A S-Video connection fried both my TV and laptop! Answers ..

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Hello,

Recently, I had a big power surge problem involving both my brand new
laptop and my less than two years old TV. Two total looses.

My main concern is that I don't really understand what happened and,
thereof, can't see a way to prevent it in the future.

Here's the story :

I bought a few weeks ago an HP notebook with an S-Video output. I used
my laptop (on battery and AC power) a week and a half before trying the
S-Video output and did not have a single problem.

So, someday, I decided it was time to try to connect my laptop on my TV
by using the S-Video output. I bought a S-Video-to-RCA cable at
Radioshack because I thought it would be more practical to have my
laptop connected to the front RCA jacks of my TV.

As soon as the contact was made, both my laptop and TV went off and I
could smell a light odour of burnt electronic components. The TV did
not seem to be damaged because I could turn it on almost immediately.
As for the laptop, I simply had to reinsert the battery to make it
start.

Maybe it was very stupid, but I thought that the problem could be the
cheap RadioShack cable. So I decided to buy a true S-Video cable.

For my second try, I choose to not plug the laptop into the AC outlet
and just use the battery. After connecting the laptop to the TV, all I
see is a black screen. By the way, I did not feel like there was a
power surge problem this time.

Days later, I really wanted to make my S-Video port work. So, I
downloaded the latest devices drivers for my graphic card and gave the
S-Video output a new try with the laptop connected to the AC outlet.
Not a good idea.

Again, as soon as the contact was made, both my laptop and TV went off
and I could smell a strong odour of burnt electronic components. This
time the damage was terrible. Both my laptop and TV are completely
fried. There is just no way to make'em work anymore.

So my questions are :

1) What happened ?
2) How could I prevent this kind of surge ?
3) Should I never try to connect a laptop to a TV ?

I made a diagram of my living room electrical setup. You can see it at
this URL : http://home.ca.inter.net/~gdupuis/livingroomsetup.jpg

I don't think that the problem is from my TV since it is almost new
and because it never fried my DVD player or VCR. I guess the problem
comes from my laptop, but I still don't really understand.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really need to understand
since I don't know much about electricity.

Thank you very much.

(By the way, I am very sorry for the poor English. It is not my
language.)

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Recently, I had a big power surge problem involving both my brand new
> laptop and my less than two years old TV. Two total looses.
>
> My main concern is that I don't really understand what happened and,
> thereof, can't see a way to prevent it in the future.
>
> Here's the story :
>
> I bought a few weeks ago an HP notebook with an S-Video output. I used
> my laptop (on battery and AC power) a week and a half before trying
> the S-Video output and did not have a single problem.
>
> So, someday, I decided it was time to try to connect my laptop on my
> TV by using the S-Video output. I bought a S-Video-to-RCA cable at
> Radioshack because I thought it would be more practical to have my
> laptop connected to the front RCA jacks of my TV.
>
> As soon as the contact was made, both my laptop and TV went off and I
> could smell a light odour of burnt electronic components. The TV did
> not seem to be damaged because I could turn it on almost immediately.
> As for the laptop, I simply had to reinsert the battery to make it
> start.
>
> Maybe it was very stupid, but I thought that the problem could be the
> cheap RadioShack cable. So I decided to buy a true S-Video cable.
>
> For my second try, I choose to not plug the laptop into the AC outlet
> and just use the battery. After connecting the laptop to the TV, all I
> see is a black screen. By the way, I did not feel like there was a
> power surge problem this time.
>
> Days later, I really wanted to make my S-Video port work. So, I
> downloaded the latest devices drivers for my graphic card and gave the
> S-Video output a new try with the laptop connected to the AC outlet.
> Not a good idea.
>
> Again, as soon as the contact was made, both my laptop and TV went off
> and I could smell a strong odour of burnt electronic components. This
> time the damage was terrible. Both my laptop and TV are completely
> fried. There is just no way to make'em work anymore.
>
> So my questions are :
>
> 1) What happened ?
> 2) How could I prevent this kind of surge ?
> 3) Should I never try to connect a laptop to a TV ?
>
> I made a diagram of my living room electrical setup. You can see it at
> this URL : http://home.ca.inter.net/~gdupuis/livingroomsetup.jpg
>
> I don't think that the problem is from my TV since it is almost new
> and because it never fried my DVD player or VCR. I guess the problem
> comes from my laptop, but I still don't really understand.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really need to understand
> since I don't know much about electricity.
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> (By the way, I am very sorry for the poor English. It is not my
> language.)

