Powerbook is SHOCKING me. Electrocution.

I have a 15" Powerbook with 1 gig of ram.
On and off my Powerbook will literally shock me,
usually through one specific area, the bottom
left-hand corner of the wrist rests.
I took it into an Apple store and could not recreate
it, and Apple didn't want to talk to me, saying if
the hardware test came out ok - it did - then they
wouldn't be able to do anything, that it was
environmental.
While I'm surprised Apple doesn't care their computer
is electrocuting me, I realize it COULD be
environmental. My landlord checked my electrical
plugs, and because it's an old house they are not
grounded, meaning that big bottom hole isn't
functioning. I have my computer plugged in through a
surge protector regardless.
It's not a quick static shock, as Apple keeps telling
me it is. When it occurs it's an extended, graduating
shock that makes me pull my hand away, it actually
hurts that bad. It doesn't do it all the time;
sometimes I get a wierd tingling feeling on the wrist
rests of the Powerbook.
Has anyone had this problem?
Hi Ian, I have exactly the same problem as you do. I just got my 15 " powerbook and in it 1 gb of ram. Every now and then I can feel the electric current on the top of the keyboard and in the lower left corner. I live in a totally reformed house in Barcelona and there is plenty of humidity here now so I am not dealing with dry air. I think it has something to do with the machine. I havent taken it to apple yet because it is not a constant problem, it happens randomly. I have also been having problems with the soundcard in the machine. A couple of times a day the sound im playing goes into a loop for 2 or 3 seconds and then continues normally, regardless of what program I am playing sounds from.

Similar Messages

Powerbook is shocking me

This might be because i am in a different country and i am using a converter to charge this computer, but around the outside of the computer (where the metal meets thegray part of the laptop), whenever i lay my arm across this comfortably i get a small shock, like a small pinch
anyone know why it is doing this?

No offense anyone, but prevailing wisom? Oh, I see, normal operation, maybe it's just like global warming- use the consumer device, and suffer, it's only logical! Hmm, now why does that not seem quite right?
Really folks, has anyone tried calling Apple and asking them *** is up yet? What if the next zap is the whole voltage? It's not up to us to diagnose this crap. If my PB was shocking me I don't think I would be asking the boards about it, I would be complaining like **** to Apple directly, and I wouldn't care how out of warranty my machine was!!
If this was a car or a coffee maker that delivered shocks no one would be asking questions about how to cope or making excuses for the company that made it, would they? You'd just be demanding answers to the obvious question of what is the company going to do about it!!
Amazing.
If you want to remove yourself from all culpability in the issue you could have your power company come out and check the quality of the ground connection to your house- most will do this for free. If your lights momentarily dim when the washer or the frige turn on a bad ground is defenitely indicated, and should be be replaced for a number of reasons, not the least of which is danger of house fire and shock.
When you get buzzed in the shower a bad house ground also the culprit. Anyone who has had this happen to them will recognize that the level of shock from the water handle as being very similar to that reportedly coming from the PowerBooks.
In 220 using countries I do not know how this works, as there is no ground in the circuit. A similar symptom might occur if one of the two legs of current were loose in the power panel. I bet the utility also checks for this danger for free, but I wouldn't really know.
If the PB does it in all sockets in a given house this is likely. If you only get shocked in the one socket then it is that socket that is probably miswired or a very old installation with wires that have loosened from heat and time.
And if it happens in every socket everywhere you can be sure it is the PB at fault. Sounds like it's usually place dependent though, so far, but really, this seems beyond the pale of what is tolerable. After all, coffeemakers and VCRs don't shock you w/ a bad ground, why a cutting edge piece of electronics?

Get Electric Shock While I Touch My PowerBook

I always get electric shock while I touched my powerbook.
Although it is a minor shocks, but it happens frequently.
I go crazy about that.
My parents touch me while I am using it,
they can feel that there is current flow into my body.
They tell me that it is harmful to me.
I bought it with applecare, and it is still under warranty.
I need some expertise advise on how should I deal with my PowerBook.

