Shocked by faucet

[mjc]

Didn't find anything wrong with the Hi-hats or the circuit but I could tell the install was done by a homeowner, most likely the previous one. But with that said bonding across the PVC drain pipe corrected the problem.

Oh! just remembered , I spoke to the parents of this homeowner about 5 months after the repair. They said the problem was corrected because the shocks are gone.

That makes me happy, another job well done--- Mike

 

[jtester]

quote by mjc

But with that said bonding across the PVC drain pipe corrected the problem

Bonding didn't correct the problem, it just hid the symptom. I worked for an electric utility for 20 years, and had people constantly chasing down this type of problem. As a consultant, I often get calls as well.

You usually start shutting of one branch breaker at a time and watch for the voltage to disappear. After that you go to the main, to the garage, the well, etc. shutting each off.

It is not uncommon to find the problem in a neighbors system, and that's where the Poco comes in.

No one wants to pay for having it fixed right because as a contractor you can't tell them how long it will take. But be sure the problem is not gone.

Jim T

 

[mjc]

Quote by jtester:

Bonding didn't correct the problem, it just hid the symptom.

HIDDEN --- Very Good choice of words -- thats exactly the way I feel, as long as this jumper is there the problem is hidden or corrected in the homeowner view pont.

The other thing... Time is Money... sure would of liked to find out why this was happening but at that point he was happy with safety being achieved.

Thanks Mike

 

[jtester]

Many utilities in diary states, as well as State Colleges in the same area, will have Ag departments with information on stray voltages, usually related to dairy farms.

The information that they offer is directly applicable to this type of problem, and the step by step approaches to resolving the problem are very easy to follow. Last but not least, they work.

Jim T

 

[tshea]

I have a customer that was getting shocks, more like little tingles, every time she touched any metal. She also had this meter that would detect magnetic fields. She was a guinea pig from some university study that was trying to track stray voltage. Anyways somebody had "upgraded" her service. All the grounded conductors and grounding conductors were connected on the subpanels. The entire main grounding system had been disconnected in an effort to minimize her tingling. Additionally, the neightbor next door was experiencing the same problems. I got both of them together and told them to contact the POCO.
I saw my customer the other day. She said the POCO was there for 3 days and could not find the problem. I think they all gave up. I told her to call the POCO again. Have them disconnect each service drop on the transformer until the "stray voltage" goes away. Leave hers connected. If it doesn't clear up it's a transformer or other POCO problem. If it does go away, it's a problem with one or more of the neighbors.
I gave her a guesstimate price and she about died.
I gave her a price to "fix" what the other guy did. She is going to contact an attorney. The work was done without a permit.

 

[monkey]

Paul, did you figure it out yet??

 

[Paul B]

No I did not, have not been back there yet.

 

[LarryFine]

When the tank is cold, the upper element fires first. When a heated tank is used, the lower element fires first. The lower element sees most use, and is almost always the one that goes bad.

 

[Paul B]

OK lets discuss waterheaters. I believe the thermostat only breaks one side of the line, therefore you would still have a potential even if the thermostat was satisfied, correct?

 

[monkey]

Paul, I never thought of it but it sounds logical. Funny coincidence, some people I know were having trouble with their electric water heater, water was lukewarm and would run out quickly. I went to help them out yesterday and found both elements open. When I pulled them out they were corroded so badly there was only 4 inches left, the ends were completely gone! I can only figure that one element was heating very slowly thru contact of element to element shell, resulting in a 120 v element, or, the water was warming to room temperature inside the house all night and the people mistook it for mildly heated water!

 

[lectrican]

so little can kill

so little can kill

The utility co. has got to check the nuetral connection and integrity. Are there lines on the TV when this occurs? Has the cable guy taken his ground off because of this? Direct buried service feeds? Rotted rigid service riser biting into the nuetral? Had the same thing at my house with all sorts of things going on but had not associated them. Every electrician I knew tried their hand at each of them. Looked up on the pole and found green fuzz on the crimp. It's got to be a weak nuetral somewhere. Are there 3 wire home runs?
Open every box if you have to. Tough one cause it's expensive, but it has to be done.