Could one of these things have harmed my battery?

[Drifty_Child]

At the airport, I put my laptop through the security scanner without turning it off first. When I next touched the laptop, it gave me a startling zap, like static electricity.

Now, after coming home from my flight, I could swear my battery was draining faster than usual. In a couple hours, it went down by almost 35%, while just having Safari opens with a few tabs. Whereas before that might have been 15-20%. I've had this laptop for only a couple months. 2018 15" MBP. Could it have been related to the scanner?

A few days ago, I noticed that I can feel a surging feeling on any surface of the laptop with my finger. Though that only lasted for a couple days, and I'm not noticing it now. It was the first time I could feel such a feeling on a laptop. Any clue what that is, and if that could be connected?

 

[leman]

Short answer: no. There is no way that the scanner would have harmed your machine.

Also, "surging/vibration" are common with metal cased laptops if they are plugged into an outlet and the ground pin is not used or not connected properly. It should disappear when you use a three-pin plug (and proper electrical installation).

 

[deadworlds]

The surging vibration feeling you experience with your laptop is also occurring on my 2016 MBP. As the poster above me said, this is common among metal cased laptops when using a non grounded charger. The standard charger included with these MBPs don’t have a ground prong thus some current ends up on the case causing the vibration sensation. I happen to have the 3 prong extension cable for the MBP charger that eliminates this phenomenon.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK122LL/A/power-adapter-extension-cable?fnode=8b

 

[Drifty_Child]

Thanks for clearing that up. Is there any concern of harm, even minor, from that surging feeling, or is it just a sensation?

 

[jerryk]

Thanks for clearing that up. Is there any concern of harm, even minor, from that surging feeling, or is it just a sensation?

It is static electricity so a delicate exposed circuit could be harmed just like if you had static build up from walking on carpet. If it bothers you use the the extension cable with 3 pins to connect the charger to the wall.