It looks like a problem with the electrical grounding of the TV vs the
laptop. One, probably the TV, is not properly grounded. Connecting the
S-video cable simply established a common ground potential between the
two pieces of equipment. This is normal and with good electrical ground
on the AC supply no more that a very small amount of total charge
(amp-hours) is required to establish a common ground potential. If,
however, if the two pieces of electrical equipment are from two
different AC supplies not sharing a common ground, it is possible to
move substantial charge, or even create a dead short to ground, thus
overloading one or both through the ground plane.

This episode clearly shows that there is a serious grounding problem
with the AC supply you have. Either the system is ungrounded, the AC
lines have been switched so that ground is live, etc. It is not only a
hazard with equipment, but is likely a personal safety hazard. You need
the services of a reputable, licensed electrician.

Q

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks for your help,

"They did not share a common ground, and when you connected them, the
ground voltage differential was large enough to send a large current
through the S-Video cable's ground wire. "

I don't know much about electronics. I'm not sure to really understand
what you mean by "common ground" ? I mean, even if nothing was grounded
in my house, a laptop shouldn't burn a TV and a TV shouldn't burn a
laptop, no?

"To prevent this, you could have either 1) had a grounded AC cable to
the TV; or 2) plugged the laptop into the same surge suppressor that
the TV was plugged into. In the latter case, both the laptop and the
TV would have been improperly grounded, but they would have shared the
same ground voltage. Assuming, of course, that my amateur-level
analysis is correct."

Ground voltage? Are you saying that if I try to connect my DVD player
to my TV using the same AC outlet that my laptop was plugged on, the
same disaster will happen again?

It is very important for to understand what happened and your advice is
really appreciated. Thank you again.

Gabriel.

wbw wrote:
> dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca <dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca> wrote:
> >
> > So my questions are :
> >
> > 1) What happened ?
> > 2) How could I prevent this kind of surge ?
> > 3) Should I never try to connect a laptop to a TV ?
> >
> > I made a diagram of my living room electrical setup. You can see it
at
> > this URL : http://home.ca.inter.net/~gdupuis/livingroomsetup.jpg
> >
>
> I'm sure there's people here who know a lot more about this than I
do,
> but that *** NOT GROUNDED *** label on the TV outlet screams out to
me,
> "OH NO!!". An S-Video cable contains a ground wire. Your laptop was
> properly grounded, your TV was not. They did not share a common
ground,
> and when you connected them, the ground voltage differential was
large
> enough to send a large current through the S-Video cable's ground
wire.
>
> A composite video cable also has a ground wire, but maybe it was only

> the Radio Shack adapter that got burned up, not your equipment
(complete
> speculation). You didn't fry anything when your laptop was on
battery
> power because your laptop was not grounded while running on battery.
>
> That's my take on things, but I'm no electrician, and as I said, I'm
> sure there are way more knowledgable people here.
>
> To prevent this, you could have either 1) had a grounded AC cable to
> the TV; or 2) plugged the laptop into the same surge suppressor that
the
> TV was plugged into. In the latter case, both the laptop and the TV
> would have been improperly grounded, but they would have shared
> the same ground voltage. Assuming, of course, that my amateur-level
> analysis is correct.
>
> Usually it's no problem to use the S-Video output of a laptop to
> hook up to a TV, either with an S-Video cable or with a S-Video to
> composite adapter.
>
> That's quite a loss you've sustained there. Probably several
thousand
> dollars Now I'm gonna go check all my outlets to make sure
> everything's grounded.
>
> Your English is fine

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca wrote:

