People with X220 technical expertise, please help

[trefall]

From my other posts I stated that I bought 'factory remanufactured'[by Mexican standards] laptops from a reseller. They changed out the laptop with a broken case and blank keyboard keys. The 'new' one was shocking my wife's bare-skinned legs and the case was burning hot. The company said 'one exchange was enough'. Any ideas what would cause these symptoms? I'm thinking grounding problem or something in battery circuit but have no idea where to start. I don't have any faith in laptop repair places in town. Any ideas or help are appreciated.

[axur-delmeria]

The 'new' one was shocking my wife's bare-skinned legs and the case was burning hot.

The bottom chassis (as well as the lid) is made from AZ91D Magnesium alloy. Being a metal, it's electrically and thermally conductive. if there are scratches or breaks on the paintwork underneath, it's probably causing the shock. You can get a "lap desk" which is basically a small plank of wood or plastic with a cushion underneath. This will alleviate both issues.
I really don't recommend using a laptop on your lap though, because it won't be as stable as on an actual desk or table, and the excess movement can cause premature hard drive failure (unless you use solid-state drives).

To reduce the heat, you can set your laptop to a lower maximum speed when running on battery. You can also monitor the temperatures with software like HWMonitor. If you think that the temperature is a bit too high, you can take matters into your own hands and clean the heatsink yourself.

[trefall]

Azur,
Will painting the case in the bare metal spots eliminate the shock or does it have to be a special paint. Don't know anything about paint chem.
Thanks for the reply

[shawross]

I see this initially as a twofold problem.

1/ Firstly your residence probably may have poor earthing.

2/ Secondly the laptop also doesn't probably have an earthing conductor. There is no 3rd pin on the charging brick.

Manufacturers should consider this in their designs and realise some people actually use a laptop as a laptop.

Countries with an MEN earth system wouldn't be affected.