Strange vibrating feeling when touching electronic devices

[BumbleBee]

poor Chuck!

 

[Jetster]

That's is exactly what I was thinking

 

[OneMoar]

you have touched god

 

[dom99]

I've had this loads of times from different devices like sony Walkmans (old school) and iPods, laptops etc.

No idea what it is though, something electrical, only seemed to happen when plugged into the wall charging and when you move your finger accross a metal bit

 

[yesyesloud]

welcome to the early stage of foil hat awakening

 

[ChevyOwner]

If the device has a metal case it is probably a ground issue, and something is causing there to be power where it should not be.

Spoiler

Don't try this it will probably end very badly.
Don't do what I did when I was younger, and stupider. I was working on an outside light that was close to the ground, and stupidly I thought it was good enough to simply turn off the switch. For some reason the switch was wired wrong, and switched neutral not hot. Lets just say it could have ended far worse then my arm being sore for a few weeks.

I learned my lesson there the hard way.

 

[P4-630]

Hello everyone,

there is something that has been bugging me a lot lately, and I fail to find an answer for what may cause it.

As the poorly worded thread title sais, sometimes, when I touch the surface of some electronical devices, such as certain MSI notebooks or my girlfriends iPad, and swipe over it with very VERY little pressure I have such a strange vibrating feeling coming off the device. It's not like the vibration you'd feel from a spinning HDD, and as soon as I hold my hands still I feel nothing. It is hard to describe just how it feels, but I would describe it as some kind of electrical vibration.

It seems like it mostly has to do with power supplies. As soon as I disconnect the power supply or change the orientation of the plug it usually vanishes. Heck, when my girlfriend holds her iPad and the power supply is plugged in in a certain orientation I can even feel her skin vibrate. When we plug the power supply in the other way or unplug it it is gone. She feels it too and it creeps her out.

I have absolutely no idea what causes this, and my coworkers are no help. Two of them feel nothing whilst one of them feels it very slightly.

Could anyone shed some light on what the hell this is?

Then again, maybe I am just oversensitive and / or should put on a tinfoil hat

I'm experiencing the same, with both my Asus laptops which have an aluminum palm rest area, no problems on my acer netbook since it's all plastic.
I must say that I have my laptops plugged in a wall socket with no grounding.

 

[Wondering doggys]

This happens on my mom's Sony tv where the Ariel socket is, touching the metal makes my finger vibrates and the TV uses a British plug

 

[dorsetknob]

can you use a multi meter ?
Set to 250v range
connect one probe to earth
connect other probe to the metal that makes you tingle
Any Reading above zero and you need to consult an Electrician

 

[P4-630]

I dont have this anymore since I plug my laptops in a grounded wall socket now.

 

[Ameba_143]

Have the same sensation and also blamed grounding, up until i touched the metal pot on my induction hob and had the same feeling. Induction hob was turned off and a plate itself is not conductive...
It's this strange feeling when you move smoothly your hand over a metal casing. For me it works for metal parts of laptop (only when connected to adapter, nothing on battery), metal ventilation hood (not grounded) but nothing with fridge (it's grounded).
Any idea how can I measure this? Nobody believes me

 

[nomdeplume]

The world is full of people who could pick up the local radio station on their braces among all sorts of electronic weirdness nobody else believed. The explanation is simple enough in technical terms but proving it beyond doubt is immeasurably tough. If for instance that outlet is running off a vacuum tube... hard fix easy explanation why your computer shouldn't be plugged in there.

 

[sneekypeet]

Off topic BS has been removed. This is not romper room folks, help or move along! Public warning to everyone!

 

[scevism]

When I gently glide my fingers over the surface of my gf MacBook Air (either the outside shell, or the inside part next to the trackpad) I detect a subtle but very noticeable sensation, that feels like a very light vibration, or a "buzz". Fuck knows what it is maybe im x-men type freak.

 

[nomdeplume]

If I went across the border into Canada they have state funded billboards reminding you of the hazards of using a cell phone. Not driving while using a cell phone, using a cell phone. Back in the US advertising for new phones, hot spots, data carrier solutions, etc has become inescapable. The phenomenon surrounding stray electricity and broadcast signals isn't as new as it taboo. No idea about the EU in this regard.

 

[backwoods]

Un-earthed main, but I would actually check the source. Meaning see how well your actual main power panel is grounded if you live in a house. If you're unsure, have an electrician inspect it. It's more crucial in Europe and the UK, where they operate on higher voltage and Hz.

I would say your correct, because Europe and the UK have a different grid system where high voltage runs to every outlet in a home (I've been in some place's where you can feel the voltage in the air, just always remember electrical current want's to go though the lest path of resistance to ground and you might be the path it want's for a ground and with high voltage that's not enjoyable at all. like you said have an qualified electrician inspect your service.

 

[Cvrk]

When I gently glide my fingers over the surface of my gf MacBook Air (either the outside shell, or the inside part next to the trackpad) I detect a subtle but very noticeable sensation, that feels like a very light vibration, or a "buzz". Fuck knows what it is maybe im x-men type freak.

