Static shock with Intel NUC

GodAtum

GodAtum

GodAtum

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I recently moved house and now I get static shocks on my Intel NUC whenever I touch it. The NUC sits on a metal shelf and that gives me shocks too. Not sure what to do? Should I put some wire to ground it?
 
Try laying a mousemat on the shelf just to see if it improves.

Yea humidity, dry air etc. Leaving a window open etc dampens the air which can help.

Yea ground the wire to a pipe or something. Or replace the metal shelf with wood :p
 
Has the house got carpets? I have a pair of shoes that cause me to get shocked constantly, a problem at work as I test TVs. I've had specific rugs do it too.

My advice if the shelf is doing it too is to ground the shelf. This should take care of the NUC too hopefully, as they appear to both have the same issue.

My laptop (aluminium body) buzzes with some floating voltage unless I ground it using HDMI.
 
No it's a wooden floor. I will try putting the NUC on a mousemat first. Otherwise I can tie a wire on the self and sellotape it to the wood floor?
 
GodAtum said:
No it's a wooden floor. I will try putting the NUC on a mousemat first. Otherwise I can tie a wire on the self and sellotape it to the wood floor?
Click to expand...
No, you'll need to connect it to something which is electrically earthed. That means anything plugged in using a 3-pin plug (where the earth pin is metal not plastic) or, easier, nearest radiator.
 
LuckyBenski said:
No, you'll need to connect it to something which is electrically earthed. That means anything plugged in using a 3-pin plug (where the earth pin is metal not plastic) or, easier, nearest radiator.
Click to expand...

I have electrical radiators that use plug sockets, not oil ones, will that work?
 
GodAtum said:
I recently moved house and now I get static shocks on my Intel NUC whenever I touch it. The NUC sits on a metal shelf and that gives me shocks too. Not sure what to do? Should I put some wire to ground it?
Click to expand...
Is that old house with ungrounded outlets?
Without ground input filtering of power supplies make PSU's metal casing (and anything in connection to that) float halfway between live and neutral.
Filtering capacitors responsible to that also limit current such, that instead of being dangerous you just feel slight shock.
It being continuous is what tells it apart from static disharge.
 
EsaT said:
Is that old house with ungrounded outlets?
Without ground input filtering of power supplies make PSU's metal casing (and anything in connection to that) float halfway between live and neutral.
Filtering capacitors responsible to that also limit current such, that instead of being dangerous you just feel slight shock.
It being continuous is what tells it apart from static disharge.
Click to expand...

No it has the usual 3 pin plugs.

So I found on a famous site the "ELCOM (UK) LTD PREMIUM QUALITY Anti-Static ESD Straight Grounding Cable" and "LINDY 40168 UK Anti-Static Earth Bonding Plug"?
 
If you're getting a static shock it'll be when you ground yourself. Adding additional grounding in that case isn't going to help.

@EsaT The UK hasn't had ungrounded outlets since before living memory. All sockets (ignoring special bathroom outlets) have earth pins.
 
bremen1874 said:
If you're getting a static shock it'll be when you ground yourself. Adding additional grounding in that case isn't going to help.

@EsaT The UK hasn't had ungrounded outlets since before living memory. All sockets (ignoring special bathroom outlets) have earth pins.
Click to expand...
It's not uncommon to find a socket with poor grounding though.
 
If it's static then it isn't going to be grounding problem.

You build up a static charge (clothes, furniture, movement, etc.) which then gets discharged to earth when you touch something. If there's a static shock felt then you've just grounded yourself.
 
bremen1874 said:
If it's static then it isn't going to be grounding problem.

You build up a static charge (clothes, furniture, movement, etc.) which then gets discharged to earth when you touch something. If there's a static shock felt then you've just grounded yourself.
Click to expand...

It also just happened to make a buzzing noise when I touched a USB joystick to the side of the NUC.
 
You need to decide if it's a static shock you're getting or some AC passthrough that's giving you a bit of a buzz (sudden discharge or a constant tingle).

Is the mental shelf you mentioned fastened to the wall? Any chance there's a mounting screw that could have gone through a mains cable?

Have you tried plugging the NUC into a different socket?

Have you had the socket off the wall to check all of the wires are in place and tight?

Have you got a plug in socket tester?
 
No the shelf is free standing, but there is a lot of electrical equipment on it like PCs and monitors. They are all plugged into a APC surge strip. Sometimes I hear very faint crackling.
 
GodAtum said:
No the shelf is free standing, but there is a lot of electrical equipment on it like PCs and monitors. They are all plugged into a APC surge strip. Sometimes I hear very faint crackling.
Click to expand...
Static disharge is single shock, not continuous.
If there's some continuous shock/tingling that strongly hints to lack of grounding.
 
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