weird one

[fisherelectric]

I had a woman call this evening who told me she was taking a shower when the light bulbs in the vanity light "exploded" and at the same she experienced a shock and received a burn on her shoulder. This woman is a friend of the wifes', so I put on my boots and drove over to her house. Sure enough she had anice burn on her shoulder and 2 of 4 bulbs in the vanity light were shattered. I asked her a few questions:
She said she felt a shock in her foot. She said the glass from the light bulbs flew out the top of the fixture (one of those '70s med cab/light combos open on top) and ended up in the shower. She was holding a sprayer which was all plastic and plastic tubing. She said she had lost 3 TV sets in the last couple of months, and that her lights had "always" dimmed and brightened. The burn on her shoulder was a rectangular blister about 3/4"x1/2".
I checked her service...voltage good..no loose connections. I checked the meter...same voltage inside as outside. I told her to call the power company and that I would come back in the morning and check her service cable where it goes thru the wall to make sure it hasn't disintegrated in the mortor and lost the nuetral.
I'm not sure what to think. I've never actually seen a light bulb explode, but it may be possible that the burn on her back came from hot glass(?). I don't believe that she actually got shocked (she does tend to get...er.. emotional).
I can see how a missing neutral might energize grounded water pipes, but she wasn't in contact with any metal piping. She's convinced she felt a jolt. Any thoughts?

 

[JohnJ0906]

Lightning?

Actually, the 3 TV going up, and lights dimming and brightening sure sounds like a loose connection, probably the neutral.

Copper piping? Is the incoming water being used as the Grounding electrode? If so, put an amprobe on it. See if you have current on it, and how much.

 

[480sparky]

Hmmm..... WWMD?*

Well, I'd make a math equation out of it.

Woman holding shower sprayer + water + light bulb = water on bulb = bulb shatters due to thermal shock.

I 'feel shocks' all the time, I think it's electrical at first, then realize it cannot be. It may have been a muscle contracting.


*What Would Matlock Do?

 

[JohnJ0906]

.I 'feel shocks' all the time, I think it's electrical at first, then realize it cannot be. It may have been a muscle contracting.

So do I, but there aren't any shattering light bulbs when it happens. :smile:

 

[fisherelectric]

480sparky.... that makes the most sense. The TVs she lost were all very old. She's also been known to tip a few back every so often. I can see her spraying water across the bathroom onto a hot bulb. The shape of the burn was rectangular...perhaps like a piece of broken glass. Sounds good to me.

 

[mdshunk]

Say it ain't so! :wink:

Well, he could hook it up to her to get the true story out of her.

I've come to believe that the customer's report of the problem is about 75% lie most of the time anyhow. I just use their narrative as a starting place, and try to find the 25% truth in what they were telling me. I think the true things in her report were that the lamps exploded and she got burned. I seriously doubt she got shocked.

 

[brian john]

Since I have nothing more to add till the poster responds with the fix. I would like to hijack the post....How many times have you been working on something (hopefully de-energized) and get that muscle twinge and freak thinking you just received a shock.

 

[mdshunk]

Since I have nothing more to add till the poster responds with the fix. I would like to hijack the post....How many times have you bee working on something (hopefully de0energized) and get that muscle twinge and freak thinking you just received a shock.

Pretty regularly. I think that most of the time I get pronged by a hair of stranded wire. Feels just like a shock.

 

[JohnJ0906]

Since I have nothing more to add till the poster responds with the fix. I would like to hijack the post....How many times have you bee working on something (hopefully de0energized) and get that muscle twinge and freak thinking you just received a shock.

A few dozen times.
Jump like I was really shocked, then realize.... hey, this is a rough-in, and there is NO POWER, or something like that.

 

[fisherelectric]

Brian..."Since I have nothing more to add till the poster responds with the fix."
I think you'll are right...there's nothing to fix. Combination of tipsy woman, water sprayer,hot bulbs and imagination. I will go check the entrance cable in the morning to be sure, and see what the poco says.
And, yes, I react to non-existant shocks at work,too. I've even startled awake from a dream thinking I was getting shocked. What's up with that?

 

[480sparky]

Since I have nothing more to add till the poster responds with the fix. I would like to hijack the post....How many times have you bee working on something (hopefully de0energized) and get that muscle twinge and freak thinking you just received a shock.

About twice a day.....

I even react when I'm not anywhere near electricity. such as opening my truck door, or picking parts up at the supply house...

 

[LarryFine]

I checked her service...voltage good..no loose connections. I checked the meter...same voltage inside as outside.

The most important test: did you compare the voltage-to-neutral of both line conductors?

I have felt imagined shocks, too, but I'm not convinced that's what happened here.

 

[HighWirey]

wierd one

wierd one

Humm - 5 deletions for inappropriate posts.

OK, let's see if I can get by with it . . .

 

[iwire]

No Steve don't try to get away with.....


You are guest here of Mike Holt, please keep it 'squeaky' clean.

 

[HighWirey]

iwire,

You certaintly are diligent.

As another poster wrote to you "Don't you ever sleep?"

Best Wishes

 

[iwire]

"Don't you ever sleep?"

Only while driving.

 

[stickelec]

And, yes, I react to non-existant shocks at work,too. I've even startled awake from a dream thinking I was getting shocked. What's up with that?

Do you have a little boy that likes to play with electricity? :grin:

 

[Chenley]

Since I have nothing more to add till the poster responds with the fix. I would like to hijack the post....How many times have you bee working on something (hopefully de0energized) and get that muscle twinge and freak thinking you just received a shock.

Most of the time when using a screwdriver. Broke both of my wrists when I was younger (skateboarding), their is a certain way I can twist my right wrist and it feels like a shock is going up my arm. So I'll be screwing something in and jerk my arm back like I was getting shocked.

 

[lpelectric]

I think something's going on at this woman's house with the electrical system. I would not be so quick to dismiss 3 TV's going bad, just because they're old. Sounds to me like a neutral dropping out and creating a circuit comprised of two hot legs trying to establish voltage(s). Could be loose H-taps at the service POA or a loose neutral somewhere else, maybe in the house. I'd look for MWBC's and if any, check them out for continuity/thoroughness of connections. :smile:

 

[220/221]

I think you'll are right...there's nothing to fix. Combination of tipsy woman, water sprayer,hot bulbs and imagination.

Fisher. Before you write this one off read my post. Someone could get hurt. !! Take the time to FIX this problem. It's REAL



I have had TWO cases of shower shock. One was at MY house.

The wife and sister in law both reported being shocked in the shower. I never felt it and thought they were nuts.

Important fact: I showered in the day, they showered at night.

I broke my routine one night and took a shower. They were not crazy. I got my wiggy and the handset was 120V.

The problem was in an outside lighting circuit that was controled via photo cell. Scufferd wire, neutral burned thru, yadda yadda. Repair wire, fixed problem.

1950's era house with no bonding, grounding etc. 15 years ago so I don't recall details of how the circuit eneded up going thru the water pipes but I do know that it happens.

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Second time it was a service call. !20v to the shower handset. a decade ago so details are fuzzy but I found a combination of things in a ceiling jbox in another room. A broken neutral combined with a broken ground, one of them from original install. Once I found it, it made sense.


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Lights getting bright, TV's dying is certainly a bad neutral conection somewhere. I have seen the high voltage burn out lamps but have never seen them explode. It could happen. Electricity is funny like that. If you lose the servive neutral, all the 120 stuff will be going to ground wherever it can including the water piping.

I remember being an apprentice on some kind of a service call with a "journeyman". After we were done the customer said "oh yeah...while you're here, we are getting shocked in the shower". "Journeyman" suggested adding a ground rod. I was pretty new but knew this was a BS answer. While he was writing up the work we did I checked neutral connections in the panel.
I didn't find anything but I didn't want to call him out on it. I hope nobody died.

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I get those phantom tweak shocks all the time.