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
I've found this is most common a problem if you don't use the grounding outlet that came with your power cord. That means you need to use a three prong connector to the wall, instead of a two.
The next most common issue is if you walk across a carpet or wet floor, you will pick up static electricity. It is a good idea to discharge your static electricity before touching the computer by touching a desk or other object connected to the floor.
One time I walked across a wet carpet because of a flood, touched a computer keyboard, and fried the computer with my static electricity.
Message was edited by: a brody

Being Shocked/Broken USB/Turbon fan and powerbook

I have a 12" powerbook G4 - 867 mhz operating the most 10.4.2, 40 gigs, and 1.12 GB ram.
I bought this from an apple store in April 2003, shortly after they came out. In October, the hard drive became corrupted and Apple replaced it, but I lost all my data. This happened again in December. Then, I decided to up my ram from 256MB to 640MB using memory from apple (I foolishly bought it from them spending a lot of inheritance on it - something I thought would be a good value). Next September (2004), my hard drive became corrupted again and apple replaced the hard drive, but very unwillingly. When they received the powerbook it had the wrong hard drive in it, one not supported by apple. Since I don't know how to even open the powerbook, I was perplexed by the whole matter. After three hours on the phone, I got them to fix the problem. Turns out it was a service center that apple no longer works with that changed the hard drive.
Recently (a few months ago) my powerbook has been acting up. It gets incredibly hot (58 degrees Celsius) even with the fan on (I actually posted something like this in March or so). I don't run any huge programs, though I usually have itunes and adium always open. I think that because the fan was constantly on, the fan may have broken somewhat and the fan now makes a rattling sound whenever it's on, making a really annoying noise that can be heard by people I'm talking on the phone with. I couldn't quite figure out why it got so hot. I even bought a fan that goes underneath the computer to cool it down, and while this works, the fan comes on eventually, still making the annoying sound. I investigated this by looking at activity monitor and couldn't figure it out. The processor rarely ventured above 30% of it's power. I backed up my things, did a clean install, reinstalled everything one by one until the computer made the noises it did. It didn't take me long to do that, as just turning the computer on forced the fan to turn on and not work so well. Whenever I took it to the apple store it was too loud in the store to hear the fans so they looked at me like I was crazy. So I wanted to give up on them and figured this was just another corporation trying to screw the little guy. It annoyed me, but I got on with my life.
Randomly, about two months ago one of the USB ports started to work only occasionally, and according to my friend who is somewhat of a computer geek, it was not providing enough power to my devices. I figured I would take it to the apple store once I got home from school for fall break (I live two blocks from an apple store at home).
Then I decided to upgrade the memory on my computer about three weeks ago. Although apple officially only supports 640 MB for this model of powerbook, I had heard that it could take an additional gig and upgraded. It works(ed) fine. I'm able to run more programs at once, but the computer still gets really hot. Still, the CPU is only working about 30%.
Then I realized that I should probably try it under a new user. I created a new user account, but still both problems persisted.
So then last night, I noticed that the left shell of my powerbook was giving me an electric shock. It went away when I unplugged the powerbook, but came back as I plugged it back in. (kinda weird though, being that the shell is made of aluminum) It didn't hurt, but after using my computer it was making my hand rather sore, kinda like if I had been lifting something all day. I figured that this couldn't be good, so I shut the book off and figured I would go to the apple store today because I came home today.
Well, when I got home I set up an appointment to meet at the "genius bar". When I got there I explained the history of my powerbook and the problems I had been having recently. When he got onto my computer he noticed that I had 1.12 gigs on my computer. Immediately he told me that he could do nothing unless I put in the original 256 MB that were in the powerbook w

USB 2.0 hubs and devices increase the PB's fan activity. For connecting low speed devices, use a 1.1 hub. If you need an external hard disk, better choose a Firewire or a Combo drive.

I have a powerbook g4 but it keeps shocking me. why is that?

I have a powerbook G4 15 inch 1.25 hertz (i believe) and when i sit it down somewhere like on my desk after a while it starts to shock me. It's not like just a little bit no a lot and it hurts a lot. What could be making it do that? i need it for work and i don't have the money to buy a new one. What can i do?

