Macbook Pro "Vibrating & Shocking Feeling" When Charging

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Pooky

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When I plug my macbook pro in to charge, if I rest my hands on it there is like a vibrating feeling and when I touch the corners then I sometimes get small tingly shocks.

I have googled and it seems that it is a fairly common thing as the macbook is made from metal, but this could also be a problem with the grounding of the plugs being used.

Does anyone experience a similar problem?
 
Pooky said:
When I plug my macbook pro in to charge, if I rest my hands on it there is like a vibrating feeling and when I touch the corners then I sometimes get small tingly shocks.

I have googled and it seems that it is a fairly common thing as the macbook is made from metal, but this could also be a problem with the grounding of the plugs being used.

Does anyone experience a similar problem?
Click to expand...

I've experienced shocks with an iMac, when it was plugged in.
 
I've only experienced the shocks when charging ungrounded. The vibrating is simply the hard disc. I've had about four different drives in my MBP since I got it, and each had varying degrees of vibrating. The quietest one was the the vanilla Seagate 7200rpm 320GB. The Seagate FDE 7200rpm I have now is the vibiest one yet :)
 
experienced the same today, got electric tingling at the corners. must have something to do with the grounding of the plugs as it was the first time I experienced this and it was plugged in at a self made light thing at a friends place.

funny I read about it today
 
Yeah, instead of the duckbill you use a cord witha 3 prong plug when you can. You'll notice a metal bit under the groove of the adaptor end of the cord - that's the earth.
 
bwana said:
Yeah, instead of the duckbill you use a cord witha 3 prong plug when you can. You'll notice a metal bit under the groove of the adaptor end of the cord - that's the earth.
Click to expand...

My charging cord is two prong, is that the duckbill?

How do I attach a cord with a three prong?

I would really like to get rid of that feeling because when I'm using the computer, the corners shock my arms when they are resting, it's most annoying.
 
It's not only Mac books my hp mini which is also fully metal (I think ) feels like it's vibrating when I touch it while it's charging
 
Pooky said:
My charging cord is two prong, is that the duckbill?

How do I attach a cord with a three prong?

I would really like to get rid of that feeling because when I'm using the computer, the corners shock my arms when they are resting, it's most annoying.
Click to expand...
The duckbill is actually the plastic one that clips onto the brick without any length of cord. Depending on where your Mac came from it should have come with at least one cord that is earthed. Even the big round european one will work if you cut off the plug and fit an SA one in its place.
 
bwana said:
The duckbill is actually the plastic one that clips onto the brick without any length of cord. Depending on where your Mac came from it should have come with at least one cord that is earthed. Even the big round european one will work if you cut off the plug and fit an SA one in its place.
Click to expand...

It came with an American cord, I bought a new South African one. I have one that clips onto the brick but it is American.
 
Pooky said:
It came with an American cord, I bought a new South African one. I have one that clips onto the brick but it is American.
Click to expand...
The US cord they usually supply is an earthed cord so chop the plug off and put on a SA three-prong (green is earth, blue is neutral, brown is live)

Where did you get the SA one from?
 
bwana said:
The US cord they usually supply is an earthed cord so chop the plug off and put on a SA three-prong (green is earth, blue is neutral, brown is live)

Where did you get the SA one from?
Click to expand...

I bought the SA one from an iStore...

The American one says 110v max though and our wall sockets are more than that... I don't want to fry anything.
 
Pooky said:
I bought the SA one from an iStore...

The American one says 110v max though and our wall sockets are more than that... I don't want to fry anything.
Click to expand...
they should have sold you an earthed one. I might have a spare UK one in my collection if the missus hasn't binned them.
 
Okay I phone 2 iStores they told me that they don't make an earthed South African one. My only solution seems to be to cut off the current plug and attach my own 3 prong plug...

My question is, can I do this with the American one? I'm scared to as on the american plug it says 110volts, and I don't want to plug it in to our sockets as they are of a much higher voltage. Can I? Will it break anything?
If I can just use a travel adaptor for the American one or cut off the plug, then I can return my South African one and save myself big bucks, but I need to know if I am safe using the American 110v cord in South African 240v plugs???

Electrical fundi's please help!
 
Pooky said:
Okay I phone 2 iStores they told me that they don't make an earthed South African one. My only solution seems to be to cut off the current plug and attach my own 3 prong plug...

My question is, can I do this with the American one? I'm scared to as on the american plug it says 110volts, and I don't want to plug it in to our sockets as they are of a much higher voltage. Can I? Will it break anything?
If I can just use a travel adaptor for the American one or cut off the plug, then I can return my South African one and save myself big bucks, but I need to know if I am safe using the American 110v cord in South African 240v plugs???

Electrical fundi's please help!
Click to expand...
Just on the plug itself? I've been cutting off US plugs for ages and I've never noticed it. What strikes me as strange is that the laptops are designed to be used all around the world.
 
bwana said:
Just on the plug itself? I've been cutting off US plugs for ages and I've never noticed it. What strikes me as strange is that the laptops are designed to be used all around the world.
Click to expand...

On the plug and on the other end that goes into the power brick, both say 110v...

If I use a travel adaptor for the US one will it still be grounded? Or will I have to cut it off?
 
My travel adapter doesn't have ground - yours may differ.

With respect to the 110v, this is unusual. I can't imagine Apple manufacturing two different adapters. My old Macbook was purchased in the US and I used it in the UK (230v I think) without issue. My current MBP is a UK model, but I bought an extra power brick when I was in the US because I forgot mine at home. I've been using that ever since back in the UK, and it hasn't given me any problems. On the side of the brick, mine has its specifications printed in very fine print. It says: "Input: 110-240v"
 
koffiejunkie said:
My travel adapter doesn't have ground - yours may differ.

With respect to the 110v, this is unusual. I can't imagine Apple manufacturing two different adapters. My old Macbook was purchased in the US and I used it in the UK (230v I think) without issue. My current MBP is a UK model, but I bought an extra power brick when I was in the US because I forgot mine at home. I've been using that ever since back in the UK, and it hasn't given me any problems. On the side of the brick, mine has its specifications printed in very fine print. It says: "Input: 110-240v"
Click to expand...

Yeah the power brick is the same... I'm talking about the extensioncable from the power brick to the wall.
 
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