Hello, after moving countries, I noticed my keyboard's metal case shocking me quite a lot when I touch it without shoes. I suspected it might be the USB cable to I changed it with a known good one 2 times but it still shocks me. Next to rule out the keyboard I tried to touch the USB C cable but it also shocked me(PC not powered but it is connected to mains)
So next I search on internet and I used a screwdriver electricity tester thingy and when I touch the screwdriver to the USB C, it lights up(once again, when I touch the ground), In the old country, I had no grounding but I never experienced a shock. Here the electricity is a bit dodgy but I don't know the reason of the shocks.
By dodgy I mean that I don't trust that the electrical work was done correctly. For example, after a power outage, the breaker with the PC connected pops sometimes, but not normally. Like the power switches are off but the breaker appears to be in it's on position, and once I went to check the breaker when the power switch was not working and it slowly popped in front of me, as in it slowly went down. Also, one time the lights were just flickering, maybe a short circuit in the main hall or something, but not sure.
And for clarification, these are not static electricity shock, this feels like what I imagine touching the mains feels like, but weaker(hopefully). And wearing shoes or not touching the floors prevents me from being shocked and I can touch the metal part of the keyboard as much as I want. I don't have my normal testing tools as they were left in the old country due to a mistake but hopefully I will be going back there once the situation is settled(If you are curious, evacuation from Tehran, Iran and Inshallah soon I will go back).
Thank you for any help.
23 Comments
Call a certified electrician.
Grounding is not done properly
Be careful, temporarily use a plastic frame keyboard if you have one – I ran through 2-3 metal keyboards because I live in a third world country, didn’t realise that being shocked was abnormal, and my keyboards all developed misinput problems
You need to talk to an electrician about this
I was literally going to post about this.
My G513 sometimes when I touch its metal grey part it gives a little current, nothing too serious, just a tiny pinch and sometimes nothing.
https://preview.redd.it/xfdxztbawnaf1.jpeg?width=8160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d4b712942945e4c506f74071c93e2f313c985eb2
well its shocking you because you’re the less resistive pad to ground, so either there’s no ground installation or it’s not properly done
it could also be that the outlets have the cables inverted (don’t know the exact terminology but I believe it’s hot and neutral)
also I would try changing that breaker if it trips as slow as you described it, like, for your own sake
I don’t have heaps of electrical wiring knowledge, but the power must be coming from the pc, I think its not grounded right, which could be dodgy wiring in your walls, and your stories do seem to match up to that, as far as I know circuit breakers are meant to be *very* fast to protect things and you from shocks, it might not be a bad idea to get an electrician to look over your house, in case of an electrical fire.
Although maybe I’m completely wrong, I’m certainly not an electrician myself.
Best solution is to have a grounded power outlet.
Definitely an grounding issue of mains power delivery!
As for the breaker tripping after the power resumes, that can happen when the capacitors in your PSU and other devices are big enough to cause a too high current flow at once. Without input resistors, capacitors can act nearly like a short circuit, drawing quite alot of amps.
My 1300W PSU of my main rig, my 750W NAS PSU and other devices together also trip the breaker for my room when power was off and the capacitors where emptied (230Vac 16A).
Sounds like you’ve definitely got some issues I’m not qualified to comment on.
But as an aside, it might be worth considering getting yourself a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) – it can help smooth power delivery for your PC if you’ve got inconsistencies in the current. They’re not super cheap unfortunately, but always good to have in any case.
Good chances your new place has a bad grounding, get that checked before something worse happens
Why did you move the country?! It was fine where it was! You moved the country and now everything is misplaced! God damn it! Not to mention potential conflicts and wars coming out of uncertain borders now!
Please ground your computer properly
I literally have an electrician on their way for this exact issue.
That’s why ai prefer wireless Keyboards… that sort of thing just does not happen there ….
The problem is likely in the house’s wiring. Contact an electrician and get it sorted. What country by the way?
You have an earth leakage.
What you’re feeling is current flowing through you, but at higher resistance. If you were wet you’d be dead.
Your shower can kill you and has killed tons of people when the groundwire becomes live – while all copper plumbing is attached to it.
Call an electrician immediately.
The house you live in is not grounded properly. Buy a power strip that has internal grounding or make one on your own. It is good for your computer as well.
Same thing happens where i live
All contractors are cheap and they never use ground cables so when you connect any electrical appliance and touc it BARE FOOT you get shocked
Doing the wiring for the whole house in my case is expensive so i started wearing rubber slippers at home
I’ve had this problem since forever. What I did to fix it is I tied a copper wire on my PSU’s case screw then connected the other end of the wire to a grounding rod. So far none of my appliances have died because of short circuit.
But ofc it’s better to always get the opinion of an actual electrician.
Check with your test screwdriver if the ground pin has power running through it that’s probably the case
Are you actually being shocked (muscles cramping and hurting like hell?) or is it like an annoying tickle?
If first don’t use it and call an electrician asap. If latter it’s normal for “ungrounded” outlets. There’s voltage but hardly any amps so it won’t hurt you.
Electrician here. There is something wrong with the ground connection in the house. Almost sounds like the ground wire had has contact with a phase. Try testing the grounding pin with the tester when the pc is disconnected. With what you describe it sounds like something is wrong with the breaker aswell. I cant tell you how dangerous it is, as i dont know the cause but general advice would be that it has the potential to be lethal in the worst case.
Call a sparky asap
Well, there’s one positive here. You seem to not be entirely sure that this is the full 230V you are getting, which is a good thing because that is potentially life ending if it goes through you. You wouldn’t be the first.
Since your situation is temporary (hopefully), it’s hard to estimate what kind of effort you would want to put into this and depending on your location it may not be allowed BUT; Making sure your house/appartment is grounded only costs a few hundred euro’s, with some difference depending again on location. I’d say a few hundred euro’s is worth not getting shocked and not having to buy new hardware because it is fried. That said, unless you know how to do all that yourself (AND ARE ALLOWED TO), you probably want to get an electrician to help you out. It may end up to be a more nuanced problem.
Sounds like an electrical short, or short circuit, an unintended path for electricity to flow, usually with little to no resistance, causing a sudden surge of current. This can happen when a “hot” wire (carrying current) touches a neutral or ground wire, or when insulation on wires is damaged, creating a shortcut for electricity. Could kill you or damage your pc over time. get an electrician to come look and I would get a GFCI outlet installed since you don’t have a ground.