Hardware USB port electric spark

[pustal]

Many times when I approach a USB cable from the Wii U ports I see a tiny electrical spark coming from beneath the ports. Should I be concerned?

 

[9thSage]

...I'm not sure, but one thing I will say...I don't think I've ever seen that happen on my WiiU.

 

[JacksonS]

That just sounds like static electricity.

 

[driverdis]

Floating grounds will cause this, I have an arc between my Bluray player (as my receiver is earth grounded and the bluray player is floating ground) and the HDMI cable when I go to plug it in

It is fine once the HDMI cable is plugged in the bluray player is now tied to the same ground as the receiver via the HDMI cable.

I am going to assume your situation is the same as no damage is done (so far) and the Wii U works correctly.

 

[Foxi4]

The port is improperly grounded. Most times it's no cause for panic, however chances are that the port is either improperly soldered onto the board, the trace that connects it to the ground is damaged or there's some other hardware flaw causing it. Alternatively, whatever you're connecting the Wii U to is improperly grounded - if it has an independent power supply, that could also lead to sparks on both ends.