Why does nobody talk about the weird static electricity effect in old apartment buildings

I tried leaving my phone on the nightstand in my 1960s apartment building in Chicago last week. When I picked it up, the screen was flickering and the touchscreen was acting possessed. Turns out the old wiring and dry air in winter build up a ton of static in the bedrooms. Now I keep a cheap humidifier running and put my phone on a wooden dresser instead. Anyone else dealt with electronics going haywire in older buildings?

3 comments

3 Comments

william91723d ago

1960s wiring in Chicago is actually solid, your phone probably just had a bug from the cold and dry air. A little static isn't going to fry a modern phone unless you're shoving it into a fuzzy blanket. Sounds like your humidifier fixed it anyway, so maybe the real problem was just bad luck with that particular outlet.

taylor.jessica23d ago

Does @william917 think a static shock from a fuzzy blanket could actually damage a phone? I had something similar happen with an old laptop once, just a pop and it shut off. Honestly though, you're probably right about the dry air and luck thing. I've dealt with old wiring before and it's usually fine, just finicky. Sounds like the humidifier was a smart fix, even if the real issue was random.

angela_coleman22d ago

Actually gonna throw a different angle out here - nobody's mentioned that old buildings often have ungrounded outlets. In my experience, 1960s places in Chicago sometimes still have those two-prong outlets that were never updated. @taylor.jessica mentioned her laptop shutting off from a pop, which sounds like it got zapped through a missing ground path. I had a stereo receiver act up in my old Logan Square place until I swapped in a three-prong adapter with a wire to the screw. Static's part of it, but the lack of proper grounding makes everything more touchy in dry winter air, take that for what it's worth.