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Brian Y

macrumors 68040
Oct 21, 2012
3,776
1,064
If you take a 9V battery and place a finger across both contacts do you feel a tingle? I don't. And that's almost twice the voltage that's coming out of your iPad charger. If there were a fault with the charger such that a much larger voltage were passing to your iPad, you would not have a working iPad. So, whatever you're feeling, I don't think it's coming from the charging circuit.

Regards,
Tom

A better test would be to connect the -ve on the 9v battery to ground, touch the positive, and ground yourself (you will only ever experience this when you're grounded).

You obviously know nothing about how electricity works.
 

TJ61

macrumors 6502a
Nov 16, 2011
811
3
A better test would be to connect the -ve on the 9v battery to ground, touch the positive, and ground yourself (you will only ever experience this when you're grounded).

You obviously know nothing about how electricity works.
Maybe you could enlighten us on how the addition of a ground to this circuit would make a difference. I'm standing by to be "schooled".

TIA,
Tom
 

J WYLDE

macrumors newbie
Sep 17, 2015
3
0
When my Ipad is charging I'm getting a mild shock/tingling sensation. If I touch the back of the device i feel it. I try a different outlet and I still feel it......:( Anyone else? Hate having to go back to bestbuy and do another return (with this one 2nd return)
 

J WYLDE

macrumors newbie
Sep 17, 2015
3
0
When my Ipad is charging I'm getting a mild shock/tingling sensation. If I touch the back of the device i feel it. I try a different outlet and I still feel it......:( Anyone else? Hate having to go back to bestbuy and do another return (with this one 2nd return)
 

J WYLDE

macrumors newbie
Sep 17, 2015
3
0
I purchased the Ipad air on 15 September , as soon as I connected the charger the casing became live and I received a low voltage shock . This could be a health problem , Apple should investigate as a matter of urgency - it is apparently a known problem . I have returned the article to the retail store .
 

terr808080

macrumors newbie
Feb 23, 2016
1
0
When my Ipad is charging I'm getting a mild shock/tingling sensation. If I touch the back of the device i feel it. I try a different outlet and I still feel it......:( Anyone else? Hate having to go back to bestbuy and do another return (with this one 2nd return)
getting the same on iPad mini 2
 

xtedx

macrumors newbie
Oct 18, 2009
7
0
It happens with non-grounded devices. The iPad's charger lacks a third prong, so you're just feeling what normally gets grounded through that missing prong. MacBooks and other aluminum devices that plug into the wall without a third prong also have that "tingling" sensation.

Hi, I understand that this happens to all of my apple devices. How can I stop this from happening other buying a 3 prong extension cable for the MacBooks and charging the iPad/iPhone there? some usb chargers don't allow changing the prongs. and i only have 1 usb port. this is not very convenient at all.
I hate this tingling sensation, and I don't like to use use plastic cases on my iPad.
I know this is not limited to apple devices. In general, how to make those 2 prong devices grounded?
Do the designers and majority of people in this planet don't feel this tingling? What could have been the decision making points to leave it ungrounded?
Thanks.
 

neutrino23

macrumors 68000
Feb 14, 2003
1,881
391
SF Bay area
This should not happen when you have an ideal outlet and a perfectly working charger. Normally, in a wall outlet one prong is power, one is neutral and one is ground. Normally, ground and neutral are at the same potential.

I've noticed that odd tingling from all sorts of gadgets. I experienced it on my MacBook last week when we had a heavy rain. It went away after things dried up.

My suspicion is that in some houses/buildings the neutral side is not at ground. There could be a bad/loose connection somewhere that allows some potential to exist on the neutral line.

Grounds are even worse. We had equipment fail at one factory due to there being 35VC on the ground line!

Get someone who knows about electricity to check the voltage between ground and neutral. You probably want to use a cold water pipe as the ground for this test.

It is likely that you are not grounded when you are using the iPad. Wood, plastic, glass, carpet are all pretty good insulators.

Still, if there is some AC potential on the metal case and you slide your hand on the case you are making and breaking contacts which could stimulate nerve cells in your skin.

You could just unplug the iPad while using it. Otherwise get a plastic sleeve for the iPad.

If it feels fairly strong I'd get an electrician to check the wires.
 

sonicrobby

macrumors 68020
Apr 24, 2013
2,482
526
New Orleans
I've had this with several of my iPads. No real concerns or issues came up with it that I could tell. I actually kind of liked that tingling :oops:
 
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pappasmurfshare

macrumors newbie
May 14, 2012
4
0
I also noticed a tingle when touching the case of my new iPad while charging this morning. Reversing the non-polarized plug of the 12w USB power adapter was effective in eliminating the tingle.

I measured the AC voltage from the case to ground with a digital multimeter and found about 4.5 volts and 2 volts depending on the polarity of the AC plug. Unfortunately, the AC current measuring range on my meter didn't seem to be working, but when touching the case with one hand and ground with the other, the voltage dropped about in half. Then I measured the resistance between my two dry hands and found about 1.3 megohms. Based on this, the adapter internal impedance is probably around this same value, so the leakage current with wet skin might be up to about 5 microamps, which should be safe. BTW, the tingling sensation is a lot more obvious when touching both ground and the case. ;)

It's likely that there is some capacitive coupling between the AC line and ground (RFI filter capacitors and/or capacitance between isolation transformer primary & secondary windings) that causes this. It's very common with 2-wire appliances.

