shock on frig

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kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
I've worked in central Ohio and Detroit and never heard it called a "cube tester", either.

Some of them aren't at all cubical:
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Sperry Stop-Shock testers will detect a high-impedance ground.

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Neither style will detect a bootleg ground.

Installing a GFCI carries the risk of interrupting the power without notice and spoiling all the food. I recommend not doing that.

Sometimes there is no choice, but what are the alternatives?

Would you rather throw out some spoiled food that can be replaced or bury your friend or loved one that was electrocuted just because you didn't want the food in the fridge to spoil?

They do make GFCI receptacles with audible alarms that sound when tripped, P&S does anyway, or they also make alarms that can monitor the fridge temp if it is that important to you.

You could lose refrigerator full of food for reasons besides a GFCI tripping also.

We have a frig that is currently giving shocks, food would be the last of my concerns. :)

However I would not go the GFCI route only because that is not fixing the problem.
I guess my original thoughts were only concerning the GFCI itself. GFCI does work, though there is some limitation to what it can protect you from. But I don't think it is a good idea to just place a GFCI in the circuit in the OP's situation and not investigate where/why the shocks are coming from. If the fridge frame is grounded and the voltage causing the shock is coming from something else then a GFCI on the fridge will not do anything for you in that instance.
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
I doubt they'll ever have a plug-in tester that can find bootlegged grounds (jumper from N-G screws). Usually tho when those are present, there are other wiring errors that give away something is awry.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Exactly, mine may not have had any connectors but I would not be posting it to EC&M. :)
I won't post anything to EC&M after submitting something for their "what's wrong here" section nearly 20 years ago, they turned the thing around and put blame on inspector for allowing the installation in the article, when this was just something I had come across in the field and likely was not even inspected:roll:
 
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