jwnagy
Member
- Location
- Damascus, Maryland
We had a call this week, with a customer who said they were being shocked when they touched the water controls for the shower. They also said this started about 3-4 months ago(!), apparently a few after another electrician had been out to make a repair in the bathroom.
The electrician who took the call reported to me that his his tick-tracer would sound-off around the tub enclosure, water pipes, and drain.
He found the following items:
1 - 1960's era split-buss panel - 100 amp, wiring in the home circa-1935.
2 - Ground and neutral not bonded to each other in panel
3 - No ground rods
4 - Grounding electgrode conductor run to the water main where it entered the home, but only on the upstream side of the cut-off valve.
5 - On the drain, he found a plastic section inserted as a repair between two galavanized sections of 2" drain.
The first thing we did was try and isolate the circuit feeding the problem. We could only get the problem to clear by shutting down 4 circuits. Shutting of the breaker that controlled the bottom half of the panel would also clear the problem.
A call was placed to the power company, for them to check thier connections outside and on the pole, to eliminate the possibility that this was originating from outside the home.
Meanwhile, the panel was properly grounded (until the homeowner can afford a heavy-up), ground rods driven, and the main water valve now grounded on both sides.
Doing this, we were able to now isolate the problem to one circuit...the circuit that feeds the bathroom lighting. Opening the fixture on the bathroom cieling revealed that the wire feeding the cieling outlet is BX, and that the BX does not terminate in a connector. The hot and neutral wires just come into the box...no connector. It has me wondering, and worried, how much of the rest of the home wiring is like this. This is where we stopped yesterday.
Power company checked connections in meter socket and on pole and said everything is ok.
At this point I think someone found a bad neutral wire and used the ground somewhere in the circuit to get everything hot again.
We will continue to look. Any thoughts from anyone out there who's had a similar call?
Jeff Nagy
Master Electrician - Maryland
The electrician who took the call reported to me that his his tick-tracer would sound-off around the tub enclosure, water pipes, and drain.
He found the following items:
1 - 1960's era split-buss panel - 100 amp, wiring in the home circa-1935.
2 - Ground and neutral not bonded to each other in panel
3 - No ground rods
4 - Grounding electgrode conductor run to the water main where it entered the home, but only on the upstream side of the cut-off valve.
5 - On the drain, he found a plastic section inserted as a repair between two galavanized sections of 2" drain.
The first thing we did was try and isolate the circuit feeding the problem. We could only get the problem to clear by shutting down 4 circuits. Shutting of the breaker that controlled the bottom half of the panel would also clear the problem.
A call was placed to the power company, for them to check thier connections outside and on the pole, to eliminate the possibility that this was originating from outside the home.
Meanwhile, the panel was properly grounded (until the homeowner can afford a heavy-up), ground rods driven, and the main water valve now grounded on both sides.
Doing this, we were able to now isolate the problem to one circuit...the circuit that feeds the bathroom lighting. Opening the fixture on the bathroom cieling revealed that the wire feeding the cieling outlet is BX, and that the BX does not terminate in a connector. The hot and neutral wires just come into the box...no connector. It has me wondering, and worried, how much of the rest of the home wiring is like this. This is where we stopped yesterday.
Power company checked connections in meter socket and on pole and said everything is ok.
At this point I think someone found a bad neutral wire and used the ground somewhere in the circuit to get everything hot again.
We will continue to look. Any thoughts from anyone out there who's had a similar call?
Jeff Nagy
Master Electrician - Maryland
Last edited:
What's the tag line someone on here has? Stupid should hurt.
