Headphone jack shocks me when touched

joshuahuynh

Commendable
Jun 25, 2016
1
0
1,510
Just recently I had noticed that a static noise was coming out of my Logitech Z333 speakers. I have owned these speakers for a couple of months and they had been working fine. However what I had noticed was that when taking the headphone jack out of my motherboard's IO ports, touching the metal part shocked me with static electricity.

Before moving to my new house, my uncle had dragged the back of my PC across carpet (front of the PC facing towards the ceiling). I am pretty sure that incident had something to do with this.

All I ask is for some assistance on how to fix this issue.
 
Solution
Once the PC was plugged into a properly grounded electrical outlet, any static charge built up would have dissipated. But from what you describe, it could be ESD (elecro-static discharge) built up during everyday use of walking across carpeting. Try touching some other bear metal on the case. If it does the same thing, I suspect ESD is your problem. Check that your electrical outlets are properly wired and grounded.
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Gear-50542-3-Wire-Receptacle/dp/B002LZTKIA
(USA)

clutchc

Distinguished
Once the PC was plugged into a properly grounded electrical outlet, any static charge built up would have dissipated. But from what you describe, it could be ESD (elecro-static discharge) built up during everyday use of walking across carpeting. Try touching some other bear metal on the case. If it does the same thing, I suspect ESD is your problem. Check that your electrical outlets are properly wired and grounded.
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Gear-50542-3-Wire-Receptacle/dp/B002LZTKIA
(USA)
 
Solution
Sounds like your room doesn't have grounded outlets. It's not dangerous, just tingling/uncomfortable. If it was a quick zap like when you touch a pet, or other surfaces mentioned above, then that's also normal.

No outlets in my home are grounded apart from bathroom and kitchen. Hopefully you can get this sorted if it's actually an issue, even if not dangerous to you.


All the best!
 
Getting shocked by a PC is probably the most common nowadays anyways, not the user shocking the PC. While true, the smoothing capacitors are to blame here if the outlet is not grounded. The current is low, the voltage is high, so it's not dangerous after voltage drops when touched.

In either case, if OP is unsure about electricity, then it's best to have it checked by a pro.

Hopefully all works out OP,

All the best!