Static Type Shock From Headphone Jack

[SoloFlyer]

Evening all,

Moved house not so recently. The front of the NAD amp has an input which I have set up a headphone jack to play music/audio off the ipad. Plays just fine. But when I touch the tip of the jack I get a mild buzz from it. Didn't worry me till I plugged the iPhone in tonight and nearly dropped it changing tracks .... cant be good for the phone?? probably hadn't noticed on the ipad before cause of the protective case.

What is it, and what is the solution?

Cheers

[JamieP]

If you're getting a "buzz," it's not static.

Check your earthing on the amp.

[cooked]

Don't check it. Earth it. Same thing here, I can't touch anything metallic (iPhone, camera etc) that is joined by USB to the computer. Not dangerous I think, but unpleasant.

[SoloFlyer]

How does one who is not fluent in these things do that?

[astral]

Drive a metal stake into the ground, preferably one metre long.

Run a cable from the stake to the earth connection on the back of you NAD amp.

[cooked]

Copper rods, I have seen these, 150 cm, into ground that is likely to be moist all year round. You can find how to do this stuff on internet/google.

[bkk_mike]

If you've got a 2-pin plug on the amp and 3 pin sockets in the wall, change to a new cable with a 3-pin plug so the amp is earthed.

If you've only got 2-pin sockets, you can try rotating the plug so that you swap around your live and neutral, which can sometimes help. If that doesn't work you need to earth it somewhere (i.e. stake in the ground if you're in a house, not sure what your options are if you're in a flat.)