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Resolved 2015 rMBP 13 inch - I feel tingling/current

M

mutn10

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2015
23
0
Hello everyone

When my rMBP is connected to charger (most of the time, to save battery cycles) I sometimes feel a tingly feeling when I move my fingers or the palms of my hands over the aluminium. Now I read a lot of people reporting this issue on Apple forums, but nowhere I could find if this is harmful in any way for the laptop or for me. It is connected via a European plug so it is connected to earth.

When I sit on a wooden chair and lift my legs up, I don't feel it anymore so I'm pretty sure there is current and that it isn't the fan or whatsoever.

Also, how can I stop it?

Greetings and thanks in advance :)
 
Last edited:
Former Mac genius here... Your two-prong "travel" duck head adapter is likely causing this behavior. It's a harmless tingling, what you're feeling is the aluminum using your body as the ground. You can fix this by using the 5' three-prong cord included in your box which will use the dwelling's ground.
 
So that's what that cord is in the box when I recently got my rMBP! I was wondering what it would be used for.

But still confusing me though. The OPs problem not withstanding, why would you want to use it anyway? I just plug the brick into the wall just I do my iPad..

Also, how do you attach the cord anyway?

There is nothing included in the pamphlet that comes in the box which says anything about that cord or how to plug it in.
 
Keep in mind that any computer powered on will have some sort of electric static discharge. It may not be enough for most people to feel it, but some people are more sensitive to ESD than others.
 
Blackstick said:
Former Mac genius here... Your two-prong "travel" duck head adapter is likely causing this behavior. It's a harmless tingling, what you're feeling is the aluminum using your body as the ground. You can fix this by using the 5' three-prong cord included in your box which will use the dwelling's ground.
Click to expand...

Well as a matter of fact I am indeed using the 5' three-prong cord instead of the travel adapter... So in fact my rMBP os connected to the earth with the cable. :eek:
 
MaskedCarrot said:
But still confusing me though. The OPs problem not withstanding, why would you want to use it anyway? I just plug the brick into the wall just I do my iPad..

Also, how do you attach the cord anyway?
Click to expand...

- You pull the "normal" plug out of the adaptor, then insert the cord. Here's a handy video with surprisingly many views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC4DPHPgH2s

Another reason to use the extender cable is that... it's longer.
 
mutn10 said:
Well as a matter of fact I am indeed using the 5' three-prong cord instead of the travel adapter... So in fact my rMBP os connected to the earth with the cable. :eek:
Click to expand...

In that case, are you sure the outlet you are using is earthed properly?

What you're experiencing is the ground "floating" above 0V, so that when you bridge it to ground, you feel a current because there's a potential difference.

With earthed appliances you don't get this, because the third pin ensures that the ground side of the device is actually at ground potential - it's electrically connected to ground.

It's not typically harmful if you can feel the tingling - it's minor leakage, usually caused by a noisy transformer or dirty AC power that is beyond the smoothing of the filters in the power supply.
 
JTToft said:
- You pull the "normal" plug out of the adaptor, then insert the cord. Here's a handy video with surprisingly many views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC4DPHPgH2s

Another reason to use the extender cable is that... it's longer.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks. That explains it.

I still don't see a major need to use it, but I guess it's nice to have in case I do.

Although that seems like an older brick that person has in the video, since mine for my new rMBP doesn't have the clip on the bottom to wrap the cable around.
 
Well in fact I only notice it with one specific outlet. Didn't notice it but it must be a bad A/C that is indeed not properly connected to the earth. Now I'm on other side of the room with other plug and I don't notice anything.
 
But still confusing me though. The OPs problem not withstanding, why would you want to use it anyway? I just plug the brick into the wall just I do my iPad..
Click to expand...

Because otherwise, I find the cord to be way too short. Plus, the power brick is 3x the size of an iPad's and likes to fall out of my wall sockets in wall wart mode. So at least in my case, why WOULDN'T I want to use it? ;)
 
MaskedCarrot said:
Although that seems like an older brick that person has in the video, since mine for my new rMBP doesn't have the clip on the bottom to wrap the cable around.
Click to expand...

The clips are there, they're just pressed in (look on the sides). You can pull them out to wrap the cable if you want to do so.
 
mutn10 said:
Well in fact I only notice it with one specific outlet. Didn't notice it but it must be a bad A/C that is indeed not properly connected to the earth. Now I'm on other side of the room with other plug and I don't notice anything.
Click to expand...

If it's only the one outlet, that's probably the issue. It might be worth replacing that outlet.
 
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