My PC is plugged into an ungrounded outlet
Posted by Volt_69@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 5 comments
And I am sitting on a chair that generates a lot of static (Ikea Markus). It gives me litttle shocks every time I sit down and touch the keyboard/PC case. Is just replacing the outlet with a grounded one going to help? Or do I need to get rid of the chair too? Are there any DIY "fixes" I can temporarily use to not fry another USB adapter?
Niwrats@reddit
Some fabric friction just generates static, more in dry air. Not having that friction would fix that one.
With ungrounded PCs it is definitely possible to get small shocks from the case even without static, as it is connected to PSU "ground", and there seems to often be some small leakage from the PSU to the "ground".
There are probably hundreds of millions of people running ungrounded PCs (because grounding just doesn't exist in many places, including mine), so you should not be alone in this.
57thStilgar@reddit
Super uber bad. When you say 'ungrounded' do you mean a two prong outlet or is it an outlet not attached to earth-ground?
Two prong can be changed. Not attached to the buildings ground can be lethal.
Volt_69@reddit (OP)
It's a double slot outlet, it doesn't have any grounding prongs, not sure if there's actual earth ground in the instalation, going to ask an electrician to come over and check.
57thStilgar@reddit
They can change it for you. The chair giving you static shocks - raise the humidity in the room or attach a wire to the chair then to a ground.
smelonade@reddit
I touch the metal frame on my desk (rest is wooden) when I feel like I may have static built up and/or I'm gonna work on my pc. A couple of times there's been a massive discharge of it so it might just save your pc one day. You can always just touch a random conductive bit of metal and should give the same effect.
Surge protected extension leads may make the connection a bit safer