[xliderider]

Wait, sorry, my mistake. I remember there's a ground. It's one of the other pins I was thinking of that's sometimes not connected on certain connectors.

Regardless, there's not enopugh current to get a real shock though, or I would have felt it by now.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Good on you.

[dweasel36]

lol@ not life threatening yet.

[dweasel36]

i would say maybe u should take it ba....forget it.itll be ok. lol

[xliderider]

I gotta say, this has been an entertaining thread.

I do feel for the OP though... I would advise discontinuing using that usb cable ASAP. That current running through the BB can't be good for a sophisticated electronics device.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Radius]

I still can't fathom how the ring can carry a charge though, I've torn this thing apart and it just isn't happening. If there's enough current to gap through non conductive plastics to reach it then you've already killed the phone I think.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[xliderider]

Maybe the OP is one of those individuals who is always getting static shocks and is more susceptible to shocks in general?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Card Storm]

This is serious your phone shouldn't be performing this type of haptic feedback. Get help. Quick.

[Card Storm]

Its funny how the OP acts like its nothing. Maybe he's the one causing the electricity. Maybe your a superhuman. I have a friend who doesn't mind locking you into a laboratory and performing tedious experiments to find an answer.

[FYDave]

Clearly the phone is out to get him. It's possessed with the spirit of Chuckie.

On a more serious note, your phone definitely shouldn't be doing that. Bring it in to your local carrier store and have them look at it for sure.

[a_silent_song]

I've had this happen with my iPod classic. I wouldn't describe it as a "shock," though. To me, it's more of a weird tingle when my arm bumps it while it's plugged into the computer. Never had it happen with a BlackBerry though, and maybe you should try a new usb cable just to be safe.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[crackzilla]

This is dramatic boohoo bullcocky, suck it up and move on. I wish my Storm would shock me... maybe I should be careful what I wish for

[crackbobb]

Ok.
- I first swapped the cord, but the phone was still shocking me.
- I then found out that every single USB cord that I had plugged into the USB hub was passing current - the normal USBs, the Mini USB, and a Micro USB cord I have in there. You touch the cord's end piece and it will shock you.
- Then I plugged the BB USB cord directly into the laptop's onboard USB (bypassing the hub), and guess what, all was good then.

I'm pretty sure now that it is the USB hub with its extra power source. It's one of those flat hubs with 8 ports and wasn't the most expensive.

So I'll get a new and better USB hub next... Let's see if that helps.

Btw - I don't get static shocks more easily than other people, and it's not just me who is getting shocked with this USB hub, but also my fiance and a friend who both agreed to be my guinea-pigs in this curious matter.

I will let you guys know if it was the hub if you're interested. Thanks for all the help so far

[Jancy10]

Lmaoo, that's funny! You better becareful you don't want to get fried!

[markjoens]

haha that's funny

[thinkamp]

Maybe the OP likes the shock that his phone gives him. freaky!

[crackbobb]

Maybe the OP likes the shock that his phone gives him. freaky!

Not really... I just think it's funny. Why be dead serious about something when it does bear some humor in it

[thinkamp]

Not really... I just think it's funny. Why be dead serious about something when it does bear some humor in it

thats exactly what i was doing...having humor!
damn i guess my humor is still dry. oh well.

[Pete6]

The problem would seem to be a faulty power supply in your PC.

What is happening is this. There is voltage leakage through the power supply and even though the PC is grounded, a voltage is appearing between true ground - in this case, the OP - and the metal shield of the USB cable.

My guess is that the shock is quite uncomfortable but bearable for a short time. If so, I have see this a number of times.

To isolate the problem, you must first disconnect all other devices connected to the PC, one at a time so as to isolate the problem and then if the problem is stil there with only the PC and your phone, try the phone on a different PC. If the voltage goes away, then look towards changing the power supply block in your PC.

MAke no mistake here. This quite dangerous.

[Radius]

Ok.
- I first swapped the cord, but the phone was still shocking me.
- I then found out that every single USB cord that I had plugged into the USB hub was passing current - the normal USBs, the Mini USB, and a Micro USB cord I have in there. You touch the cord's end piece and it will shock you.
- Then I plugged the BB USB cord directly into the laptop's onboard USB (bypassing the hub), and guess what, all was good then.

I'm pretty sure now that it is the USB hub with its extra power source. It's one of those flat hubs with 8 ports and wasn't the most expensive.

