#23

This is my favourite bit from the Keyed Mosstone manual:

If this is your situation, try first just keeping a touch on one of the screws in the corner, these are grounded and should help with key chatter. If it is still astable, try sitting in a non-conductive chair and lifting your feet off the ground to electrically isolate your body, or jump up in the air and only play while you are suspended in air, or put on some shoes.

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#24

My audio interface has been giving me a few small electric shocks in the past, but now as soon as I touch the metal of my synths I can feel the current pricking my skin and I am afraid it could get worse. When I remove the audio interface from my setup then everything is back to normal. Another weird issue is, if I turn off my audio interface but leave it plugged in the wall I can hear white noise coming through it, as soon as I touch the metal it stops and it also stops when I turn it on. I don’t know what is wrong. Are there any check I can do to see if the unit is faulty? I only had it for around one year. As you can imagine, this is stopping me from making music

#25

do you know what this could be caused by?

#26

Something inside of your synth has allowed current to flow to the chassis. My recommendation would be to unplug it, and then open it up. Check for any obviously loose wires, metal tabs, or anything protruding from the circuilt board and making contact with the case or a standing (presuming they are metal). Additionally check for anything that looks melted or burnt. Also look for any barrel capacitors that look swollen or “popped”. You’re likely to find a culprit via one of these avenues of investigation, and you are likely not in any danger from the experience you are having. It’s just uncomfortable to be a conductor. Wearing insullated shoes will stop the discomfort but will obviously not fix the problem causing it.

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#27

Could it be that I am getting electrick shocks because my synths are not all connected to the same wall outlet but I am using two different ones?

I did another check and I was getting current thru my fingers only when I was without my (cloth) loafers touching the floor thru my socks…

#28

That should not cause an issue. The issue at hand is that something is causing currrent to run to the synth’s chassis, which is almost never by deisgn - save things like touch plates or all-flesh jacks. Also, if it is conducting, please do not touch another synthesizer’s chasis. Chasis are inherently used as grounding points, so you can conduct across your body. The voltage is likely too low to do any harm, as I have described previously, but because we don’t know what is happening it’s best to discourage current from exercising your vitals - also just a good rule of thumb when dealing with malfunctioning electronics.

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#30

Does that mean that the malfunctioning synth is making all the other synths conducting corrent? Because today basically all the metal parts on my synths were doing that (including a guitar pedal).

I will try all the synths one by one to see which one is the faulty one. I am starting to think it could even be my audio interface (and that one cannot be opened)

Is it possible to maybe do a check with a multimeter? I have one but I don’t know how to use that

#31

Sorry to give you contradicting advice but what you are experiencing is likely NOT loose wires or any other improper galvanic connection. That would be more likely to shock the shit out of you. The tingling you feel is most likely this: your chassis is being charged up via parasitic capacitance. If you measure between your chassis and outlet ground using the AC voltage setting on your multimeter I bet you’d see something like 40-60 VAC, but in current measuring it would likely pass only a couple milliamps.

Mildly unsafe, rather than wildly unsafe.

Your gear is not properly grounded. This is likely a fault in the design of your power supplies rather than an issue with your outlets but it’s worth checking both.

Please don’t take my word for it as I can’t verify your configuration.

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#32

So since all the synths are “connected” via audio interface that is why I get the electricity tingling through all of them? If I understand you right I have to check resistance between chassis and synth outlet, yes? Then the one that is in the range you mention is the culprit

#33

No, resistance would tell you if there is a connection that would pass DC current but you are experiencing an AC current (the tingling is a dead give-away).

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#34

Not knowing the specific circumstances in your case, I would like to add the following. Some of it has been mentioned one way or another by others before, so I’m basically seconding their input but nevertheless, here we go:

I used to have the exact same problem in the past: tingling eurorack modules whenever I just got close to them, zapping me once I touched them. Same goes for pedals and stomp boxes. As well as my mixer. To be honest, it hadn’t been fun.
However, I need to add some context: I have been living in a variety of places around the globe and using the exact same gear, it only happened to me in one place. That means, the problem was not the gear but the local circumstances regarding power supply.
Also, the electric “shocks” only happened when I was barefoot or not wearing any shoes (which was most of the times). You are describing a similar situation here I believe. Try wearing shoes with rubber soles and you might notice that your gear is calming down instantaneously without any further issues…

I may want to add that also all my Apple Mac gear was giving me shocks and tingles whenever I touched them too. So that again indicated the problem laid not with my gear.

Speaking to some locals about this, I came to the conclusion that the electrical issues at hand were inherently tied to the structure I was living in and it’s grounding as well as electricity supply. Basically nothing I could do anything about but wearing trainers while using my synths…

Meanwhile I moved to a different location in a different country and non of my gear (which stayed the exact same) is giving me any of the above-mentioned troubles any more. So it might be worthwhile looking a bit further than your synth for fixing the issue, if the issue is fixable at all.
If any of this is unsafe or not, I’m unable to say though.

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#35

I see, do you know what I am risking here? I thought the issue could have been an old adapter I am using but now I am not sure anymore. When you say power supply you mean my home power supply from the wall or the PSU of my gear?

#36

I am moving home soon, so I’ll probably just stop using my gear in the meanwhile :frowning: you got me worried and there is basically nothing I can do

#37

Well, that’s definitely worth waiting for and see what the new house will be like regarding its electricity supply.
But I wonder nevertheless, what are you worried about in the meantime? I mean, did you try using your gear wearing shoes and see if that makes any difference? I handled the above described situation like this for three full years and had no further issues as long as I was wearing shoes and therefore not conducting the grounding issues of my building…

2 Likes
#38

Well, I am worried just because I don’t know what’s happening. Dunno if it’s dangerous for my health and for my gear or even my house

#39

Here’s a list of things to try:

  • Have your outlets inspected for proper earth ground
  • Stop using the interface, record to handheld device instead
  • Try using the interface with “audio ground isolators”
  • Make a proper chassis bond to ground for all your affected gear
  • Isolate yourself from being part of the circuit (rubber-soled shoes or rubber gloves, etc)
  • Increase the humidity in your home (for marginal improvement)
  • Consult Graham Hinton on MW
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#40

It honestly sounds like the power supply within your interface has gone bad. What is its model?

Regarding risks: I am shy to possibly over- or understate your risks… I am an engineer, but I am not your engineer. The likeliest risk is only discomfort, but this could be a symptom of an unexpectedly serious electrical fault. Or you could be unexpectedly susceptible to electric shock due to weak heart, etc. I can only say, I have been in similar situations (temporarily) and endured the issue rather than fixing it.

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#41

If it worries you this much you should contact an electrician to inspect it. The cost will probably be worth your peace of mind.

4 Likes
#42

I concur with oot here. There are to many variables and this should be looked at by somone with fluency in how electricity and electrical current works on a practical level. It would be easy enough to trouble shoot with a meter and a systematic approach to isolate the problematic gear or other source of the problem. I have never been shocked by musical gear, my car though is a giant static genetator and shocks me often, like rubbing socks on a carpet…

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#43

I am thinking it could be a power supply gone bad. How do I check that?