Your probably not gonna do this...and i don't even know if it has much relevance with the topic...but: go outisde barefoot make sure your standing on earth surface (a yard whatever) not concrete, run around or just move like this for 5 minutes, enjoy the sun or whatever, now do the same thing with the finger gliding.

This what is the most powerful type of grounding there is. It's healthy to do this at least once two times a year. For me ,it's like a therapy. When springs comes or in the summer, i always do it. A full day in spring on the grass barefoot is amazing

 

[Vayra86]

The world is full of people who could pick up the local radio station on their braces among all sorts of electronic weirdness nobody else believed. The explanation is simple enough in technical terms but proving it beyond doubt is immeasurably tough. If for instance that outlet is running off a vacuum tube... hard fix easy explanation why your computer shouldn't be plugged in there.

Isn't that just the differences (and the change) in polarity that we are experiencing? I believe its similar to this thing we call ESD and wear wristbands for, or touch a grounded object, while working on computer components. There's also an electrical charge running through our bodies, could the phase be of influence?

Also, my first thought on reading topic title was 'Toypowerup v2' in disguise. Just saying.

 

[Caring1]

When I gently glide my fingers over the surface of my gf MacBook Air (either the outside shell, or the inside part next to the trackpad) I detect a subtle but very noticeable sensation, that feels like a very light vibration, or a "buzz". Fuck knows what it is maybe im x-men type freak.

I have this issue with an aluminium bodied HP laptop, the palm rest area gives me a buzzing, tingly feeling. I have pulled it apart and there is no way it is shorting inside on the body. The power sockets are also grounded here and that is the only device doing this.

 

[nomdeplume]

@Vayra86 Hearts and brains are the most complex electronic devices on earth. The electricity they run on is far different from that which is generated and transferred into your home. Static shocks are effectively the disruptive leveling force when the two meet in a way that requires balancing the differences. When dealing with force the smaller or more delicate part of the equation takes the brunt of damage, ie hard drive. Instead, say you were to hold a bare live wire in one hand and that same hard drive in the other. Whatever power your body doesn't absorb would flow to the hard drive. That is the difference between a shock wave and current.

The reverse of that last example is what's happening. The tingling is due to the wave like pattern it is traveling in or pulsing. The topic I was dancing around is radiation. Cell phones and computers give off amounts of radiation you can absorb through proximity. When you act as a direct grounded physical link it also becomes conduction.

Bananas are a widely available and consumed source of radiation, potassium. Trees give off a certain amount of radiation. There are many other natural and beneficial sources of both radiation and conduction. Laptops and cell phones are not beneficial sources of either.

 

[Phaewryn]

I'd test it by taking it to another location, like a public cafe, or go to a relatives house in another city. If it still happens there, it's probably you're extra sensitive to vibration. If it only happens at home, it's probably a bad ground in your home. I lived in a house once that if you accidentally leaned on the stove while touching the microwave, you got a full 110 pop through your body. Not fun. I wouldn't trust putting any electronic devices into a house with a ground that bad. You can buy power strips that indicate if your ground is good or not, that's the easiest solution, plus they have some minor surge protection built is usually (typically not nearly enough, but they are not expensive). Buy one, put it inline, see if it indicates a faulty ground or not. APC's power strips typically indicate home grounding faults, look for "Building Wiring Fault Indicator" in their models. It's an led that indicates either that your building's grounding is good or bad. If it's bad, try it in other outlets in the home, if they are all bad, you can check to see if it's laziness at the outlet or the whole house's ground being bad by taking apart an outlet. Remove the outlet cover, and see if the outlet has a ground wire run to it. Sometimes people get lazy and just don't bother connecting one at the outlet, and it's an easy fix. If there's no ground wire at the outlet to be connected, you'll need to hire an electrician to come re-wire the outlet, and possibly, if that doesn't fix it, add a grounding rod to your home's circuit box.

 

[Papahyooie]

I used to do heating and air work, and we used to feel this in the ductwork and boxes of the furnaces on houses that had bad grounding. Check and make sure your outlet is grounded, then check and make sure your house is properly grounded.

Then again, we sometimes worked with live 110 on our bodies if we couldn't be arsed to crawl out of the attic to turn off the correct, but improperly labeled breakers... So ymmv...

 

[nomdeplume]

Attics are fun but the real surprises happen in crawl spaces. Petrified animals arcing between the wire their teeth are embedded in and a poorly angled nail that missed the stud but caught their tail bone when it launched skyward. All right under the steel rocker recliner nobody uses because it's oddly uncomfortable. Really a laughable subject if you aren't being tortured by some unknown force.

 

[Papahyooie]

Attics are fun but the real surprises happen in crawl spaces. Petrified animals arcing between the wire their teeth are embedded in and a poorly angled nail that missed the stud but caught their tail bone when it launched skyward. All right under the steel rocker recliner nobody uses because it's oddly uncomfortable. Really a laughable subject if you aren't being tortured by some unknown force.

Oh dear god, don't remind me, you're giving me flashbacks... I one time rolled over and laid in a raccoon.... Yes, I did say "in".... lol