Slight Shock From Radio/Record Player?

check the plug, in the wall receptacle one pin is larger than the other, this large contact is (should be) neutral = ground potential

turn your record player plug the other way if it has a non polarized plug

If the shock is worse then there is excessive leakage in the unit and should be serviced

an isolation transformer + ground will eliminate all chocks

A

Could these be static shocks that are totally not related to the player? Do you get them when it is turned off? unplugged?

Does it have a metal case that you are touching when you get zapped?

Do you have a voltmeter? That is the best test. Check voltage between the metal case and earth ground. You can get earth ground from the round pin on any AC outlet.

Once you have that info, contact me. It may be as simple as replacing the line cord with a 3 wire one, and tying the ground to the metal case. But the electronics may have some degraded insulation that would have to be found first.

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Some of these old appliances were built without a power transformer, and are dangerous, should not be used.

Others have a mains filter system that, if unearthed, will put a potential on the metalwork.

Yet other sources of problems are old metal- cased electrolytic capacitors in the power supply.

I would strongly suggest you should measure the voltage present between the metalwork and the mains earth. If possible, also check for current between the metalwork and earth.

If the current is negligible, replacing the power lead with a 3- core, and connecting the earth, should result in satisfactory earthing.

For God's sake please ignore the idiots who are talking about static. They are be encouraging you to ignore something that could be very serious. The light switch screws should be earthed. If the problem was static then you'd be getting belts from all earthed items such as your taps. Check that there isn't a wiring fault inside the switch housing (power off at the conusmer unit first). If all seems well in there then you should call in an electrician to do a full eartinh circuit check because there may be a problem with the incoming earth feed.

Could be a lose wire

Might be worth a electrician to check it