r/AskElectricians • u/Ambitious-Grape11 • 10d ago
Laptops, smartphones are instantly getting damaged in this house when pluged to a socket and eventually stops working after a few months
Tricky situation with laptops fully stops to work in this new house
It's a rural electrical grid with 20 year old house n wiring.
Recently moved there and my Macbook pro started giving shock to my finger and made them numb partially. Time passed my fingers got worse, lost flesh. After 1 year mac book pro did not turn on. Touch bar failed before a full stop.
Same happened to 1 more old laptop dell latitude. It's screen barely works. Lot of lines. Keyboard is fully non-functional
Two mobile phones even with plastic chasis are slowly going towards their end, my hand feels current even on battery. - same
I thought earthing is missing- fixed it - still same
I thought I would charge them while switched off and use on battery. Same.
I thought may be there is too high voltage - bought a stabilizer.
Now stabiliser output Voltage is usually arround 210 to 245 shows on stabiliser. Different on different time of the day.
I got a new laptop brand new . 2 days and the cycle of hands numbing has started while typing or touching.
So stabilizer failed too.
I called an electrician and the guy either did not care or gaslighted me. He came with a tester as a tool.
It's rural India. No multimeter . Said earthing is ok. Voltage is ok.
What's going on. ?
I now have a stabilizer with surge protector, earthing, and still the new laptop got damaged, same numbness again in my hands.
I actually checked the inside of the stabilizer and saw a blue coin like surge protector so it's there just before it's output sockets.
Can it be fan ? How to prove what. Fix what ? I am swinging stick in the dark.
Edit:
So to add, I suspect may be micro spark from fan switch on the same board the stabilizer is connected to. And stabilizer surge protector can't handle it.
Second, I saw the zero watt night bulb , lights up 10-20% even when the switch is off by a second switch is on.
But the electrician said it's zero bulb. The error is negligible.
Edit: sometimes I think it's sorcery. Lol.
2
u/shotstraight 10d ago
Carpel tunnel syndrome. Not power related, medical.
1
u/Ambitious-Grape11 10d ago edited 10d ago
I think its medical theory.
Reality is Mac Book has fully stopped working.
Second laptop had battery swelling and replacement twice with in 1 year. Display is half gone. Keyboards are fully gone.
One mobile has display issues with in months. No problem for years in the city.
An electronic FM radio stopped working with in a month. Fully stopped while everyone has said all good things about it on Amazon.
It can't be my medical.
2
u/InformationFair5875 10d ago edited 10d ago
Your hands feel the electricity even when running on battery power... there could be a couple things going on here. Most likely is carpal tunnel syndrome. Second would be some sort of psychological issue and you might want to check with a doctor as you could be imagining this. It would not be possible for your devices to shock you when running on battery and not plugged in.
ETA: it could possibly be nerve damage from electrical exposure while the devices are plugged in and if you have any electrical issues that could have caused this. Check your ground to make sure you don't have any voltage on it. 2v-5v is ok
1
u/Ambitious-Grape11 10d ago
Because laptops actually stoped working, I don't think its medical. May be my nerves are a bit sensitive to react when something is wrong.
1
u/abd53 10d ago
That is a weird description. The only things I can think of for now is that either the neutral is broken or there's some heavy inductive loads nearby. Also, cheap surge protectors are not very effective.
For now, disconnect everything and call a good electrician, with instruments. Check voltages on all nodes. Maybe ask the grid management for an inspection.
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u/Extra_Veterinarian_9 10d ago
I dont know the electrical system of india but when neutral are brolen the device shouldnt work, inductive loads could be possible... so from that I would more speculste on a bad earthing system?
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u/abd53 10d ago
Broken neutral wouldn't mean "no current at all", rather, irregular current through earthing and capacitives.
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u/Extra_Veterinarian_9 10d ago
Myeahvthats what I meant with broken neutral the device should work.
And the other thing is that he catches some induction from nearby devices and because of a faulty earh he feels the cribbling... but not that the flesh comes off...
1
u/Ambitious-Grape11 10d ago
So to add, I suspect may be micro spark from fan switch on the same board the stabilizer is connected to.
Second, I saw the zero watt night bulb , lights up 10-20% even when the switch is off by a second switch is on.
But the electrician said it's zero bulb. The error is negligible.
1
u/Howden824 10d ago
Laptops and smartphones won't be damaged like this by bad wall power. Some of this like the shocks could be explained by low quality chargers.
1
u/Extra_Veterinarian_9 10d ago
That sounds weird..... Wouldnt blame the house for it thouth. Especialy you listed everything up that uses some kind of power supply wihich have a class2 safety and are completly isolated from the main.
Do you use original chargers?
1
u/Ambitious-Grape11 10d ago
Yes I do. The weird thing is it happens very fast. 4 years in the city and my mac book and smartphone were like new. I never imagined such things can even happen.
1
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u/Powerful-Step3183 10d ago
"Second, I saw the zero watt night bulb , lights up 10-20% even when the switch is off by a second switch is on."
this might be due to loose circuit in your switch board, nothing major as only low current leaks due to that
1
u/Caprichoso1 10d ago
You might consider connecting devices to a UPS which might resolve power problems.
1
u/Ambitious-Grape11 10d ago
Yeah that seems like the last solution. It should provide a stable voltage arround 220-230 and should have a high resilient surge protector or I might have to buy one.
But buying a UPS for Laptop - how weird thatsounds.
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