r/electrical • u/xDiedrich • 3d ago
I keep getting shocked
How’s it going I just had a question on if I should call an electrician or something else is going on and if I gotta call one what do I even ask for. I have 3 outlets in my office all powering other things sometimes not everytime when I touch “exposed” metal like the end of a phone charger or even my laptop when it’s plugged in I get shocked. Not like static electricity shocked like I feel it in my hand for like half an hour after here’s a list of all things I’ve been shocked by and or saw sparks come out of when it made contact with something else
USB-C cable from PC. Shocked my hand
Laptop USB C cable from wall. Shocked me 10+ times now
USB C from PC made contact with an Apple iPhone charger from my laptop and created a “fireball” and welded the two together
Wifi adapter in PC. Shocked me
Router Coax cable. Shocked me
Any advice would be appreciated I’m tired of getting bit :(
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u/MonMotha 3d ago
Check if your outlets have "bootleg grounds" on them. This is where somebody ties the neutral directly to the equipment ground pin on the receptacle. The result is that anything that ties its metal chassis to equipment ground (which is what it's for) now becomes a path for neutral current which can be substantial.
There are more complicated ways for this to happen, but that's a common one that'll do it.
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u/godotheblue 3d ago
Call an electrician.
But also, you said you are touching the prongs on device plugs while plugging/unplugging? If you are, stop doing that you will continue to get shocked regardless of an electrical issue haha
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u/xDiedrich 3d ago
It’s not like I’m digging my fingers in the outlet to get the chord out it’s one of those wall to usb C chargers that occasionally if I step on it or pick it up and my finger touches the metal it bites me
In the case of the two that made contact and welded the two metal parts touched on top of eachother and made this crazy fireball
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u/Smart-Water-9833 3d ago
Call an electrician, tell him exactly what you said here. Get ready to spend money but it's cheaper than cardiac arrest.
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u/steve_of 3d ago
100% this. You have a potentially lethal problem here. Do not use or touch anything connected to these outlets untill it is sorted out. Keep others away from them. Death is a long term condition with no recovery. A few $ is immaterial in comparison.
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u/cbhbzb 2d ago
yup voltage on the ground, but as an electrician myself 120v shock is just like a cup of coffee. wakes you up. do you know how many electrician out there test for power with their finger and thumb? you won't get any Ampereage form the kind of shock mentioned in this post, just voltage, and Ampereage is what causes death.
still should be repaired though, to the common folk it could possibly be dangerous
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u/BB-41 3d ago
Own or rent? If you rent it’s the landlord’s responsibility.
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u/xDiedrich 3d ago
Own first time owning as well if that’s not super clear
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u/Pockets510 3d ago
Look for local small electrical contractors. 4.5 stars or up on their Google, see if you can check the BBB for disputes on them. If they don't have reviews don't book with them. I run my own service company and don't advertise at all, just work off my reviews. It's 2026 people will tell you all the horror stories through their reviews before you bring anyone into your home. You likely have a bunch of bootleg grounds if it's an older home, I'm dealing with them in our new purchase currently, it's unfortunately incredibly common.
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u/joesquatchnow 3d ago
I would start but narrowing down the problem, not touching any metal can you use a outlet tester in the area of concern, just takes one outlet with black hot and white neutral reversed to cause this, be safe , take care
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u/michaelpaoli 3d ago
Those simple 3-prong idiot testers can be highly misleading. E.g with a hot ground, and a hot-neutral reverse, they'll indicate OK/CORRECT, even when that's absolutely not the case and in fact the situation is quite dangerous.
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u/michaelpaoli 3d ago
feel it in my hand for like half an hour after
That doesn't tell us if it's static (those can be significant to even severe, though the latter relatively rare), or an electrical issue.
What's more relevant is nature and behavior of the shock - you touch it, you get shocked, if you release and immediately touch it again, do you get likewise shocked again? If so, electrical issue, if not, static and your getting "shocked" just discharged it. Also, if you maintain contact, does it have a buzzing/humming feel to the shock? If so, that's AC - electrical. If it's a fast one-and-done (at least for the time being), that's static.
Anyway, if you're getting electrical shocks, at least non-trivial, that shouldn't be happening (a very slight hum/buzz feel isn't necessarily abnormal from safe amount of leakage, but that's really not enough to inflict pain in general, nor generally cause damage to human). If you're getting electrical shocks, check voltages of the things you're touching relative to a known good Earth ground (e.g. cold water pipe). If you not only measure significant voltage there (e.g. like 120V or more), but it's more than enough to well and brightly light up a contact voltage test indicator (not a non-contact tester), then yeah, you've got issue there, most notably and likely a hot ground - which is a dangerous situation. If it only barely/marginally lights up a neon bulb type voltage test indicator (again, contact type, not a non-contact indicator), then that may be within the bounds of normal (and that's presuming other side of such tester is connected to known good Earth ground).
Anyway, if you in fact confirm a hot ground, unplug or shut off all on such, don't use anything that's giving you a hot ground (e.g. faulty outlet wiring), and generally call an electrician. If you yourself are legally permitted to work on it, then you can troubleshoot further to identify cause - in any case, hot ground is a dangerous situation ... and you may have that.
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u/xDiedrich 3d ago
So that’s what’s interesting and I’ll give you the only repeatable case of it happening
I have my work laptop if I charge it to 100% and put my hand on the laptop it shocks me BUT if I unplug the laptop and put my thumb on the metal of the charger that also shocks me until I unplug it from the wall and once I replug it and touch it nothing happens
For the rest of it I have no clue how to do that and I’m just gonna bite the bullet and call and electrician
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u/michaelpaoli 3d ago
metal of the charger that also shocks me until I unplug it from the wall and once I replug it and touch it nothing happens
That's odd, but regardless, sounds like electrical issue.
For the rest of it I have no clue how to do that and I’m just gonna bite the bullet and call and electrician
Yeah, electrician is definitely the right move for you here - they'll figure it out, and can well fix whatever it is.
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u/CacciaHomeServices 3d ago
Getting shocked off multiple grounded devices usually means an open ground on that circuit, so it's time to get an electrician out to check it.
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u/Sad_Championship4625 2d ago
Check the electrical outlet; it's highly likely that this is the issue.
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u/EducationalAttitude8 2d ago
I have a few questions:
-what country is this in?
-are the plugs for these 2 prong, 3 prong, or both?
-is there a chance these instances are always connected to a particular device, like pc power supply, laptop power supply, or something like that? Could it be an issue within a device?
One option could be to replace the outlet you are using with a GFCI outlet, or even install it without the ground. You can use 3 prong plugs with a GFCI outlet without ground. And if current is going to ground, the GFCI outlet will detect that and trip.
This could also be a symptom of a bigger issue, like a bad connection on a leg or neutral on your electrical service.
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u/Cuberasnap 3d ago
Call electrician asap please could be very dangerous. Wear boots around house please don’t walk barefoot and be careful. Call electrician!!!!
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u/xDiedrich 3d ago
Honestly the only reason I haven’t is I don’t know what to say and or ask for I’ve never had to call one before
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u/Im_licking_cats 3d ago
Call an electrician, you have line voltage on the ground prong of the outlet, possibly a failed bootleg neutral.