Been away for awhile and back with a question.A client of mine is complaining of an occasional electrical shock when in the shower.Any idea as to what is happening?
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My first two ideas would be a screw through the tile backer hit a wire, or the entire plumbing system is electrified, and being wet overcomes the resistance of dry skin.
You should be able to test the pipes with a multimeter, make sure that they are 0 volts to a reliable ground.
zak
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin
"so it goes"
there's no wiring in the walls behind the backer board but will check for voltage.thanks
Electrified bathtubs
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Could be a grounding issue as well as the above mentioned. Make sure your water lines are grounded properly. Do they have a subpanel in the house. Or garage that's fed from the house?
There are dozen of potentional problems.
What is the age of the home?
If older, when was the electrical system last upgraded?
Any sub-panels?
Any recent plumbing work?
Any recent electrical work?
What does the ground electrode system consists of?
Has the ground electrode conductors been checked?
How and where is the neutral bonded to the ground electrode conductors?
Has that bond been checked?
Has the water pipe bonding been checked?
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
A year ago a new panel and ground was installed by an electrician because the old one was too small but the problem existed before that.His water heater is an oil fired type so that rules out that for a source.I'll check for proper grounding on the water lines,which everyone says there should be,but why would there be electricity there to begin with?This is an old home but all work over the years has been done by qualified people.The problem seems to be in the basement shower which is on a tiled cement floor,not in the upstairs bath which has an acrylic tub.
"His water heater is an oil fired type so that rules out that for a source."Note that in Gunner's example it was the NEIGHBORS WH that had the problem.And there can be other problems with neighbors or power companies that can cause these problems."which is on a tiled cement floor"The first question is the the supply or the drain the hot one? And if it is the drain is it the metal on the drain fitting or the wet tile?Is the water supply all copper, mix of galvanized & coppy, mix of copper and plastic?Is the drain pipe CI and galvanized?Start by meauring the voltage between breaker panel case and the colt water pipe where just after it enters the house.Put a clamp on ampmeter on the ground electrode conductor as it comes ouf of the panel.And plug an extension cord into a grounded receptacle as closest to the panel.Take the other end of that extension cord and measure voltage from the gound pin in the socket to the shower head.Measure from the ground pin to the metal on drain.And cover the drain and fill with 1/2" or so water. Then measure from the ground pin to the water..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
"but the problem existed before that"You mean he is just now getting around to complaining about it and still taking showers?Or does he just reserve that showwer for unwanted guests and in-laws?
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it only happened occasionallyand he just lived with it but his guests and family are complaining now.
"it only happened occasionallyand he just lived with it but his guests and family are complaining now."That makes it hard to find.While all of the test that I suggested are valid to help point to an area for futher testing if the problem does not exist at time they won't show anything.I would suggested get an electrican out that is a good DIAGNOSTICAN. You don't want anyone that just does new installs or just does industrial work. And while it might not be needed that has a ground resistance test meter. That is a specialized meter and not everyone has it.Have them go over the system. Lot of little details and variations in how systems are instated that are hard to explain over the internet.After that, if it does not show any problems or still happens after he makes any fixes, call the power company.If it still happens after both of those then have the keep a detailed log showing each show and if there is a shock, time of day, and the best that can be figured out what equipment in the house is operating at the time. That includes dishwasher, garage disposal, sump pump, well, boiler, circulating pumps, etc..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Betcha it saves a lot of water. lol, Jim
no need for low flow shower heads there.
i did a test this morning with a meter and found 2-3 volts on the pipes(all copper),the shower head,valve,floor drain and even furnace duct work,probably because some pipes are touching the ducts.have decided to call in the electrician to find the problem.thanks for all the help from everyone,it's much appreciated.
Lets us know what he finds out.A. I like a good mystery.B. It helps the next time when a similar problem comes along to have some ideas what to look for..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I certainly will.
A friend had a bad electric water heater that caused his water to be electrified. Extremely tingly showers was the result.
Yep there was a case a few years ago in Kansas city I believe where a a bad heating element a few doors down the street caused a neighbors shower to light him up whenever he took a shower.
Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch?
"Yep there was a case a few years ago in Kansas city I believe where a a bad heating element a few doors down the street caused a neighbors shower to light him up whenever he took a shower."Won't that require an other fault such as bad neutral connection at the house with the bad WH?.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I don't recall the whole story.
Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch?
You mean there was someone who jumped into an electrified shower MORE than once?Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
From what I recall of the story this went on for awhile. Probably just got a tingle.
Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch?