Current on water spigot

[a west]

Need some help please. Today i was call to a home, customer being shocked from bathtub. House has new wiring plus old wiring. Went to oulet in bath and with my meter with one probe in oulet and the other touching sink sigot meter showed 117 volts. House has gav. pipe. Went to basement and check for grounds on piping, found nothing. Any suggestions for trouble shooting this problem. Thanks,

 

[mattsilkwood]

sounds like a neutral to me

 

[Joe R]

What prong opening of the outlet did u insert the meter probe?

 

[a west]

It was a two prong outlet. No ground prong on it. Thanks for the reply

 

[Joe R]

U may want to check where ur cold water clamp is installed it may be loose, and if the grounds and nuetrals are bonded this could be where the problem is.

 

[augie47]

pipe

pipe

what voltage did you get from each prong on the outlet to the spigot ?

 

[a west]

117 volts. Checked connections they were tight. Netural and ground bar are not connected. Thanks,

 

[a west]

I should have said 117 volts on one side and 30 volts on the other.

 

[mdshunk]

Check for leaks under the home that may have saturated old braided romex. Check that the water bonding is properly done. It will be one of the two, guaranteed!

 

[Joe R]

Is this circuit coming out of a main panel or a sub panel, by ur last posts it seems the circuit originates out of a subpanel.

 

[a west]

Thanks, What would be wrong with the bonding that i have?

 

[a west]

200 amp main panel, House was upgraded about 2 yrs ago. Has 2 ground rods and one 200 amp meter disconnect outside. Old wiring in this part of the house is the knob tube wiring.

 

[LarryFine]

. . . 30 volts on the other.

The problem.

 

[chris kennedy]

Check for leaks under the home that may have saturated old braided romex. Check that the water bonding is properly done. It will be one of the two, guaranteed!

So you say your a service guy. You can guaranty this? I have a job in sunny south Fla. for you mighty link master.

 

[macmikeman]

Try turning off the breakers one at a time and check after each breaker is turned off. That might help you to isolate the problem circuit. Then try turning off your main and check the pipe with a volt tic. If you still have a voltage present, his could be a problem at the house next door backfeeding thru your water line.

 

[Jljohnson]

There are several things that could cause this, each one takes my feeble mind back to a problem with bonding somewhere. Perhaps a garbage disposal, connected with reverse polarity, in contact with the galvanized waste pipe, a water heater connected to a 2-wire circuit with an element shorting out, the list goes on. I think I saw in one of your posts that the GEC is made of 2 ground rods but I don't recall seeing where the water piping or other metal piping systems were bonded to the GEC system. I believe, if these items were bonded properly, a breaker would trip and isolate your problem for you.
I have seen similar situations before, actually could hear water boiling in the P-trap in one customers home. The suggestion of turning off breakers one at a time to isolate the problem circuit is a good suggestion.

 

[Joe R]

117 volts. Checked connections they were tight. Netural and ground bar are not connected. Thanks,

U stated that the residence has a 200amp MB panel but the neutral and grounds are not bonded that is part of the problem, or the problem its self.

 

[mattsilkwood]

U stated that the residence has a 200amp MB panel but the neutral and grounds are not bonded that is part of the problem, or the problem its self.

they should be bonded at the disconnect on the side of the house not the panel.

 

[karl riley]

According to your measurements you evidently have 30V on the spigot. Please be aware that this is dangerous. Check to see that the plumbing going to the spigot is bonded to the neutral/ground bonding point at the main disconnect. Then re-measure,
Karl

 

[Joe R]

they should be bonded at the disconnect on the side of the house not the panel.

yea i see my oversight :roll: i am watching the news about all the rain and flooding we are having here in Texas and typing at the same time:wink: