Why is my laptop shocking me?

[MonsieurFish]

So the other night I spilt a small amount of soda water on my laptop. I turned it off right away, and left it to dry for about 30 hours. Since then, I have turned it on and it works fine... except that when it is plugged in, it shocks me if I touch any metal part of it.

Here are the facts:

I do not get shocked when it is not plugged into the wall.
I got shocked when I touched the end of the wall adapter that plugs into the computer (while it was not plugged into the computer)
Once the laptop was plugged in, I got shocked when touching the metal parts in the CD drive, as well as a screw at the bottom of the computer.
I am in Thailand (don't know if electrical outlets and such are different over here?)

Anyways... the fact that just the adapter shocked me leads me to believe that it may be the problem, and not the computer? But this all began as soon as I spilt soda water on the laptop... so I feel like the adapter cannot be the only problem. Does anyone have any idea what is wrong and how I could fix this? Could it simply be that the wall plug-in I have been using is faulty or something? I am getting tired of doing the shock test only to find out it still happens, as they are getting fairly painful.

[afc wimbledon]

Get the thing cleaned, it could kill you.

And yes it was the pop that did it.

[pylon]

I would start by not touching it when it is plugged in.

[To Be Quite Honest]

What does it do when you plug it into the wall and then you touch the metal parts of your laptop with your tongue?

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by MonsieurFish

So the other night I spilt a small amount of soda water on my laptop. I turned it off right away, and left it to dry for about 30 hours. Since then, I have turned it on and it works fine... except that when it is plugged in, it shocks me if I touch any metal part of it.

Here are the facts:

I do not get shocked when it is not plugged into the wall.
I got shocked when I touched the end of the wall adapter that plugs into the computer (while it was not plugged into the computer)
Once the laptop was plugged in, I got shocked when touching the metal parts in the CD drive, as well as a screw at the bottom of the computer.
I am in Thailand (don't know if electrical outlets and such are different over here?)

Anyways... the fact that just the adapter shocked me leads me to believe that it may be the problem, and not the computer? But this all began as soon as I spilt soda water on the laptop... so I feel like the adapter cannot be the only problem. Does anyone have any idea what is wrong and how I could fix this? Could it simply be that the wall plug-in I have been using is faulty or something? I am getting tired of doing the shock test only to find out it still happens, as they are getting fairly painful.

Sounds like a grounding issue, but I'm no expert. It is unsafe to continue using the equipment under any circumstances - improper grounding can and will kill you. It's not worth taking the risk at all, even if you think you know you won't be shocked because its plugged in, you won't touch metal, etc.

[MonsieurFish]

Thanks for the replies. Did not realize it was as unsafe as it seems. I take it that this is not just a matter of waiting for the soda water to completely dry out? It's been 3-4 days now since the spill...

If so, I will ditch the laptop for the time being.

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by MonsieurFish

Thanks for the replies. Did not realize it was as unsafe as it seems. I take it that this is not just a matter of waiting for the soda water to completely dry out? It's been 3-4 days now since the spill...

If so, I will ditch the laptop for the time being.

You could try the old "bag of rice" trick with it, but I'm not sure if it would still be wet after 3-4 days or not. When you say soda water do you mean just plain club soda? Or anything sugary that would dry to more of a syrup than anything.

I'm not a rocket surgeon, but even club soda has some sodium in it that could crystallize & possibly wreak havoc on the circuits.

[sclitheroe]

Key thing I think is that you got shocked from the power adapter when it wasn't connected to the machine - that's the worrisome part. That can't be good.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by MonsieurFish

I do not get shocked when it is not plugged into the wall.

Something is wrong with the power circuitry in your laptop. All ESDs should normally conduct through the casing into the power supply and to the ground pin on the power plug into the wall socket.

Your soda may be messing things up somehow and therefore, electricity is finding that the path of least resistance or the shortest distance to the ground is through your body rather than the ground pin on your power plug.

That's why you are getting shocked.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Something is wrong with the power circuitry in your laptop. All ESDs should normally conduct through the casing into the power supply and to the ground pin on the power plug into the wall socket.

Your soda may be messing things up somehow and therefore, electricity is finding that the path of least resistance or the shortest distance to the ground is through your body rather than the ground pin on your power plug.

That's why you are getting shocked.

No, there's something else, potentially more serious going on:

I got shocked when I touched the end of the wall adapter that plugs into the computer (while it was not plugged into the computer)

There's no way the normal low voltage DC output of a laptop power supply should be causing shocks, so I think there is a bigger problem.

[BlackArcher101]

Does it shock you every time you touch it? Do you still get it once you get shocked once and not move? (I get shocked touching my laptop as well, but it's usually static electricity simply finding a ground path).

[MonsieurFish]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Does it shock you every time you touch it? Do you still get it once you get shocked once and not move? (I get shocked touching my laptop as well, but it's usually static electricity simply finding a ground path).

Not everytime I touch it. Only when it is plugged in, and I touch any metal part of it. I would still get shocked if I touch it and don't move.

I left my laptop in storage for the next 25 days of my travels... really not sure what I'm going to do about it. Is it likely that giving the laptop 25 days to dry out or something could fix my problems? Or should I still stay away from it once I get it back as well?

[dino7c]

be careful when watching porn not to get too close

[To Be Quite Honest]

I was thinking about this today. I bet you it's a screw that got wet and has the soda build up around it... The screw connects to all the places and is bypassing the rubber that isolates it. It's just a guess however.

[nik-]

If MonsieurFish never replies again do we just assume the laptop killed him?

[keratosis]

Originally Posted by nik-

If MonsieurFish never replies again do we just assume the laptop killed him?

RIP
Thoughts and Prayers.

[Street Pharmacist]

It's the tinfoil hat

[rbochan]

It might be a tumor.

[MonsieurFish]

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

I was thinking about this today. I bet you it's a screw that got wet and has the soda build up around it... The screw connects to all the places and is bypassing the rubber that isolates it. It's just a guess however.

Still alive team.

I hope you're right here... but I am skeptical as I don't see how a wet screw would make the laptop plug shock me when it's not plugged into the laptop. Or is your theory still possible despite this? Any idea if a new adapter for the laptop would solve this problem?

[Locke]

It doesnt like you.