Shock delivered through computer headphones?

You *should* be nervous. Measure the voltage between the PC case and earth ground. It should be zero. If not you have a power supply fault OR a mis-wired AC outlet.

...Jim Thompson

port

might

wearing

Hi Jim, Thanks for the reply. I cross-posted to sci.electronics.components because I wasn't sure which was the more appropriate venue for this thread; I got several responses in that ng, and I'm posting here my reply to that group: The shock was a quick series of snaps--maybe 3 of them in rapid succession. Not a continuous jolt...and yes, this is the east coast in January. So I've added an additional grounding wire to the case of my computer, and ran a bare copper wire to ground across my desk in front of my keyboard. I'll post again if I experience (and survive) another one of these. Regards, Brett

Likely static electricity. Some power strips have a metal area where you can touch to discharge yourself (after walking across the wool carpet!) before touching your computer. Discharging yourself into the comptuer (or anything connected to it like mouse, keyboard, etc.) has great potential for permananet damage to the computer (or any electronic equipment) and should be actively avoided. Be sure your discharge wire is connected to the green-wire ground of the power system, and NOT directly to your computer!