Electrical shock from my K70 :(

Hello,

As the title says, my K70 keeps giving me electrical shocks whenever I touch the aluminum body on both the right and left sides. The keyboard is working perfectly fine and I really love using it, but is there a way I could get rid of this electrical shock?

I've tried moving the USB plugs into other slots on the motherboard but it keeps happening. I don't believe it's the motherboard's fault either, because I didn't have this problem with my previous keyboard. I even plugged it into a laptop but the problem still persists. Is there any way I could get it fixed myself without voiding the warranty?

Thanks in advance.

Hamdan, can you bring the keyboard to a friend's house and see if it occurs as well?

Hello RAM GUY, and thanks for the response.

Forgot to mention that I actually tried exactly what you asked a few hours ago. The strange thing is that, the electrical shock was weaker at his place. Back at my rig it was actually a strong shock, but at my friend's internet cafe, I could still touch the aluminium with the shock.

There has to be something I could do on my part. I mean the keyboard is working fine. I'd hate to send it back I just can't imagine myself using another keyboard. :(:

Edit: Here's what I also tried just recently: When I connected the iPhone's USB Charger to the K70's USB slot, and touched the iPhone, it gave an electrical shock. That's to be expected since the iPhone has aluminium edges as well. I've immediately removed the charger from the iPhone just in case nothing bad happens to it.

Perhaps the main cause of this is the internal wiring for the USB slot inside the keyboard? Probably being too close and exposed to the aluminium piece? Just guessing.

Put in a RMA request Hamdan and let me know your case number. I may request the keyboard sent back here for analysis to see why its shockng.

Done. Here's the case number: 6072911

I really hope that your RMA procedure is smooth and less time/money consuming. Shipping here costs a lot.

What you need to do is this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_%28electricity%29

I was having electrical shock from my M60 and lot of other shocks coming from USB.

This is because your house eletricity isnt in good conditions, so you need to avoid "errors" in your energy. So, you need to ground your energy going to your Power Supply Unit (PSU). That's why your PSU have 3 pins to put in your wall socket. One for positive, one for negative and one for ground. The third one (ground) must be connect in the GROUND itself, the EARTH.

I've done this to my wall socket and I haven't no more problems in my computer and other things connected to USB.

Good luck.

I was assuming the same thing Sornii, but he reported that the shock persisted at his friend's cafe shop too which was surprising to me.

That's suprising to me too, will the friend is also ungrounded? Hmm, I guess no. But sometimes... who knows. Here at Brazil it's difficult to see a house if the energy grounded 100%, sometimes one or two wall sockets are grounded and the others are not. For example, my house has one wall socket ground, and it's for my computer. The other equipment that is grounded in my house doesnt need a wall socket, the shower.

Also, he said that others stuffs are causing chock to him by USB. That's weird if K70 is sending electrical shock to everything in computer.

Hamdan, is you getting eletrical shock everytime that you plugin the K70? is you getting eletrical shock everytime that your K70 isnt plugged in your computer?

That's suprising to me too, will the friend is also ungrounded? Hmm, I guess no. But sometimes... who knows. Here at Brazil it's difficult to see a house if the energy grounded 100%, sometimes one or two wall sockets are grounded and the others are not. For example, my house has one wall socket ground, and it's for my computer. The other equipment that is grounded in my house doesnt need a wall socket, the shower.

 

Also, he said that others stuffs are causing chock to him by USB. That's weird if K70 is sending electrical shock to everything in computer.

 

Hamdan, is you getting eletrical shock everytime that you plugin the K70? is you getting eletrical shock everytime that your K70 isnt plugged in your computer?

Hello Sornii and thanks for contributing in this thread. :)

To answer your questions, I keep getting electrical shock whenever the K70 is plugged in to the computer. If not, nothing comes from it. I'm pretty sure that nothing's wrong with the electricity over here.

When I plug it in, it doesn't shock for around a minute. Once a minute is passed it starts to shock. Today, I borrowed my friend's K90 to even further double check that it isn't my computer, the internet cafe, or heck even the whole country's electricity! No shock whatsoever came from the K90 itself and it was running fine.

I mean let's face it, I won't be touching the aluminium body of the keyboard while gaming, and even I wanted to move it a little bit I'd push it from the wrist rest, not from the aluminium piece.

I don't even think that it's worth wasting Corsair's time for the RMA, the keyboard works perfectly fine, and well... I can't see myself using my computer anymore without it. Man I LOVE the K70. I'm currently thinking about cancelling the RMA request, but still not 100% sure.

Hello Sornii and thanks for contributing in this thread. :)

 

To answer your questions, I keep getting electrical shock whenever the K70 is plugged in to the computer. If not, nothing comes from it. I'm pretty sure that nothing's wrong with the electricity over here.

 

When I plug it in, it doesn't shock for around a minute. Once a minute is passed it starts to shock. Today, I borrowed my friend's K90 to even further double check that it isn't my computer, the internet cafe, or heck even the whole country's electricity! No shock whatsoever came from the K90 itself and it was running fine.

 

I mean let's face it, I won't be touching the aluminium body of the keyboard while gaming, and even I wanted to move it a little bit I'd push it from the wrist rest, not from the aluminium piece.

 

I don't even think that it's worth wasting Corsair's time for the RMA, the keyboard works perfectly fine, and well... I can't see myself using my computer anymore without it. Man I LOVE the K70. I'm currently thinking about cancelling the RMA request, but still not 100% sure.

That's weird! It's really coming from the keyboard. Just keep calm, do a RMA, it can cause serious problems later. Like stop some functions in the keyboard, because the eletrical shock is running everytime INSIDE the keyboard, you won't feel it if you don't touch, but you know the keyboard is like "feeling" these shocks.

Again, it may or not cause serious problems later. Maybe you live forever with the keyboard without any problems, but maybe it can stop work and you will have nothing but a piece of metal and plastic.

Do a RMA, it's the better option in my idea. I love my K60 and I'm pretty sure that K70 is awesome too like my keyboard. I understand you, but you have to do it.

It's going to be ok, and if you live in USA (Which is not my case if something goes wrong with my keyboard) the RMA is fast.

It's going to be ok, and if you live in USA (Which is not my case if something goes wrong with my keyboard) the RMA is fast.

I agree with everything you said. But there's a problem.

You see, I don't live in the US. I live in the Middle East, specifically the UAE. Shipping here costs a lot, and I'm having some financial issues for the next two weeks. While I'm fairly positive that Corsair will handle this in a professional way, they might ask me to ship this keyboard to them, which, as I mentioned previously, is hard for me to do. :(:

Perhaps Corsair could do this; They ask the courier who's going to deliver the replacement keyboard to me to also pick up the defective one at the same time and deliver it back at Corsair's headquarters. Not sure if they could do this or not. Ram Guy, could you please confirm that you are able to arrange that or not?

I agree with everything you said. But there's a problem.

 

You see, I don't live in the US. I live in the Middle East, specifically the UAE. Shipping here costs a lot, and I'm having some financial issues for the next two weeks. While I'm fairly positive that Corsair will handle this in a professional way, they might ask me to ship this keyboard to them, which, as I mentioned previously, is hard for me to do. :(:

 

Perhaps Corsair could do this; They ask the courier who's going to deliver the replacement keyboard to me to also pick up the defective one at the same time and deliver it back at Corsair's headquarters. Not sure if they could do this or not. Ram Guy, could you please confirm that you are able to arrange that or not?

Wow, from UAE... You have the same problem as me then. I have a M60 that hasnt a good clicking feel in the middle button, sometimes that button don't work and I need to press harder. I feel lazy to send to Corsair and not just lazy, but shipment will cost a lot and I could receive taxes issues from importing products when receiving another mouse from RMA.

Wow, from UAE... You have the same problem as me then. I have a M60 that hasnt a good clicking feel in the middle button, sometimes that button don't work and I need to press harder. I feel lazy to send to Corsair and not just lazy, but shipment will cost a lot and I could receive taxes issues from importing products when receiving another mouse from RMA.

I feel your pain. I have a Corsair 2000 headset (I admit, I'm such a Corsair fanboy), and the infamous crack happened to the plastic area. While I should've requested an RMA for it, the thought about getting it shipped and the amount of money that'll get spent is just.. not worth it. :sigh!:

@Ram Guy, thanks again. I will probably wait until next Monday since it's almost 3:00AM here in the UAE and I have to get some sleep. Won't be home on Friday, either. So it's best to wait until Monday. Hopefully they'll arrange it for me.

If you're still having the problem with the keyboard, try what I did. I was having the same problem with a mild electric shock when I touched the aluminum top cover of the keyboard. Not wanting to wait for an RMA, I decided to first give the keyboard a good cleaning without disassembling the keyboard body. Why? Because everyone's keyboard gets dirty. Really dirty. If you've never taken the keys off of a keyboard to clean it, be prepared to be mildly horrified! :eek:

Note: The information below is from my own personal experience, and is provided as is, without any warranty or guarantee. Please be careful if you choose to do what I did. It shouldn't be any more dangerous that already getting shocked by your keyboard every time you touch it. Be especially patient in letting any isopropyl/rubbing alcohol or condensed moisture that may form from the use of canned air evaporate before plugging your keyboard into your computer.

Step 1: Unplug your keyboard.

