Surprised by the quality of both HDMI and display cables.
Surprised by the quality of both HDMI and display cables.
I opened my PC this morning to tidy it up and remove dust. While handling the back screws, I felt a steady electric buzz—not painful but noticeable. Checking around, any metal components on my case made me jump, so I turned off the machine, unplugged the power cord, and pressed the power button several times to clear residual charge. Even after that, touching the thumb screws still gave me a shock. I removed all cables from the back: USB, Ethernet, HDMI, and the display cable. The case and computer stopped giving me a jolt once I was done. However, when I accidentally touched my hand to the display or HDMI cables, the same shock occurred. Both monitors and my PC are connected to a surge protector that’s powered through a wall outlet with a ground connection. Why am I getting shocked? Is this harmful to my device? What steps should I take to resolve this?
Your grounding setup is still quite poor. Are you certain your surge protector has proper grounding? I've noticed many people using just a twisted pair without any ground, especially on cheaper models. It's not ideal but it works. Your computer and its components should handle slightly less-than-perfect power quality, which is already part of the testing process. Still, I always double-check that your computers are fully grounded—being electrocuted is really unpleasant.
The wall outlet includes a ground pin, but is it properly grounded? Grounded wiring was once uncommon in North America. It’s conceivable that an older box contained a non-grounded outlet, and later the plug was swapped for a modern one without connecting its ground pin. Another chance is that the hot and neutral wires were swapped somewhere between the breaker panel and your outlet. A $10 plug-in tester with three indicators can safely confirm improper wiring. You can usually purchase one at hardware stores like Harbor Freight, Lowes, Home Depot, Menard's, or even Walmart, or order it online. If the outlet isn’t wired correctly, you may notice some leakage current.
After additional checks using various surge protectors, multiple HDMI cables, and even just the wall outlet alone, I’ve noticed current continues through both connections. It seems possible to address issues from the wall outlet itself when troubleshooting faulty wiring.
The outlet probably doesn’t have proper grounding, even though there’s a third hole meant for it. It isn’t an urgent issue right now, but if another source ever interferes, problems could arise—ranging from malfunctions to total damage and losing power the next day. I’m in a 40-year-old building with outdated wiring and no grounding on 110V outlets; upgrading would be wise.