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Electrocution every time I use my MBA

X

xGrape

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 10, 2012
5
0
I am guessing I am not the only one who gets a jolt every time they touch the metal surface of the MBA. I'm guessing it's static electricity caused by friction from my clothes and the office chair. Still kind of annoying. So...

#1 can or will this cause damage to the MBA over time?
#2 any way around it, apart from getting a new chair or not wearing any clothes?
 
xGrape said:
I am guessing I am not the only one who gets a jolt every time they touch the metal surface of the MBA. I'm guessing it's static electricity caused by friction from my clothes and the office chair. Still kind of annoying. So...

#1 can or will this cause damage to the MBA over time?
#2 any way around it, apart from getting a new chair or not wearing any clothes?
Click to expand...

The first question: are you using the 2 prong plug from the adapter or the 3 prong plug from the extension cord? (Hint: the 2 prong plug doesn't have a ground.)
 
Electrocution means death. You mean shock.

Touch a piece of grounded metal (like a file cabinet) before you touch your Air.
 
This would occasionally happen to me with my old MBP- I hated it because I hate getting shocked! Every person has their own static buildup, some people get shocked more than others. Not much you can do.

Same thing happens to me when I get out of the car, so I've learned to touch the metal of the inside door WHILE getting out of the car, so that you return the charge to the car and not to yourself.
 
Happens every time I touch my Apple wired aluminum keyboard. Pretty annoying actually.
 
Wear different clothing, shoes, increase humidity in the room.

In an old power center, it had a "discharge pad" for people who have this problem, u just touch the pad before working on the computer.

U can fashion such pad by tying a 15,000(+/-) ohms resistor to an outlet's ground to your metal table would be perfect.
 
xGrape said:
I am guessing I am not the only one who gets a jolt every time they touch the metal surface of the MBA. I'm guessing it's static electricity caused by friction from my clothes and the office chair. Still kind of annoying. So...

#1 can or will this cause damage to the MBA over time?
#2 any way around it, apart from getting a new chair or not wearing any clothes?
Click to expand...

In summary:
1) No.
2) Yes, use the 3-prong grounded power adapter cord. And make sure that your building's electrical system actually has the 3rd prong (ground) wired correctly.
 
I get really strong constant electric shocks from the edge of my MBP. I can never place my lower arms on the edge when I type. A real pain in the ass. Hurts a lot too.
 
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