It is a well-known "feature".
I suppose one might ground the metal frame, but it's quite an overkill
Not many other solutions, all power supplies I have seen for powerbook (and macbookpro which have same "feature") don't have ground. Well, one could also use a metal desk and ground the desk, but that's even more of an overkill
You are right, it's annoying, distracting, and sometimes painful.

ELECTRIC SHOCK with iPod and Powerbook

a quick post to comment on my recent electric shock...
leaning over my powerbook (right arm touching casing) to select track on my mini which is in bose sounddock - WHOA! electric trickle through my arm! i must've completed the circuit! certainly woke me up this morning. who needs coffee?
anyone else experienced this?
wearing rubber shoes,
james b [uk]

hi btabz,
powerbook was plugged in the mains. i haven't recreated the scenario with either my nano or 20gb...! must be the metal casing of the mini.
i'm calling bose tomorrow.
best,
james b [uk]

Powerbook froze and now will not start up

Maybe she decided that she was retiring but this is what happened.
I was using my Powerbook G4 800 DVI, left to get a snack, came back a few min. later, and the screen was locked up on the last page in Safari I was viewing. No track pad, no keyboard, nothing. Held the power button down till she powered off. Now it will not boot at all. Battery is nearly full, as seen on the lights on the battery.
So I opened the keyboard, and nothing seemed out of place. I removed the 2 ram chips, as I was thinking maybe they got bumped. Replaced them, still no boot, nothing, will not even try.
That was odd, but I let it sit for about 10 min, came back, still no boot, but when I went to get the ram chips out again, they were quite hot. Nothing spectacular, but it puzzled me as they were no that hot when I first forced power-off, but now the computer had been off for at least 15-20 min, and they seemed hotter than earlier. They cooled down quickly when I removed them, but I argued with myself that it could have been residual heat from the other components. So I let it sit for 30 more min, when all the components were cool, then I reinstalled the battery and ram, and tried to boot, noting, but the ram chips were definitely hot. Why would power be going through them when not booted? Short circuit? Failed ram? No matter the combination of chips, ( I have 2x512 MB) only one, in top, bottom, both in, put the bott. on top, nothing. They still got hot and no boot...
I have done a PMU reset found here, with no results
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
The only other odd point is when I have it plugged into the wall charger, everything gets warm, much like it is processing data. The heat sinks for the CPU, and even the bott. of the case, away from the battery get warm, much like it is actually working. I have never noticed that before, but maybe I missed it? I do not think that the CPU should be getting hot while it is charging, powered off, as no fans will kick in.
I know this is long, and I would appreciate any help anyone can give me.
We have a mac store that is certified in repairs, (not a true apple store) and I trust them s we do all of our business computers through them, but I cannot get it to them till Monday. Also, so I don’t have too much sticker shock, what it is the typical service rate? (Ballpark is fine, just going to do some cost comparisons)
One more also. Lets assume my mobo/ram whatever, crapped out, and I want to get the data off the HD, what will be the best method. What if my HD crapped out, can I salvage anything?
Again, thanks
Spinner

Hi spinner,
Start by trying to boot from your install disc. What are the results?
Data: if HD has died, only recourse is data recovery service, hundreds of dollars. If HD is ok, you may be able to boot into FireWire Target Disk Mode and recover your data, otherwise, you can remove the HD and install it in an external enclosure (for 2.5" HD, $50 or so; I'd recommend a FireWire or FW/USB2 model so you can boot a Mac from it in the future, and because in real world use, FW is actually faster than USB2) and connect it to any Mac to access your data.