So I'll get a new and better USB hub next... Let's see if that helps.

Btw - I don't get static shocks more easily than other people, and it's not just me who is getting shocked with this USB hub, but also my fiance and a friend who both agreed to be my guinea-pigs in this curious matter.

I will let you guys know if it was the hub if you're interested. Thanks for all the help so far

Woah now, I don't remember you posting about a powered USB hub before. That's significant. It's faulty, throw it out and get a new one.

[crackbobb]

thats exactly what i was doing...having humor!
damn i guess my humor is still dry. oh well.

Dry humor ftw! I like to use it myself every now and then
Why do you say your humor is *still* dry? That's a good thing! lol

The problem would seem to be a faulty power supply in your PC.

What is happening is this. There is voltage leakage through the power supply and even though the PC is grounded, a voltage is appearing between true ground - in this case, the OP - and the metal shield of the USB cable.

My guess is that the shock is quite uncomfortable but bearable for a short time. If so, I have see this a number of times.

To isolate the problem, you must first disconnect all other devices connected to the PC, one at a time so as to isolate the problem and then if the problem is stil there with only the PC and your phone, try the phone on a different PC. If the voltage goes away, then look towards changing the power supply block in your PC.

MAke no mistake here. This quite dangerous.

Great explanation, thanks. You are exactly right, the shock is bearable, but very uncomfortable and definitely more than your average static shock. I will be getting a new hub tomorrow and have the one I got now checked at the store as well. If the issue persists even with a new hub, I guess I'll have to start checking the laptop. I believe it's just the hub though (and very much hope it's just that!)

[Pete6]

Yeah, like Radius said, ditch the powered USB hub. Especially ditch its power supply.

However please also check - one change at a time - that this really is the source of the problem.

Youy MUST fix this as there is clearly a mians - wall socket power, or worse getting up the wire. How worse than mains? Some power supplies, mainly those in PC and not USB hubs have a type of power supply called a switching power supply. These do not have a traditional mains or power transformer. Usually these are much lighter that traditional transformer power supplies. The way these work is that the incoming power is made to drive a high frequency oscillator and this then runs through a very small transformer (transformers work much better at hight frequencies) ans the output from this is then used to generate the low voltage DC outputs required by PCs, phones, etc.

Problems come from two sources.

1). much more of this type of PSU is "live".
2). the transfoemer and other parts of the whole device are electrinically much more fragil than traditional types.

How do I know this crap? My first degree was partly in electronics and I have been an avid builder of "widgets" ever since.

[crackbobb]

^^ That's a great explanation and definitely something to keep an eye on. Good to know, thanks for sharing, and - it's not crap at all

[crackbobb]

-- UPDATE --

Well it was indeed the USB hub. I took it to the store today, the guru plugged it in to two other computers, and it gave him and all his guru friends shocks.

Guru number one then explained to me the general problem with these 7-port USB hubs. (I had mentioned above that it was an 8-port hub, but I was wrong - it was 7 and 7 is also the maximum you get apparently.)

From what I gathered, hubs that have more than 4 USB ports will always have a shorter life span than hubs with just 4 ports. Their transformers can't handle all that current too well - I assume this is the exact same issue that Pete6 pointed out two posts up. In the worst case, such USB hubs (with more than 4 ports) can even damage the computer. At least that's what the guru told me.

So I now got two USB hubs with each 4 ports for my laptop. There is no current passing through, no more shocks. Problem solved. Thanks everyone for the advice.

Side note - if you have a laptop: I would have gotten three hubs, since my laptop has three USB ports all next to each other, but the guru advised against that saying that the middle USB port was a fake. Meaning not a port on its own, but switched together with one of the other ones - effectively being a hub in itself.

He explained that, due to limited space, notebooks rarely have more than two USB ports. If they do, then two of them are actually running off the same port under the hood - so it's still two. He said it would not only be safer, but also a lot faster if I didn't attach more than two external USB hubs to a laptop.

If you're in a similar situation, I hope this will be of help

[bhaskeey]

I too got shock during charging of playbook with adapter provided. The shock happens when touching the metal frame around playbook. I checked with a Inductive Electrical Tester on this metal frame and I can see the light in the tester is glowing. I never see such thing with other devices like mobile phone, laptop.

I bought this playbook just two days before from flipkart and I am using it in Chennai, India.

I asked my kid not to touch playbook while charging.

Any suggestion by other members to avoid this ?