> Thanks for your help,
>
> "They did not share a common ground, and when you connected them, the
> ground voltage differential was large enough to send a large current
> through the S-Video cable's ground wire. "
>
> I don't know much about electronics. I'm not sure to really understand
> what you mean by "common ground" ? I mean, even if nothing was grounded
> in my house, a laptop shouldn't burn a TV and a TV shouldn't burn a
> laptop, no?
>
> "To prevent this, you could have either 1) had a grounded AC cable to
> the TV; or 2) plugged the laptop into the same surge suppressor that
> the TV was plugged into. In the latter case, both the laptop and the
> TV would have been improperly grounded, but they would have shared the
> same ground voltage. Assuming, of course, that my amateur-level
> analysis is correct."
>
> Ground voltage? Are you saying that if I try to connect my DVD player
> to my TV using the same AC outlet that my laptop was plugged on, the
> same disaster will happen again?
>
> It is very important for to understand what happened and your advice is
> really appreciated. Thank you again.

In the US one wire is "neutral" and is connected to the ground at the
breaker panel--something would have to be badly wrong with the wiring for
there to be a ground differential in the situation you describe. Outside
the US the standards differ so that may not be the case.

My inclination would be to believe that there's something improperly wired
up inside the TV. Before I plugged anything else into it I'd want to check
it with instruments.
>
> Gabriel.
>
> wbw wrote:
>> dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca <dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca> wrote:
>> >
>> > So my questions are :
>> >
>> > 1) What happened ?
>> > 2) How could I prevent this kind of surge ?
>> > 3) Should I never try to connect a laptop to a TV ?
>> >
>> > I made a diagram of my living room electrical setup. You can see it
> at
>> > this URL : http://home.ca.inter.net/~gdupuis/livingroomsetup.jpg
>> >
>>
>> I'm sure there's people here who know a lot more about this than I
> do,
>> but that *** NOT GROUNDED *** label on the TV outlet screams out to
> me,
>> "OH NO!!". An S-Video cable contains a ground wire. Your laptop was
>> properly grounded, your TV was not. They did not share a common
> ground,
>> and when you connected them, the ground voltage differential was
> large
>> enough to send a large current through the S-Video cable's ground
> wire.
>>
>> A composite video cable also has a ground wire, but maybe it was only
>
>> the Radio Shack adapter that got burned up, not your equipment
> (complete
>> speculation). You didn't fry anything when your laptop was on
> battery
>> power because your laptop was not grounded while running on battery.
>>
>> That's my take on things, but I'm no electrician, and as I said, I'm
>> sure there are way more knowledgable people here.
>>
>> To prevent this, you could have either 1) had a grounded AC cable to
>> the TV; or 2) plugged the laptop into the same surge suppressor that
> the
>> TV was plugged into. In the latter case, both the laptop and the TV
>> would have been improperly grounded, but they would have shared
>> the same ground voltage. Assuming, of course, that my amateur-level
>> analysis is correct.
>>
>> Usually it's no problem to use the S-Video output of a laptop to
>> hook up to a TV, either with an S-Video cable or with a S-Video to
>> composite adapter.
>>
>> That's quite a loss you've sustained there. Probably several
> thousand
>> dollars Now I'm gonna go check all my outlets to make sure
>> everything's grounded.
>>
>> Your English is fine



--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

In "Re: A S-Video connection fried both my TV and laptop! Answers needed!", R.
J. Sutherland <rj.sutherland.removethis@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>(ungrounded) AC power connection, the TV chassis will either be at 'neutra'

Oops! should be 'neutral', of course...

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

<dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:1109758327.620582.137420@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> Recently, I had a big power surge problem involving both my brand new
> laptop and my less than two years old TV. Two total looses.
>
> My main concern is that I don't really understand what happened and,
> thereof, can't see a way to prevent it in the future.
>
> Here's the story :
>

[snipped]

A check of your diagram instantly reveals the story. There is no ground
wire to the TV set up. Modern TVs (and indeed the other equipment on the
same circuit) runs using switch mode power supplies. These contain a an
input filter circuit, which cause the ground wire to assume a potential of
half the line voltage if not otherwise grounded. Since there are several
pieces of equipement connected, the combined filters will have a substantial
stored charge.

Your S-video cable provided the ground path for that charge via the laptop's
mains supply cable. The burning smell (and smoke?) is because the S-Video
ports on both the TV and the laptop are not designed to handle the current
that flowed. Had the TV circuit been properly grounded, you would not have
had a problem.

You should be thankful that it was your S-Video cable that completed the
circuit - it could have been you or a member of your family.

Ian.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

In "Re: A S-Video connection fried both my TV and laptop! Answers needed!", R.
J. Sutherland <rj.sutherland.removethis@ntlworld.com> wrote:

> I think he would be well advised to check all his wall outlets with such a device

Oh, and his 2-wire extension cable too...

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Sounds like the cable used was the Wrong one.. Laptop we can help
with.. The TV? Used to repair these but whats the point anymore..
(They are inexpensive to replace unless its a new Hi- def)...

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"R. J. Sutherland" <rj.sutherland.removethis@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:lc2e21hp5elhvabo58g20i9dnh5po9i91q@4ax.com...
> In "Re: A S-Video connection fried both my TV and laptop! Answers
needed!", "Ye
>
> A properly isolated output can indeed assume arbitrary potentials relative
to
> the grounds of other equipment depending on the relative capacitances
*between*
> them all (not on the storage capacity *within* any of them, note). Because
the
> capacitances are very small, the charges accumulated are also very small,
and
> the resistance of an interconnect cable is quite sufficient to keep any
> transient equalising current flows small. I would certainly not expect
these to
> cause any kind of burning or equipment damage. (Occasionally a static
> electricity discharge generated by friction between different materials
can
> generate sufficient potential to destroy a semiconductor device, which is
not
> quite the same thing, and in any case is a silent - and smell/smoke free -
> assassin.) No, the kind of damage reported is characteristic of a short
between
> two lines of different fixed potentials, and is much more serious (and
> dangerous). This could result, for example, from a switched power supply
whose
> output *isn't* properly isolated, whether by design or because of a fault.
>

Although SMPSUs do provide isolation between the mains input and the DC
output, the ground point of the input filter circuit is taken to input
ground, but this is also connected through to the grounded output terminal.
The 2 filter capacitors that go between the live and neutral input (the
latter of which is also ground in the US), form a voltage divider. If the
input ground is not actually grounded, then the (now) equipment ground
assumes half line potential.

I would agree that the capacitance values encountered would normally be
quite small, but it is possible that the equipment in question is also sold
in Europe in some form. If this is the case, then the filtering is far more
substantial because of Europe's power factor correction requirements. It is
also quite possible that some part of the set up has a leakage fault.

Remember that there is a valuable clue in that the burning did not occur
when the laptop was energised from batteries.

Ian.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Joe Davis" <davisexp@attglobal.net> wrote in message
newsJFVd.101$cN6.59@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>
> "J. Clarke" <jclarke.usenet@snet.net.invalid> wrote in message
> news056360310h@news2.newsguy.com...
> > dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca wrote:
> >
> ....
> > In the US one wire is "neutral" and is connected to the ground at the
> > breaker panel--something would have to be badly wrong with the wiring
for
> > there to be a ground differential in the situation you describe.
Outside
> > the US the standards differ so that may not be the case.
> >
>
> There are a lot of old houses in the US that are still wired with 2-wire
> wiring. As rooms are re-modeled, etc., they may put in new grounded
> outlets, but many times these are still not grounded.

That is a non-ssue, as there are *NO* consumer TV's in the U.S. supplied
with a grounding-type plug, to the best of my knowledge. Every one that
I've ever had (or seen) only had a two pin non-grounding AC mains
plug...same with VCR's, DVD's and every other piece of consumer-grade home
entertainment gear that I've seen or owned.

