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Computers with Thai electricity


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My recently purchased Compaq gives me a slight electric shock when I touch the screen or when I connect my digital camera to it. I contacted the shop where I bought the PC and they sent some guys out to have a look. Their answer - put something between my feet and the floor like shoes or a mat. This does work. I am no expert on electricity but surely there is a better answer than this. Any suggestions?

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I bet your plugs like most everyone else's over here has no ground. Thus you can get some serious shocks.

Your store's suggestion is what basically the Thai's do. I've seen a significant number of setups where a number of computers are plugged into an outlet strip. Usually the computers themselves are not really "hot" but touching that outlet strip is about 1/2 as bad as licking an outlet (which I've done, hehe, but not here in Thailand - it was also a 110 volt socket).

If you really want to fix this problem, find a hardware store and get a grounded plug and some ground wire. Open your outlet, ground the face plate to a pipe with the ground wire. Get your grounded plug and hook the ground wire into the screw that holds your faceplate to the wall.

An alternative is to get one of those static ground wires and try to ground your computer case.

<<burp>>

[ September 26, 2001: Message edited by: gummigut ]

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I notice a "tingle" when bare foot and using the trackpad on my laptop. ( b4 I put in a grounded 3 prong plug set up)

also, when ungrounded, the modem speed is much lower, more dis connects. ( I listened to the phone while connedted and can hear the 50/60 hz tone rather loud),

I'm not really sure what they were thinking when they built the outlets/system in los, but IMHO, very dangerous.

On a similar note, a while back I was changing a floriescent tube in a lite in my room, ( it was off) but where my hand grasped the tube, it glowed.

I am amazed there are not more stories in the bkk news of ppl getting "zapped" when its raining and they brush up aginst some air cond, or other appliance that is near the walkway.

for some reason this brings up a pic ( in my mind) of some poor sole pissing off his fire escape ( another rare item in los) and getting zapped the hard way.

youch!

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quote:

Originally posted by del_boy:

surely there is a better answer than this. Any suggestions?

Making sure that the computer does not ground through you may prevent you from getting a shock but will not insure that sensitive electrical components on your computer cannot become damaged by a short circuit. Groundind the electrical circuit to a cold water pipe will not work very well if the water pipes are made from PVC. The same is true for a ground wire that is bolted too the electrical outlet if the conduit is made from PVC. If the outlet has a grounding tab or slot then you should run some copper wire from it to the ground. If you are the first floor that shouldn't be difficult. A one meter metal stake driven into the ground should be adequate. If you are on the second floor you may have to run a wire back through the conduit to a place where you can tap into your grounding stake. The wires in your house may already have a grounding wire that hasn't been attached to a ground or to a grounding tab in the receptacle. If electricity confounds you just try to imagine thst its water, your job is to insure that when it spills that there is an unabstructed path to the ground. Hope that helps.

AG

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