All in all, probably not a big deal, but try reversing the AC plug and see if the tingling is reduced. Too bad Apple doesn't supply an adapter with a 3-prong AC plug, which would ground the case and eliminate the issue.

Sounds like bad filtering. You should have a pretty clean DC signal going to the device, any residual AC through the USB is a bad sign. Was this with the official charger?
 

xtedx

macrumors newbie
Oct 18, 2009
7
0
Thanks for answering @neutrino23, I guess I need to call an electrician to check and fix the house's wiring. The only time I didn't have tingling sensation was in Japan. I travel a lot and in all other countries like Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Australia, Finland, Italy, etc, I can't remember if the same thing happened other countries I visited in Europe. I used the 2 prongs Australian genuine charger from Apple with international multi adaptor. And yes sometimes reversing how I plug the charger made the tingling go away.
I though there should be some proper standard in the wiring? Isn't it damaging the devices somehow?
Is this kind of issue with the ground in the house electrical wiring uncommon in the US?
It works fine with the 3 prong power adaptor for the MacBook in my case though.. so the ground is definitely wired properly here.
 

Nevaborn

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2013
1,086
327
From an Electrician point of view I am afraid this is as others have tried to explain an unfortunate byproduct of insufficient / Lack of earthing within the supply. Also can people please not confuse a tingling sensation for electric shock, a term which causes all sorts of wild speculation to those that know no better. The human body is a network of electrical signals and is sensitive to electricity. People being individuals will have different levels of sensitivity to this as we do with all things.

All electronics produce small electromagnetic fields, this is usually not an issue when you have sufficient insulation on a device and a proper return path for the electricity. However with no present Earth in a device and a lack of device insulation the electricity will be earthed through you. This is especially common in a metal object especially aluminium which has become very popular in recent years. You have a device that is made of a conductive substance with potentially no earthing of the electrical supply and an increased chance of insufficient insulation due to the material it is made from.

now if you touch a device and get a tingle it could either be due to sensitivity to electromagnetic fields which the device will be producing or it could be there is an electrical leakage through the device. However this is still not potentially an issue as built in to your charger there is a transformer taking the mains electricity and stepping it down to a safe touch voltage. In the case of my Macbook it is rated at 20V which is much lower than the amount needed to cause harm. You will feel it due to the bodies sensitivity but it is not an electric shock. An electric shock in the common term would be anything above safe touch voltage that could cause potential harm.

I would be less concerned with your house wiring in the States as I believe the majority ( and on this part I may be corrected ) are designed without earthing connections within homes instead relying on it at the point of origin. Instead you should be more concerned about your device charger as it will be more susceptible to damage under fault conditions as there is not the immediate protection at the supply within the home.
 

Newtons Apple

Suspended
Mar 12, 2014
22,757
15,253
Jacksonville, Florida
So then you should be able to explain to me how a device that's only connected to a 5VDC source (assuming the charger connected to 110VAC is operating properly) can deliver a sensible electric shock to human flesh.

I'll be waiting.

Regards,
Tom

Never felt like a shock. More of a vibration as you finger lightly move across the aluminum edge.

A non-issue for me.
 
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mconk

macrumors 6502
Mar 10, 2009
371
69
Virginia
Came across this with my iPhone 7 a few months ago. I bought a new charging dock that is wooden, and holds the phone at an angle while charging. As I went to grab for it, my finger grazed the back, and I felt the very slight tingle. Freaked me out for a second! It's not a shock, but a very slight vibration, that you can easily replicate by simply plugging in any iOS device, setting it on a flat surface like a bed, and lightly running your index finger down the back. Does not work if both hands are touching. Luckily this thread and others came up on a search.
 

AGuyThatKnowsHowToDo

macrumors newbie
Jul 12, 2018
1
0
Are the outlets in the same room? Can you test it on an outlet that's on a different circuit - or in a different building?

That would give you a better idea if it's a problem with the iPad or an electrical problem.

If it's the iPad, it will do the same thing at Best Buy so there should be no problem returning it.
It's not the outlet it's the charger
[doublepost=1531387029][/doublepost]
Going to try a different outlet, and also will try it out at home.





the problem is that my first ipad 4 didnt have this issue. It was plugged into the same outlet at work as this one. I have the same issue with my notebook (aluminum case)
Maybe the outlet is broken.
[doublepost=1531387352][/doublepost]
You should not be getting a electrical shock when holding the ipad while plugged in. Mine doesn't. Have someone else test under the same conditions. If they feel it, take it back. Be sure to test the next one in the store.
Maybe youre not sensitive to the electric magnetic current, try touching it with your thin skins I did it on the back of my palm and the side of my foot.
[doublepost=1531387688][/doublepost]OH here's an advantage you can use the iPhone plug for defense put the plug on your friends arm and he/she can feel it
 

Seanm87

macrumors 68020
Oct 10, 2014
2,124
4,156
Will support what others have said that all my aluminium electrical products do this when charging.

Only feel it if you run your finger along it.

It's normal.
 
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