Step 2: Remove all the keys from the keyboard. I used the key puller that came with my keyboard. Be careful of the function keys and the nine keys that are PrtScn through Page Down. They take slightly more effort to remove than the rest of the keys because they have a small clip that locks them in. Be sure to pull the keys straight up and away from the keyboard surface. You may have to pinch the arms of the key puller a little bit so it doesn't slip. However if you are slow and careful, you can remove all of the keys with breaking anything. The rest of the keys come off just as easily as the WASD and 1-6 keys came off if you put on the nice rubberized keys that came with the keyboard.

Step 3: Once you've removed all the keys, get some canned air and blow out all of the dust, dirt, hair, etc that has accumulated between the keys and the metal surface. You'll especially want to pay attention to the few gaps between the aluminum and the key switches, make sure you blow plenty of air into them. (I suspect that something bridged the gap between the circuitry of the keyboard and the metal surface to cause the shock) Once you've done that, you might also want to take a cotton swab or lint free cloth, dip it in a little bit of rubbing alcohol and give the rest of the metal top a good cleaning to get out any dirt or grime that you couldn't get off with the canned air.

Step 4: After you have given the keyboard time for any alcohol or moisture from the canned air to evaporate (This is VERY IMPORTANT), you may want to check your cleaning job by plugging in one of the USB connections into a computer and touching the metal surface. If the problem still exists, you may need to blow some more canned air into the keyboard and make sure you've cleaned the top surface of the aluminum as best as you can.

Step 5: You now have a fun puzzle game of replacing the keys on the keyboard! You could cheat and press the key first before placing it to make sure you have the correct one, but that's not as much fun! :D:

For my issue, I would get an electric shock when either cable was plugged in. However, after a good cleaning, my problems went away. Hopefully this advice will work for you. But I cannot stress this enough:

I have the same problem and have the same sentiments with my K70 Keyboard However I held off on asking for an RMA for it since it is a hassle on my part as well.

Will first try plugging it to a friends PC if it happens on his house too.

I had a problem with my 2100 Headset and sent it back to the shop where i bought it and they replaced it right away however it took a couple of days and cost me the amount to ship it to the shop where i got it. I live in the Philippines and I got my Corsairs Items online from a shop in another city.

I am a corsair fanboy but I don't like the idea of sending another item for replacement. As this was bought several weeks ago the shops replacement warranty has expired so this will have to go through RMA.

Any resolution to this other than RMA?

I may have the same problem with my keyboard. I get very mild shock from time to time and, yes, tried this with different PC/location. I'm in the UAE as well so I'd like to avoid the RMA too. Also, the red (replacement?) caps I got had one too many #3s and no #2....

Anyway, really appreciate it if somebody posted more ideas/solutions.

I get static shocks constantly on my M95 mouse and K70 keyboard. In my case, the culprit is the PVC chair mat I use to protect my carpet from the chair. If I am holding the mouse or have my hands at the keyboard, if I slide my foot even a few inches on the chair mat, I get an immediate shock through the aluminum plate of whichever device I am using (because I am not directly touching the metal plate, it forms a perfect place for the static charge to arc to). Both the K70 and the M95 have the metal plate design, so they are particularly prone to this.

It is my hope that the static charges are escaping harmlessly to ground and I am not harming my mouse or my motherboard (where the USB mouse plugs in) with the shocks-- if I am, the only way I can mitigate it is to not use the chair mat. I would have to get another type of one, and the one I am using was not all that cheap.

If I lived in a wetter climate, the shocks would probably be less, but like the OP, I live in a desert (dry) climate. It is very easy to build a static charge when its very dry.

Perhaps something like this is happening with you. USB operates at 5 volts, so it seems unlikely that it would be able to give you much of a shock from an internal short or something like that. My guess is static electricity building up in your body and discharging to ground through the K70 (although I suppose the opposite may be true too-- the static charge might be building in the K70 or computer and discharging through you).

If you ground yourself before the static charge arcs, it would prevent it from taking place. The static charge would escape to ground without having to arc to the K70 at all. If the charge was building in the K70 itself, it would probably make the shock even less pleasant.

That's what I would do, but be cautious whenever dealing with electricity. In the unlikely event that something really strange is going on (I can't imagine how with 5 volts), providing a better path to ground could be dangerous.

Are you in a environment where static can buildup easily? e.g. dry air, carpeted floor, etc.

Can you test the keyboard on another computer? Does it still shock you?

As a test, if you can run a ground wire from an available screw location under the keyboard case or whatever, and connect it to the computer case via one of the thumb screws on the back, etc., that would eliminate any potential voltage difference between the keyboard and the computer.

If you still get shocked, it's because of static electricity buildup and the only way to eliminate that would be to get a plastic keyboard.

http://ehstoday.com/safety/don-t-be-shocked-static-electricity-q

http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/eliminatestaticelectricity.html

http://www.electrostatics.net/articles/static_shocks.htm

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Static-Electricity

Have a read though those and with luck you will be able avoid static shocks in the future.