PC Peripherals Laptop charger and Mobile charger, usb C pin showing current, is it normal

Skyh3ck

Skyh3ck

Galvanizer
Hello

My type C laptop and mobile charger (Micro usb, type c etc) pin showing current when cheked with tester,
when i plug the charger and switch on it and check with tester, the pin shows positive current

i have checked with multiple chrager like redmi, vivo, micromax, hp, lenovo etc all showing current

is it a normal thing, should it show current etc

the outer part should not show current, what could be the problem

check image
usb c.jpg
 
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I'm not an electrician. This is simply my own experience and may/may not be accurate in your situation. Please do your due diligence.


What do you mean by show current?

Does the screwdriver tester glow when you press the charger tip against the tip of the tester?

Is the charger 2 or 3 pin? 2 pin chargers are notorious for letting AC slip through due to lack of an earthing pin. 3 pin chargers have better earthing abilities and don't allow as much AC to filter through.

As long as it is a very faint glow and not very prominent, in both cases, it is okay.

If it is anything more than a faint glow, it might do you good to check with a proper electrician.
 
It's normal for some earth leakage current to occur.

My Apple USB-C 20W charger shows the same behavior. When I tested it with a tester, the LED lit up.

I then connected a multimeter in AC current mode, with the positive lead to the outer part of the charger pin and the negative to the earth point in the socket. I measured 26 µA (microamps) of leakage current, which is within safe limits. From what I've read, the maximum allowable leakage is 0.74 mA (for handheld devices).

Please don't try this yourself.
If the leakage current were higher, my RCCB would have tripped during the test. In that case, it would be a sign that I should discard the charger.
 
This leakage current is why you get the tingling feeling when touching metal parts of device when charging said device. Easy to identify on softer skins, such as your cheek (speaking to someone on phone when charging), inner side of your arm (laptop wrist rest) etc. Typically harmless, but as @Heisen mentioned, the upper limit for type 1 grounded devices are 0.75mA, but 0.25mA for ungrounded (2 pin) adapters, and even high quality(supposedly, it was expensive tho) devices such as my friends Bose Soundtouch probably goes way over that (shocks when aux cable is touched). A typical neon tester requires ~0.4mA to glow, so as long as you're not getting shocked, you're probably within acceptable limits. Use branded adapters, your mi/vivo/lenovo/hp should be fine.
 
ze_cook said:
This leakage current is why you get the tingling feeling when touching metal parts of device when charging said device. Easy to identify on softer skins, such as your cheek (speaking to someone on phone when charging), inner side of your arm (laptop wrist rest) etc. Typically harmless, but as @Heisen mentioned, the upper limit for type 1 grounded devices are 0.75mA, but 0.25mA for ungrounded (2 pin) adapters, and even high quality(supposedly, it was expensive tho) devices such as my friends Bose Soundtouch probably goes way over that (shocks when aux cable is touched). A typical neon tester requires ~0.4mA to glow, so as long as you're not getting shocked, you're probably within acceptable limits. Use branded adapters, your mi/vivo/lenovo/hp should be fine.
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Correct! And its not a cause to worry about as in my house even though there's proper earthing, on one of my laptops body I get that tingling feeling but I enjoy it!
 
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