TV's get grounded by the shield in the cable connection. I had a cable guy
once tell me that something in my video system was causing a difference in
potential between ground and the shield on the cable going into my house.
He installed a 'DC blocker' which could only have been an inline capacitor.
He advised me to get the grounds on my outlets checked...HA!

jak

>
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

jakdedert wrote:

>
> "Joe Davis" <davisexp@attglobal.net> wrote in message
> newsJFVd.101$cN6.59@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>>
>> "J. Clarke" <jclarke.usenet@snet.net.invalid> wrote in message
>> news056360310h@news2.newsguy.com...
>> > dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca wrote:
>> >
>> ....
>> > In the US one wire is "neutral" and is connected to the ground at the
>> > breaker panel--something would have to be badly wrong with the wiring
> for
>> > there to be a ground differential in the situation you describe.
> Outside
>> > the US the standards differ so that may not be the case.
>> >
>>
>> There are a lot of old houses in the US that are still wired with 2-wire
>> wiring. As rooms are re-modeled, etc., they may put in new grounded
>> outlets, but many times these are still not grounded.
>
> That is a non-ssue, as there are *NO* consumer TV's in the U.S. supplied
> with a grounding-type plug, to the best of my knowledge. Every one that
> I've ever had (or seen) only had a two pin non-grounding AC mains
> plug...same with VCR's, DVD's and every other piece of consumer-grade home
> entertainment gear that I've seen or owned.
>
> TV's get grounded by the shield in the cable connection.

That may provide a signal ground for the video signal but that is not a
power ground.

Bear in mind that for most of the life of TV in the US the "cable
connection" was a 300 ohm balanced twinlead going to a roof antenna. For
me it's still going to a roof antenna, but the roof antenna is now a
satellite dish, and the cable shield is grounded, but if there was a
significant difference in ground potential between the electrical power and
the shield ground, the shield would go up in smoke in no time.

> I had a cable
> guy once tell me that something in my video system was causing a
> difference in potential between ground and the shield on the cable going
> into my house. He installed a 'DC blocker' which could only have been an
> inline capacitor. He advised me to get the grounds on my outlets
> checked...HA!
>
> jak
>
>>
>>

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

On 2 Mar 2005 02:12:07 -0800, "dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca"
<dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca> wrote:

>
snip
>
>Again, as soon as the contact was made, both my laptop and TV went off
>and I could smell a strong odour of burnt electronic components. This
>time the damage was terrible. Both my laptop and TV are completely
>fried. There is just no way to make'em work anymore.
>
>So my questions are :
>
>1) What happened ?
>2) How could I prevent this kind of surge ?
>3) Should I never try to connect a laptop to a TV ?
>
>I made a diagram of my living room electrical setup. You can see it at
>this URL : http://home.ca.inter.net/~gdupuis/livingroomsetup.jpg
>
>I don't think that the problem is from my TV since it is almost new
>and because it never fried my DVD player or VCR. I guess the problem
>comes from my laptop, but I still don't really understand.
>
>Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really need to understand
>since I don't know much about electricity.
>
>Thank you very much.
>
>(By the way, I am very sorry for the poor English. It is not my
>language.)

You should disconnect everything from ac power including the surge
protectors and and power strips and immediately ask a professional
to check all in person This isn't something that can be "fixed"
or easily explained without the technical knowledge and equipment
which you do not possess.

You have no way to determine what advise and opinion you receive
here is expert or just well intentioned but not knowledgeable or
even dangerously but unintentiionlly misleading. Genuine expert
advise here is also of limited value to you since that requires
knowledge and equipment on your part too But you would not be
asking if you had all that.. On site professional expertise is
the only thing you should consider.

..As pointed out here there are several _real_ possibilities.
One not mntioned is that sheer good luck with the various ac plug
insertions (orientation) from all the devices shown in your
diagram, and your touching of metal parts, may also have kept the
problem hidden until the laptop and all its connections was
connected. There is at least one device other than through the
laptop connection that is dangerous since enough current can flow
to burn components.

I urge you to seek professional in person checking.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I work for a power company and one of the trouble calls I went on was to a
home where when the cable guy plugged the coax into a cable modem it was
causing a bad arc and blowing a breaker in the breaker box. The problem was
that the house had the old 2 wire type of wiring but, they had changed to
the newer type of wall outlets with ground. The problem was that they had
run the hot wire across the neutral connector and also into the ground
connector on the newer type of wall plug and had the ground wire going to
where the hot wire should have gone on the wall plug. A light on the same
outlet worked fine as it should have but, what can happen is that the
outside of the lamp which was brass becomes energized to around 120 volts.
This is no problem as long as the person is not touching a good ground and
the light at the same time. If you are wearing tennis shoes with good clean
soles you can touch 120 volt wires and never know it. A wood floor also
insulates fairly well. Anyway, the customer had already used one of those
plug checkers which plugs into a wall plug to tell you if it is wired
correctly. The plug checker showed that the wall plug was wired correctly
even though it was wired just the opposite of how it should have been. So
what was happening is that when the cable modem was plugged into the wall
outlet the case of the cable modem along with the shield side of the
connector became energized to 120 volts and when the cable guy plugged the
grounded coax into the connector on the cable modem it was causing a direct
short.
So theoritically if your tv was plugged into a wall plug that was not
wired correctly and your laptop were plugged into a wall outlet that was
wired correctly you'd have a direct short on the ground side of that S-video
cable. So likely the TV or the laptop may have been plugged into a wall
plug that was not wired correctly. Your home owners insurance might cover
such an electrical catastrophe or you might could turn it into your
insurance after the next big lightning storm ;x But, you didn't hear that
from me.

Ben

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

First of all, I'D LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE WHO RESPONDED to my post. I am
still very amazed to see how much help and advice I got from you guys
and to see the amount of time you have dedicated to help a pure
stranger like me.

So, again, thanks everyone.

As I am reading this thread, I realize that the problem is way more
complex that I thought it could be. There are tons of possibilities
which are far above my understanding of the subject. Just like w_tom
said, I am going to have to get a few numbers from a qualifed
electrician before posting any new information. To me, it seemed so
simple : it was the laptop since I never had any power problems before
and because my TV never fried my DVD player or VCR.

I am considering going to the small claims court with this story and
that's why I needed some good explanations about what happened. Now, I
really understand that I'll have to check my appartment electricity
before blaming the laptop.

It seems to me that you guys are quite interested by my story. I admit
that understand what happened is some kind of a challenge from a
technical point of view. So, if you're still interested, I'll post the
numbers when I'll have them.

By the way, I live in Montreal, Canada. I am a university student and I
really don't have the money to hire a specialist just to know what
happened to a 400$ TV (my laptop is on warranty). But I know someone in
my family who is an electrician, so I'll ask him to checkout my
appartment. The most important thing for me is to understand how I can
prevent this kind of incident and if I'll be able to try again my
S-Video port when my laptop will be repaired (I'm still waiting)
without destructing a new TV.

So, again, thanks everyone.

Gabriel.




