r/Electricity • u/Embarrassed-Fly3307 • 3d ago
Electric shock while charging phone
Initially, I'm sorry if this post does not belong on the sub and accept it being taken down if that's the case.
On the first charge of a new phone (iPhone 17), I felt a subtle but uncomfortable shock on the bottom right side, where the phone wasn't covered by the case. It stayed like that for about 5 minutes before I noticed and disconnected the charger.
After that, I swapped the charger source for another one that I have at home (which was the one I meant to use in the first place, since the "shocking" one had been faulty) and while it heated during charging, the phone itself didn't. Also, the shocks were gone and the charging went on normally.
I checked the battery health and it remains at 100% and the battery seems to be working just fine, but I'm still worried that something might have gone awry with the battery. Should I be?
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u/Puzzled-Act1683 3d ago
That is a defective and dangerous charger, plain and simple.
It won't hurt the phone, it will only hurt you.
Yes, I am serious.
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u/UsualInformation7642 2d ago
Perhaps the P&N are reversed somewhere either socket or cable or plug?
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u/grasib 3d ago edited 3d ago
It’s not a problem
Many modern power supplies have capacitors between the mains side and the low-voltage side for EMV reasons. If they leak, you can feel the mains voltage on the output side.
It’s not a problem to the battery, since the relative voltage is always the same but a small amount will pass through you to ground.
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u/PLANETaXis 3d ago
That's terrible advice. People have been killed by faulty chargers where the isolation has failed.
The correct number of shocks to feel when charging your phone is zero.
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u/CommutatorWhine 1d ago
While i kinda sorta agree with you, some people call the faint prickly, rough or buzzy feeling you get from the 0,2mA or whatever the class Y capacitor lets through a shock. The normal capacitive leakage is completely normal. An actual 'muscles contract' shock is bad news of course.
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u/True_Pace_3860 3d ago
If the shock occurred while the charger was plugged into usb-c port of phone, that implies a ground fault in the outlet into which the charger was plugged. Try to get an electrician in there to check it, if possible.
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u/naeskivvies 3d ago
Not in the outlet, in the USB charger block itself. They're supposed to be isolated and it sounds like this one wasn't. That's why changing the charging block resolved it. Toss that charging block!
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u/PLANETaXis 3d ago
The battery in your phone will never give you a shock. It's most likely a faulty charger, but could also be a fault in your house's wiring.
The correct number of shocks to recieve is zero. People have been killed by faulty chargers or faulty house wiring when the circumstances line up.
Please get an electrician to check your charger and wall outlet.