dell xp m1530 electric shocks?

pwd

I've noticed often that there is an occasional vibrating feel if you touch the case of my laptop.
Realised that it feels like a mild electric shock. Googled and found this:

http://gizmodo.com/346307/dells-aluminum-laptops-causing-electric-shocks

That people can get electric shocks off the aluminium paint while peripherals are connected.

Had a psp connected to the usb while getting the vibrating feeling tonight. Disconnecting the psp meant there was no vibration at all. Reconnecting it made it come back. Connecting a mouse to the same port didn't cause the vibration. An external hard drive was connected the whole time to the other side - no vibration caused by that (alone) either.

The motherboard was replaced in this laptop recently (broke inside warranty). Same thing happened before motherboard replacement.

Any health risks with being subjected to mild electric shocks for long periods..?

robbie_998

It's metal and electricity.....

need i say anymore ?

Overheal

Did you test this without the AC adapter present (ie. on the Battery?)

Ive had this problem before on an HP laptop. The touchpad tingled and the headphone and USB jacks downright jolted you. Turned out to be a failing Power Supply unit I bought on eBay (:rolleyes:). Also ****ed up my independent speakers when it was plugged in, just from being on the same electrical circuit. No permanent damage as far as I can tell but the motherboard was replaced a few months later...but im fairly sure that was for a separate issue.

pwd

Yes disconnecting it from the mains has no effect.
I'm on my third power supply. The current one is very new.

Voodu Child

pwd wrote: »

Any health risks with being subjected to mild electric shocks for long periods..?

No.

Its probably caused by an ungrounded PSU. Check your adaptor - even though it has a grounded (3-pin) Irish plug, the actual cable leading from the power block is likely an ungrounded 2-core. That was what was causing this if I recall.

Its a tingling sensation rather than a 'shock', and it doesnt pose any health risks. The same thing is commonly reported with many Aluminium bodied laptops - google Macbooks for similar reports.

If it bothers you, get a grounded PSU (with 3-core mickey mouse connector). Dell were sending them out on request at one stage, although they might not now, depending on the laptops age.

monkeypants

I'd contact Dell straight away. It's only a mild tingling now, but it may become more serious later. As VC says, the age of the laptop may become a factor in how Dell treat your request initially. Personally I'd treat it as a fault. One of my rules for appliances is that the electricity stays inside the box.

pwd

The power supply for the laptop is 3 prong I think - disconnecting it had no effect.
It stopped occurring when I disconnected the psp. I noticed that the psp was connected to the mains when the tingling was happening. Tried disconnecting the psp from the mains while it was connected to the laptop and there was no tingle.
Pretty sure that the psp has a 2 prong connector.

So I am thinking that the tingling is happening when a device is attached which is using its own 2-prong power supply.... I'm pretty sure that is what is happening, the more I think about it.

I'm not too bothered about it, if that's correct. The only device I might need to attach, connected to its own 2 prong supply, is one external hard drive that I rarely use.

Overheal

Fire off an email to sony tech anyway and see what they say about it.