My Powerbook is bleeding electricity

Dear Apple & Apple Support,
I have discovered that my powerbook bleeds electricity across its casing/chassis when plugged into USB devices that have their own power source. This discovery came after a few instances, including getting shocked while trying to unplug a USB device, consistent "alive" sensations when touching the notebook and the ability to feel the "charged" state of the notebook through other people when they are touching it.
I am however in a difficult situation of trying to resolve this issue. I am currently living in Russia (Major Problem #1). My notebook is the only way I can make money... and even at that I don't always make enough to feed myself and family.
I have dealt with the Apple IMC office in Saint Petersburg. While the staff is friendly enough, the process of getting problems addressed is not. My iPod that has been broken for the last 12 months of the 14 months that I have owned it is still dead and was even further damaged by Apple IMC who failed to process the iPod even-though they had it for two months.
Apple Cupertino has been unresponsive to my requests. I am unable to call into the office... e-mails and newsgroup posts go unanswered.
So while I continue to use my Powerbook... getting electrified and mildly electrocuted in the process, i am at a loss as to what to do. If this was a normal problem with the Powerbook and/or its components that i can understand various options. However, this is actually a rather serious problem that holds extreme liability on everyone's part.
Two solutions that I find to be very acceptable and appropriate in this situation are as follows:
Solution #1: The notebook can be given to Apple IMC with clear instruction from Apple as how to process the repair/exchange. In the meantime, a replacement powerbook (iMac or Powermac) will be made available until my Powerbook is repaired/replaced.
Solution #2: Apple will send a replacement Powerbook to Apple IMC. I will then directly exchange the Powerbooks with Apple IMC.
But the crux of the problem is that Apple is not responsive and Apple IMC only cares about the inflow of cash.
While I know that the forums are not a solid environment to post such matters, I have so few options that I sit here on a prayer hoping that i will get some sort of official response.
Michael Hamson
Home: +7 (812) 570-9110
??. ?????? ?.1 ??.80
?????? 189620
??????

hi there.
I used to live in indonesia and i found the exact same problem. but i knew for a fact that the electricity there is not grounded in most homes. i used my computer there for 3 years without any problems while plugged into a special grounded regulating powerbar at my office, and at home i would watch dvd (not touch the machine often) while it was charging and then do my work off battery. I know it is a pain, but when i got back to canada it worked fine without the zaaaaap! i know this isn't helping much but just so you know, i don't think Apple will do anything to help you. (They won't even replace my new machine that has been malfunctioning regularily for 6months and has been in the repair shop ten times, although they will reimburse you for a rental when you have hardware issues) But if you run your finger accross the machine and it feels like you are massaging a power line, it is definately because you are in a place with dodgy electricity. In my experience, i just took it as another interesting aspect of life in a different country, the way it is. But if you are there for good then some electrical work will definately help. It is not your machine.

Urgent help........lost every thing on my powerbook...............

Hi,
i need some urgent help.
I just switched on my powerbook g4 couple of hours back, and to my shock, everything on my powefbook is LOST.
If i open mail, it starts with the same informaton, that wecome to mal, set up ur a/c ,
same with address book evrything gone, same welcome window
same with itunes, welcome screen
I am totally shocked.
I literally donnt know what happened.
The powerbook was on my table, i didnt even moved it since last night , when everything was ok, but now everything gone....
the softwares were all auto updated couple of days back and the software running is 10.4.7 tiger.
interestingly when i checked the updater, it says no new updates are available,
also, when i checked the HDD space, it was 93 gb total, and 18 gb free which was possibly the hdd space left with me before this possible crash.
I donnt know whats happening here,please ghelp me out of this.
I just want to go back to the stage where i was yesterday night
can anybody help me on this
Thanks in advance
Ashish

Hi,
firstly, i must thank you for reminding me to backup my data as i had never done that except for the photographs i click( take back up on external drive) as me being a photographer.
now the issur.....
i went to macintosh hd > Library > and in that there is a folder , " ashishbahl" which being the name of my powerbook admin .
now the size of that folder is showing as 59.9 Gb.
in that "ashishbahl" folder i am seeing a desktop folder which has all the files which were there on my desktop before this ctrash.
now i am just not able to figure out how all this happened and now that i have located this folder , how to restore my system.
thanks
Ashish

Powerbook charge caught on FIRE!!!!!

MY POWERBOOK'S GENUINE APPLE CHARGER CAUGHT ON FIRE!!
Has anyone elses done similar?
It burnt the floor and if unattended could have burned down the whole house! I'm shocked that this could have happened. Apple USUALLY have really high quality products. Its making me wonder if I should buy the new macbook or not. (The powerbook is in need of replacement anyway....so old!) I tried to call that apple number 133 622 but the first thing they ask for is the serial,...which I don't have in front of me at the moment....so I decided to come here. Is that the only number they have for support?

