Static Discharge

So, I recently bought this iPod classic and I wish I hadn't. There's obviously something wrong. I'm a student so I have a backpack on for much of the day. When I have my iPod on and my headphones in, and I take off my back pack I get a massive discharge of static in my ears and a large amount of white noise. I thought it was a one time thing so I used it again, it fried my headphones. So then I thought maybe it was that pair of headphones, so I used a different pair... it happened again. It's very annoying and my friend had a different MP3 player with similar problems that just shut off one day after getting this shock. I know it's because of my back pack rubbing up against my sweatshirt causing the static, but should it be going through my device and headphones?? I don't want to loose my new purchase, and I didn't have enough money at the time to get a warrenty.
ALSO... I bought a belkin rubber grip sleeve and the minute I took the iPod out of the box I put this sleeve on http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=463089 ...just like this for the classic and when I started getting these shocks I took it off and to my surprise there are white, crystal burst like formations embedded on the back of the device... so now I'm concerned there's something really wrong with it. What should I do? Anyone have simliar problems?
Oh, I've used the iPod w/o the sleeve on, the shocks still happen and the speckles are still there...

So I kept using the iPod, curious as to what would happen. It killed another headset, but then I reset the iPod and it works now... I have no idea what's going on or what might be wrong...

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My battery low power vac is a bit too low power. If I use an AC powered vac that has a three prong power cord; set the suction reducing window open and use a brush attachment will I be OK?
Should I wear a grounded wrist strap? Should I shut down the Air first? I just envision what the inside will be like if I don't start now to reduce the collection of said debris.
Has anyone damaged their MacBook Air from static discharge from vacuuming the keyboard or other wise.
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Not sure where my reply went so again:
Neoblackout,
thanks again!
What is this dust collector system thing you're talking about? Its just a normal vacuum right?
Picture a very large vacuum the size of three large trash cans stacked up. With three or four inch hose running from one wood cutting machine to another along the celing of the work shop. Large chips of wood and saw dust get sucked out of the cutters, along the cealing and into one or two big bins.
PS: Oh there's the first reply it took a long time to post such a short reply !
MODERATOR please remove short. Sorry off topic. Have a good morning.

Frequent static discharges on X201 and ultrabase

I've been playing with the new X201 notebook we received yesterday, and am concerned by the number of times I've received a minor static discharge when touching different parts of the notebook and base. This has happened on the fingerprint reader, USB ports, CD tray, etc. This hasn't happened for any of our other laptops
We're told to wear anti-static straps when working on the internals since even millivolt discharges (which we barely feel) can damage equipment, should I be worrying that these zaps on parts connected to internal circuitry will shorten the lifespan of the notebook?
It is plugged into a surge protector, but there's no grounding prong on the power adapter.
Thanks

try calling Lenovo and tell them about the static discharge, then tell them that you want a grounded power plug and ac cables sent out, to see whether it can solve the problem.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

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I have a dv8t laptop, and for the most part I am enjoying it. I've had it for about 6 months. There have been a couple of bugs, but this forum has been a great source for finding answers!
One issue that has caused me concern from the beginning is the frequency of static discharge around this laptop. I often go to fire it up in the morning, and get a zap from static. It is never a big jolt, but it happens most days. I know computers and static do not mix, so this has me worried that someday it will kill something important.
This is the first HP I have owned. It is sitting on my desk on an HP xb4 Docking Station. Before this I had 2 Dell laptops and multiple Dell desktops. I have never seen static like this before. This HP is sitting in exactly the same position where I had a Dell Latitude for 3 years, and never the slightest zap from the Dell. Nothing else in the environment has changed, so I figure it must have something to do with the HP's case construction or something.
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I can feel static discharge.....

Hi all,
I'm wondering if any of you guys and girls experience what I'm experiencing?
Whenever I hook my Powerbook up to the powerpoint, I can feel static discharge when I run my palm over the powerbook casing. It can be painful sometimes.
Is this something to worry about? Will the laptop be compromised because of this?
Cheers,
Kenny

Static electricity is discharged in a 'crack' or pin-***** event - very fast and often very sore. If this is a more or less constant faint tingling then it isn't static electricity - it is a small level of leakage current. It can be caused by a voltage difference between your data projector ground and the Powerbook's ground (although some users have experienced it through the Powerbook's case in other uses).
Try using your Powerbook with the extension lead connected to your power block - it has an earth in the plug and so will give the case a solid connection path to earth which should remove any ground voltage.
This is not dangerous, of course it is uncomfortable but the energy levels here are very small so don't worry about being electrocuted or your Powerbook being damaged.
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Interesting Problem - Static Discharge to MBP Wakes Another Computer

