptop. Basically I got shocked once, but never again after that, even though I wore the same clothes that day and the laptop was plugged in the same outlet. Different humidity throughout the day perhaps, I don't know.

                                  Comment

                                    #18
                                    Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                                    Originally posted by momaka View Post
                                    Tell her to take off her clothes then repeat the experiment.
                                    And rub against everything (including you)

                                    ....
                                    I had a similar thing happen to me with a laptop. Basically I got shocked once, but never again after that, even though I wore the same clothes that day and the laptop was plugged in the same outlet. Different humidity throughout the day perhaps, I don't know.
                                    only if the computer is filled with porn...

                                    try a different outlet... keep in ming that the laptop might be a metal frame (latitudes, toughbooks, and thinkpads)... one scratch and you have bare metal that is normally a ground!
                                    sigpic

                                    (Insert witty quote here)

                                    Comment

                                      #19
                                      Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                                      You don't need porn to "troubleshoot" this problem as per momaka's suggestion, although if this laptop has a webcam, I'm sure you can MAKE a porno while "troubleshooting"

                                      Comment

                                        #20
                                        Re: Zap, zap and zap!

                                        Quite a few times I have been shocked in the basement - I measured it -- 77 volts AC. My PC's UPS down there lights an LED announcing a "building wiring fault".

                                        I suggest the outlet doesn't always make contact with the device's plug (probably bad ground as other posters have said). In 1976-77, my Dad and the neighbor (a union electrician) added some outlets down there. Maybe the outlets made back then were poor quality -- just like the cars of that era....

                                        (My Mom used to get a shock when she touched the exhaust fan hood and the oven at the same time -- and with 230 volts instead of 120, this could be troublesome....)

                                        A (green?) triangle in the center indicates a super high-quality outlet with close parts tolerances (I've seen them and plugged stuff in to them). They probably cost a fortune though.

                                        Comment

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