On 1/4/2013 10:25 AM, David Nelsen wrote:
> I agree-  Take a volt meter if you have one and perform a voltage 
> check from ground to hot, ground to neutral then hot to neutral. 
>  Neutral is the white wire connected to the left larger vertical prong 
> and hot should be connected to the right smaller vertical prong. 
> (Looking at the outlet) Also you may want to do a voltage check 
> between computer chassis and ground.  If you dont have a volt meter I 
> strongly suggest picking up a cheap one or atleast getting a polarity 
> checker from menards or the hardware store. You could have a problem 
> where the outlet is mis wired and hot and neutral are reversed. This 
> can present a transparent problem yet could be dangerous. Good Luck
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 10:19 AM, Ryan Coleman <ryanjcole at me.com 
> <mailto:ryanjcole at me.com>> wrote:
>
>     On 1/4/2013 10:04 AM, Smith, Craig A (MN14) wrote:
>
>             my 9yo daughter looks shocked and says the computer buzzed
>             her.  i touch what she touched, floor grate and computer
>             chassis, and buzzo.  so perhaps improper grounding might
>             be a factor in mobo deaths?
>
>
>         Many years ago, I got a shock from the metal chassis of my
>         dad's reel-to-reel tape deck.  He said "unplug and plug it in
>         the other way" (this was before the days polarized plugs).  I
>         tried this and it worked!
>
>         The explanation was that there was a high-impedance short
>         between the power transformer and the chassis.  Plugging it in
>         the other way moved the short closer to neutral (grounded at
>         the fuse-box and the utility pole).
>
>         Assuming you have a polarized plug, you might check your
>         outlet.  You can buy a 3-led tester at the hardware store for
>         less than $5.
>
>         If you're using a UPS, then that may be at fault.
>
>
>     I assumed (shame on me) that by "tripp lite" that mentioned in his
>     next email was a tester of some sort... but I would think that
>     along your thought line there that testing on another outlet would
>     work just as well? Extensions suck but I would recommend that
>     everyone have at least one heavy duty extension cord in their
>     homes of 25-50 feet in length. They are worth every penny (I have
>     four - but two are in my car for my day job).
>

This is a really easy test - it allowed me to discover that NONE of the 
"grounded" outlets in my apartment were, indeed, grounded... which is 
fine except for the fact that my UPS must have a ground... The landlord 
- upon learning of this problem - has agreed to get an outlet in each 
room properly grounded... he doesn't want to deal with my insurance 
company when I claim the explosion of battery acid from my UPS after a 
lightning strike (a little over dramatic, I admit, but I was amazed to 
find that out of 20 wall outlets 0 were actually grounded - and 15 of 
the plug pairs had a grounding pin... and a few of the outlets are still 
the cloth insulated wire...)
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