dupuis_gabriel@yahoo.ca wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Recently, I had a big power surge problem involving both my brand new
> laptop and my less than two years old TV. Two total looses.
>
> My main concern is that I don't really understand what happened and,
> thereof, can't see a way to prevent it in the future.
>
> Here's the story :
>
> I bought a few weeks ago an HP notebook with an S-Video output. I
used
> my laptop (on battery and AC power) a week and a half before trying
the
> S-Video output and did not have a single problem.
>
> So, someday, I decided it was time to try to connect my laptop on my
TV
> by using the S-Video output. I bought a S-Video-to-RCA cable at
> Radioshack because I thought it would be more practical to have my
> laptop connected to the front RCA jacks of my TV.
>
> As soon as the contact was made, both my laptop and TV went off and I
> could smell a light odour of burnt electronic components. The TV did
> not seem to be damaged because I could turn it on almost immediately.
> As for the laptop, I simply had to reinsert the battery to make it
> start.
>
> Maybe it was very stupid, but I thought that the problem could be the
> cheap RadioShack cable. So I decided to buy a true S-Video cable.
>
> For my second try, I choose to not plug the laptop into the AC outlet
> and just use the battery. After connecting the laptop to the TV, all
I
> see is a black screen. By the way, I did not feel like there was a
> power surge problem this time.
>
> Days later, I really wanted to make my S-Video port work. So, I
> downloaded the latest devices drivers for my graphic card and gave
the
> S-Video output a new try with the laptop connected to the AC outlet.
> Not a good idea.
>
> Again, as soon as the contact was made, both my laptop and TV went
off
> and I could smell a strong odour of burnt electronic components. This
> time the damage was terrible. Both my laptop and TV are completely
> fried. There is just no way to make'em work anymore.
>
> So my questions are :
>
> 1) What happened ?
> 2) How could I prevent this kind of surge ?
> 3) Should I never try to connect a laptop to a TV ?
>
> I made a diagram of my living room electrical setup. You can see it
at
> this URL : http://home.ca.inter.net/~gdupuis/livingroomsetup.jpg
>
> I don't think that the problem is from my TV since it is almost new
> and because it never fried my DVD player or VCR. I guess the problem
> comes from my laptop, but I still don't really understand.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really need to understand
> since I don't know much about electricity.
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> (By the way, I am very sorry for the poor English. It is not my
> language.)

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Re: "> after i read these postings, i bought a circuit tester and tested my
> outlets. the tv is connected to an ungrounded outlet. my laptop was
> connected to an outlet with hot and neutral reversed. according to my
> circuit tester, this outlet is the only one in my apartment with the
> polarity reversed- but none of the outlets in my apartment are
> grounded. i live in the US.
>
> is having the polarity of this outlet reversed enough to cause the
> problem?"

Your situation is pretty extreme, but that combination could definitely
cause the problem.

I think that the circuit tester is telling you all that you need to know.

You have two outlets to fix, not one. But I'd use the circuit tester on
every outlet in the house. At that point, you need to assess if you
can fix it or if you need to call an electrician (it goes without saying
that you shouldn't try to fix it yourself unless you know what you are
doing).

[Hot and neutral reversed is a really serious issue that, in a few
cases, can present lethal shock hazzards]



evanpon wrote:
> Hi,
> I just experienced a problem similar to the original poster. i also
> was hooking my laptop to my tv via an s-video cable. my laptop was on
> AC power, connected to a different circuit than my tv. i plugged the
> s-video cable in to the tv first, and then plugged it into my laptop.
> as soon as i did so, there was a spark from my tv, with a small amount
> of smoke. my tv no longer worked, but my laptop still does.
>
> after i read these postings, i bought a circuit tester and tested my
> outlets. the tv is connected to an ungrounded outlet. my laptop was
> connected to an outlet with hot and neutral reversed. according to my
> circuit tester, this outlet is the only one in my apartment with the
> polarity reversed- but none of the outlets in my apartment are
> grounded. i live in the US.
>
> is having the polarity of this outlet reversed enough to cause the
> problem?
>
> is there extra testing that needs to be done with a 3.5 digit
> mulitmeter, beyond what i've done with the circuit tester?
>
> do i still need to call in an electrician to examine the rest of the
> circuity in the apartment, or i can just fix this one outlet and be
> done with it?
>
> and is there a way i can test it all out short of plugging my computer
> back into my new/repaired tv? i'd like to replace my electronics as
> seldom as possible.
>
> thanks!
>
> -evan
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

In "Re: A S-Video connection fried both my TV and laptop! Answers needed!",
Chris Hill <hillco@earthlink.net> wrote:

>On 9 Mar 2005 20:31:03 -0800, "evanpon" <evanpon@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>I think you are missing the obvious solution here: don't plug your
>laptop into a different circuit [from] your tv and then connect the two
>of them.

I think you are missing the >safe< solution here: get his house wiring checked
by someone who knows what he's doing. A miswired outlet is potentially LETHAL.
(If the choice was up to me, I would also have all 2-pin outlets replaced with
properly-grounded 3-pin ones, even in N. America.)