I'm 95% sure Apple would have sent you a replacement AC adapter without charge or protest if you had gone to Apple in the first place. Complaining here does no one any good, frankly; those adapters were on the market for six or seven years, and the number of failures like yours has been very low. Not negligible, certainly, but very low. There were several modifications to the design and construction of Powerbook AC adapters during those years, all of which made them more robust. There have been additional improvements since then in the adapters sold with MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Older Powerbook G4s and the least durable adapters that were sold with them in their early years are passing out of use, and the time for spreading alarms about them has also passed. Apple still addresses occasional serious failures like yours on a case-by-case basis, warranty or no warranty. We occasionally hear about them here.

Bugs in a Powerbook? (the little live creature bugs!!)

All of a sudden out of nowhere, in my BRAND NEW apartment, bugs have been appearing. And we all know where bugs migrate too, that's right, my glowing powerbook screen (even though I have all the lights on in the room). Now I try and get these buggers, but they're so fast that the run down to the space between the hinge of the display and the main body of the computer before I can try and get them without destroying my display while squishing away. So naturally I quick like pick up my powerbook and try and get them from down wherever I think they are, but they're always just magically gone. This has been going on for about once a day for a week.
Now this really isn't really a problem with Apple here, but they seem to keep disappearing in an area where there are air vents for the laptop. Do you think they're going in there? Wouldn't the heat scare 'em away? Are they getting fried once they get in? Is that why my fans are always on no matter what!? (Yes, I have the always running powerbook fans problem. I've given up. I just say it's a Tiger "bug" (hehe) because that's when it became a problem.) There doesn't seem to be anything I can do about this other then look for a hole in my wall or something, but I thought it was kinda a funny story, and I also do honestly worry about potential damage if they are going into Hades underworld that is my constantly 65C powerbook to be burnt to death. I haven't smelt any roosting bugs yet... but....

Fortunately, I don't have a cockroach problem, but instead some little winged creatures that are small enough to get inside that spot I'm talking about. So if they are indeed going in there, according to the article, they could build up over time and cause me problems after all.
I wonder what I can do about it....
1) I could take a can of compressed air and just blow 'em around in there
But then wouldn't they all just end up at the front and that wouldn't really fix anything...
2) Maybe I could like, take a vacuum and try that...
But I don't have a vacuum (wood flooring), and wouldn't that be like dangerous for electrical shocks and stuff?
I'll be in Tokyo in a few weeks and I've gotta go to the Apple store anyways to point out how their solution to my iPod problems is just resetting it is no longer acceptable since it needs to be done about once a week, so I'll ask them what they think. I'm sure any normal person would at least chuckle, so they'll probably sit there stone faced. Meh.

G4 POWERBOOK LOST CAUSE?

My sister lives in Manhattan and owns a G$ Aluminium with 12 inch screen. Few months ago was running to catch a cab and slipped and fell and the G4 took a tumble. As I look at it it looks like the screen came a little ajar. After the accident she tried to turn it up and no power. I am new to MACs,is this worth repairing? On PC Laptops when the screen breaks it still powers up. I think she fried the main board? I realize it is difficult to make a diagnois with out examining it but any opinions out there would be appreciated. Here are 2 pictures I took of the damaged area. Rest of Powerbook is fine.
Click Here http://www.geocities.com/atlantic965/oops_one.JPG
Click Here
http://www.geocities.com/atlantic965/oops_two.JPG
Thanks in Advance.

Mmmh... I don't know, I might be wrong, but you shouldn't fry the motherboard because of a fall...
Have you take a look at the RAM? perhaps they moved because of the shock.
Also, does the HDD power up? Any noise at all coming from the PB?
BTW, what it that "half circle" feet under the PB on the pics you linked?
Are those special feet to raise the back of the PB?

Wire broken inside PowerBook G4, what wire is it?

