slight electrical shock...ground/nuetral ?

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Wireman340

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Chico,Ca. U.S.A.
Open to any suggestions on where I should start looking for a ground/neutral issue that cause's my friend and his family to receive a slight electrical shock when they touch a device such as the faucet, or hot tub.I can"t even call it an electrocution, it is more like a static shock, as you would get when walking on carpet. I can't help but think it is a grounding issue, or a ground is being back fed somehow
 
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Wireman340 said:
Open to any suggestions on where I should start looking for a ground/neutral issue that cause's my friend and his family to receive a slight electrical shock when they touch a device such as the faucet, or hot tub.I can"t even call it an electrocution, it is more like a static shock, as you would get when walking on carpet
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How about static?

Once they touch the faucet, is the charge gone?
 
I would start with measuring for two balanced 120 voltages, and then measuring for any voltage between neutral and a known-reliable earth ground.
 
Wireman340 said:
Yes, just a slight static like zap, then nothing else
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If it acts like static in that way then it seems less likely that the electrical system is involved. Something directly energized by the electrical system would presumably continue to have the power to keep shocking.
 
If they get a shock when they first touch the faucet, but then it goes away, then I'd suspect static.

If they get a shock when they first touch the faucet, and then they let go, and immediately get a shock when they touch it again, then I'd look for a grounding issue.

The first question if it isn't static is to look for the voltage _difference_ that is shocking them, and measure it. Is it voltage between the faucet and feet on a bare tile floor? One faucet to another? A faucet to a metal countertop? Etc.

After you measure something you can proceed to hunt it down.

-Jon
 
If this is a new occurrence, ask the homeowners if they've had any plumbing work performed recently. New installs? Repairs?
 
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