This is on my brother's 2009 13" MacBook Pro. It is on a surge protector plugged into a wall socket that also has a second surge protector plugged into it, which a Dell uses. That is, the second surge protector is plugged into a different port on the wall socket, not the first surge protector.
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Hello,
I know that it has been a while since you posted, but I am curious as to what you eneded up doing. I hope you are still alive. Maybe post the question on reddit and an electrician will answer.
Gabe

Wake on static discharge?

My macbook pro wakes on a static discharge to the case. This isn't always avoidable, since I am not always in a place where I can discharge myself from charges accumulated by walking around. This can happen when handing the computer to a security guard for entrance/exit checks, or when I move items between workspaces. The rooms where this happens are all wood and wool carpet so there's no obvious place to discharge.
What exactly is the computer misreading the charge as, and is there an option to deactivate it as a wake-up trigger?
So far there seem to have been no harmful effects, only inconvenience.

Good suggestions, but there's no metal, not even a door handle, nearby. And the guard was only one example. On dry days, all I need to do is move materials between adjacent tables and my computer gets a shock.
It seems strange to me that the computer could be designed to react to small shocks like these. They're everyday occurences in dry winter weather and rooms where the air is kept dry for climate controled work done inside them.

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Static discharge to my Mac

For quite some time, I have been having problems with static electricity and my MacBook Pro, particularly in the winter. My computer sits on a desk connected to a powered USB hub and the power cord. The surface of the desk is wood and insulated. I sit in an office chair with roller wheels that travel on a plastic floor mat (protects parque floor). I use more than one computer and typically roll about 5' to the other computer or to a filing cabinet. When I do this, I pick up static and upon touching my MacBook Pro there is a static discharge. It is not painful or otherwise harmful but it usually disrupts my USB connections and often stops any Time Machine backups if they are in progress. Unlike some others who have reported this situation, my computer generally continues to function normally.
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I have also had some success with grounding the Mac directly. I found that if I put an aluminum ruller under the back of the case, it tends to disapate heat and prevents the fan from running too much. I connected a grounded wrist strap to this ruler by cutting off the strap and using a pop rivit to connect it to the ruler. The wrist strap has an end with just a grounding prong that plugs into a standard power cord. It does not prevent the static discharge but it seems to reduce its effect on my other devices. I suspect that the static disapates to the grounding cord instead of the USB hub.

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Static discharge with exterior of Mac mini

Just today I what working near my Mac mini. When my finger got close to the Mac mini, I felt and heard an static electricity discharge. It shock me. I think this has happened before. Anyone else encounter it.
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Hi, L!
Ron and Andy's advice is very good. You should condition yourself to touch "ground" before touching your Mac (or any other electronic devices you have at home, like stereos, an iPod, etc.). You can cut down on the potential for static buildup by using a humidifier and by using an anti static spray on your carpets. At your desk, one of those vinyl desk mats will help if your chair's on a carpet The static wrist strap is a good idea... you don't necessarily have to wear it, just plug the end in, place it somewhere convenient, and touch it before you touch your Mac. Alternatively, if you have metal duplex outlet or light switch covers, you could touch them to release a static charge to ground as well.
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ps: A sure-fire way to blow a FW or USB port is to plug one end of a cable into the port on the Mac and later release a static charge through it by touching the pins at the other end.

IPhone sparks, static discharge

I have a iPhone 4S and left iton a nightstand in my hotel next to the telephone. During the night I was awoken by sparks flying from my iPhone. The desk phone had a burn spot on it from the discharge of sparks from the iPhone. Has anyone seen this? What causes it? Is there any danger to damage of the iPhone?

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Static Electricity causing Aluminum Shelled Notebooks to freeze??

Once in awhile, when I come back to my computer, I get "shocked" by the aluminum body of my MacBook Pro (just for the record, this has happened to me too since the Titanium and the previous [same design] Powerbook) .... and it'll freeze the OS.
Nothing moves, and I have to hard restart.
Does this happen to anyone else? It seems like it happens when the static discharges on the trackpad.
What is up with this???

When using my PowerBook G4, I sometimes feel the zap of static electricity when I first touch it...and if my finger was close enough to the trackpad, the zap 'stuns' the trackpad for several seconds. It's difficult to move the cursor very far. After several seconds the responsiveness returns and everything is normal. This is with the factory power supply and either the two prong adapter or cable with grounded plug.
Also my Mac Pro (and my previous machine, a PowerMac G5) seems susceptible to static. Apparently my desk chair builds up a charge when I'm sitting at the computer for long periods and if I put the computer to sleep and then get out of the chair, the computer wakes back up. My G5 did the exact same thing. The other morning it was particularly cold and I draped a shirt over the back of my chair and the static from that woke the computer. As I walked into the room I could feel the shirt crackling and raising the hair on my arm.
The Mac Pro has a grounded plug, but the machine is sitting on a carpeted floor under my desk... I've been wondering if I should find a mat or something to put it on.
Crazy, huh?

'Static' freezes MacBook Pro, 100% repeatable (related to trackpad)

Whenever I am in a hurry and run back to my desk, (settling in to 'get back to it')
.....IF.........the first thing I touch is the trackpad, the computer freezes. Every time, 100%
It's totally frozen (to any input). The cursor is blinking though, so then I press the power button and it asks if I want to restart, but it's still frozen thus I can't choose any of the 4 options (one of which is restart), and I end up having to hold the power button down to force shutdown.
I now KNOW the problem, but it has been difficult to re-learn how to touch my computer, especially when I am in a HUGE hurry.
But anyway I'm reading thru this forum seeing that lots of folks are having trouble with MBPro freezing. And the ONLY time mine EVER freezes is when I give the trackpad an (assumed) jolt of static electricity. If I run across the office and touch the trackpad the computer freezes, it's 100% repeatable.
I told Applecare about it and they said "ho hum" (two different techs). Applecare does not seem to have a place for user information, (or they didn't believe me). This is after calling them on 4 separate occasions, resetting the Power Management Unit (4 times), threatening to re-install the O/S, making appointments for hardware tests, etc etc etc all kinds of trouble.
I'm pretty sure of it, I have frozen it like this at least 10X now.
SO, I hope this helps folks. If your Macbook freezes after you run around on carpet picking up static electricity, sit down and relax just a little while, and bleed off that static before before you touch your MBPro trackpad. Or touch the metal case first, NOT the trackpad. I have never 'noticed' an electric shock, I am just assuming it's due to static because of the behavior. Get in the habit of waking it with the SHIFT key, for example.
It wold be great if anyone has hints how to un-freeze it (after the keyboard and mouse are frozen) so if (when) it happens again I don't have to force-shutdown.
Message was edited by: TomSeattle
Message was edited by: TomSeattle

Hi
Thanks for the reply.
Not feeling a static discharge simply means it is below the threshold, it doesn't mean there wasn't a discharge.
I'm pretty certain of this as I developed the theory, then watched it happen, like clockwork, at least 5x since. And as I said, it is 100% repeatable. I'd be happy to demonstrate this to Apple, but I barely have enough time in my day to endure the restarts, or to call applecare,,,,, certainly not enough time to go to the Genius bar to demonstrate this. And they probably have some kind of antistatic carpet there.... However if a Genius was interested enough to stop by my office I'd gladly demonstrate it.
..... jut trying to help folks narrow down a freeze problem. I was pretty happy to find mine, and not have to call applecare again.
Tom
Message was edited by: TomSeattle

Laptop died from static electricity

or at least this is the only thing that comes to my mind. Compaq presario v2040us served us for quite a while and yesterday night my wife called me that laptop has shut down and won't turn on. No lights, no noise no matter what you do. This happened when she walked to the laptop and put her hands on the keyboard to start typing. She felt a weak discharge between her fingers and the keyboard (I suppose something metallic that is under keyboard, actually) after which the laptop died. It's winter time there, lots of wool close, heating + dry air. The static discharge between you and all the metal staff around (including computer) is a common thing, but it never was causing any problems until this time. This is especially surprising, since the device was powered through the ac-adaptor, and I would expect this thing to be grounded.
Did anybody hear about such things before? What potentially can go off? Is it worth repairing (in terms of money) or should we start watching the deals for the new one?

Take it from an electrical engineer!! The chances of your laptop being zapped by STATIC in those circumstances are extremely low if not nonexistent.
Static electricity builds up on a person and when that person touches something which has been properly earthed ie the chassis to your laptop, the STATIC electricity ceases to be STATIC and discharges through the chassis directly to earth sometimes causing a small shock and no harm to components.
Now then, if the chassis is short circuited to a LIVE component or if by leaning, or pressing in the right area causes the chassis to touch a LIVE component and somebody touches the chassis then that would cause a shock AND possibly affect the component that shorts to earth likely causing the laptop to malfunction.
The reason Chassis are earthed is to,
1) Discharge static safely to ground without affecting static sensitive components.
2) In the event that bumps, knocks, bangs etc cause some LIVE component, wire or connector to be dislodged and to touch a conductive part of the chassis then that LIVE electricity will be directed to earth lessening the chance of shock.
The ONLY way STATIC electricity could zap your laptop was if you physically touched a static sensitive component (generally a chip or cct board) without either an antistatic wristband or earthing yourself prior. As you state that it was plugged into the mains then that is the route any static would take. As already stated Static will find the shortest route to earth, hence why metal on electrical products always have a little green and yellow lead connected internaly.
The world we've created may not be perfect, but the laws of physics are. On the subject of imperfection, I hardly think that "Google" is the authority on electrical safety. Speak to an actual person who KNOWS what they're talking about and they will confirm what I have told you. Google - a great tool but subject to the imperfections you talk of.
“I guess you refer to mechanical short circuit. Yes these things happen, but in order to initiate one (assuming it is inside) you should physically act on a device (press on it, shake it, flip it etc)” - As you so helpfully point out it’s a portable device and subject to bumps knocks etc. so it is more likely than most products to develop a loose earth or to create a chassis earth.
“there is is such thing called electrical insulation” - Basically this is my point! Insulation has possibly broken down at some point and caused live to touch earth!
“There is no way you can be shocked from the laptop unless you have some metal part under the keyboard under extremely high electric potential (order of kilovolts)” - Or the insulation has broken down causing a short to somewhere else on the chassis which your wife was also in contact with.
“On the other hand your charged body can easily accumulate and carry a potential of several kilovolts” - Agreed! But that voltage is directed to earth away from sensitive components. If that process fails then there is very possibly a more serious issue. By the way technically 20V DC has the potential to cause a pretty serious shock if your wife's resistance is 1000 Ohms (she'd probably have to be soaking wet in bare feet and stood in a pool of water for that to happen, but still...) that makes a current of 20 mA. Try goggling the potential affects of a 20mA shock I wonder what you'd find...! The voltages used within the laptop are actually less than that. 5V and 3.3V if my memory serves me correctly. It is unlikely to result in any serious harm but at the very least its unpleasant and will cause problems with the laptop... It may simply be a loose connection or it may have been a one off... Who knows?
For the record I've worked on computers since I was 12 and I've been working with static sensitive components professionally for 10 years, I do know what I’m talking about. Take my advice or leave it, but if you’re going to question it find someone/thing that is a little more reliable than Google to base your wife’s safety on.
“anyhow. the device is back to life and there's been no complains for more than a week, and it's all that matters.” Till next time???
Message Edited by Sticky1981 on 02-08-2009 06:05 AM
Message Edited by Sticky1981 on 02-08-2009 06:09 AM

Static disabling Touch Pad & Keyboard

I have an Early 2008 15" MacBook Pro, and I live in a dry climate, and so static discharge is a problem. If it discharges on the track pad it disables the track pad and keyboard.
That does not allow me to save what I was working on, because the only way to restore them is to force quit by the power button.
I have two questions. Is there a way to restore the track pad and keyboard without a restart?
Can someone suggest a device to discharge the static. There is nothing within arms reach to dischaget the static. So far I have been lucky that no permenant damage has happened.

I've used a 3M static discharge pad for over 10 years now, both on my desktop and my wife's. They are not INexpensive, unless you deduct the costs of the damage that does NOT happen or the discomfort that does NOT happen. As I said, these things have been doing their job for a considerable time and show no signs of failure. On a desktop, just put it under your keyboard close enough to the edge of the front so that you automatically touch it before anything on the computer. Basically the same thing with your laptop. These things are easily cut with a strong pair of scissors to just about any shape or size. Just don't cut off and discord (no pun intended) the part that has a wire that you connect to a grounded outlet, usually the screw holding the cover is also grounded on properly installed outlets. It would be wise, of course, to be sure, and correct that first! I bought mine at a local electronics store but they are also available on-line. Just search for "static discharge pad"

Static Discharge

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