Okay so... My Uncle received a PowerBook G4 Pro 17 Inch from His Brother.
When he got it, he said it had a ugly looking blue apple at the top left, so I was like okay.... it had OS X Tiger.
He said it would boot fine, some times it would take a while for the screen to show up after you hear the noise in the beginning, but it would boot fine. The problem was that it would boot, log him in, but then crash and freeze etc...
So... he told me he decided to "scrap" it, and instantly my mouth was like , I was in shock.
After I opened, and inspected it, my results were this:
The Battery Chord was Cut (with scissors)
He took the RAM (and threw it away)
and just unplugged to 250GB HDD (I was so happy when he didn't break that too)
So my questions are this:
1.) What is this wire to?
As you can see in the pics below, if you take out the battery, and unscrew the other thing, that's where it would attach too.
In the second pic, it shows where it is on the Board itself. If you take off the Keyboard, it's in the top left near the speaker, then that goes to the slot near the battery.
Hopefully someone can explain what that is and where I can buy it.
2.) Will the Mac Start without RAM?
That's about it.
Hopefully someone can answer my questions.
Thanks,
Eric.

1) You might look at some of the assembly guides at http://www.ifixit.com/Browse/PowerBook_G4_Aluminum to see what that is.
2) The mac will not start without RAM. With Tiger, you need at least 256MB, and more is better, like 512MB or 1GB. Recommend Crucial at http://www.crucial.com or memory from OWC at http://www.macsales.com . Crucial warranties their memory for life, has free shipping in the US, and you can usually find a 5% off coupon on retailmenot.com.

Is my powerbook electrocuting me?

I dropped my powerbook, unprotected, a couple of feet yesterday and it landed right on the corner that is closest to the battery (with the laptop open, this is the front left corner on the base [non-screen] portion of the computer). There is a bit of crumple from the drop and the upper part of the base just barely does not touch the lower part of the base due to the crumple. This is certainly not a terrible issue, though I have some concern about dust getting in through the very small gap.
The real issue is that since then, it sort of feels like I'm getting a very low level shock when I use the computer. I've been shocked before and this isn't a big jolting shock, and in fact it can barely be felt (I'll admit this could be psychosomatic and imagined). But when I'm typing and resting my wrists on the base, I get an odd feeling in my chest, throat, and head.
My wife tried it and said she senses something as well, but I'm trying to determine if it's even possible to be shocked by the laptop. I will also note that this happens regardless of whether I'm plugged into an outlet. I'm a couple of hours away from my apple store and would like to avoid the trip until I'm back in this area in a couple weeks, unless being shocked by this computer is a realistic issue.
Am I crazy?

It is possible to be shocked by your laptop. I've seen other threads where users have reported very definite shocks. Besides which, any electrical item presumably has this potential. Being disconnected from the power won't necessarily prevent it - there is still power from the battery. Even pulling the battery does not rule out the possibility of shock as power is stored in PRAM batteries (where applicable), capacitors etc. If you open a laptop to install RAM, for example, you disconnect from AC and pull the battery but you can still be shocked.
So it is very possible, you are not crazy (well, not necessarily on the basis of the evidence presented, anyway) and you should not postpone the trip to the AppleStore. It is never good when your computer starts attacking you!
- cfr

Best replacement for G4 Powerbook Titanium AC adapter?

Hi all,
My AC adapter has gone kaput, and I am looking for a replacement. (Don't have AppleCare Protection). They are selling for $79 at the Apple Store, and there's a few on eBay. But, I found this generic thing over at macally.com
Does anyone have experience with the macally power adapter? Is it trustworthy?
TIA-
Matt

My preferences are for Seagate and Hitachi drives due to the reliability I've had, especially with Seagate, in 10+ years. However other people here have expressed preferences for Samsung and/or Western Digital. There have also been plenty of people against Toshiba drives (many reports of drive failures).
Not all drives offer the same features. For example, some have shock protection whilst others have encryption or may be ultra quiet. Others offer longer warranties etc.
The 80-120GB range should give you plenty of scope. A 5400RPM drive will be a good all-rounder, whilst a 7200RPM offers ultimate speed. Unless you are going to be using disk intensive apps, the 5400RPM should be sufficient. It's also worth looking out for drives with at least 8MB cache.
If you are going to buy an external enclosure then try to get a FireWire or FW/USB combo version. Don't buy a USB-only enclosure as it will not be able to boot up your PowerBook. Having a bootable external drive will give you more and better options when troubleshooting (or if there's a problem with the internal).
15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

Powerbook is SHOCKING me. Electrocution.

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