I bought my house 11 months ago with no issues, after a few months everything metal in the kitchen starting giving me an electric shock when touched. After a few more months this stopped on its own, and has recently started again. We realised that it only happens when not wearing shoes, if that helps. Any help and advice would be much appreciated. Thankyou.
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Discuss Keep getting electric shocks in kitchen. in the UK Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net
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By not wearing shoes you are giving the electricity a path to earth.
I get a shock whenever I touch my metal socket covers, the sides of the microwave, the toaster, the kettle, the metal front on my oven or any other appliance which I use which is metal. Not from my sink or taps or radiators though.
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You need to get this checked out. Don't leave it another 6 months.
What was causing the lighting problem?
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Sounds like you have lost your earth.
You need to check whether there is an earth path on your sockets. If your earth is faulty, the electrical filter of your washing machine, tumble dryer or maybe your microwave, allows a trickle of electricity through the exposed metalwork of the machines and other appliances, which will give an electric shock.
Is it a simple fix?
Get an electrician ASAP !!!!!!!
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No way of knowing. Ffs get an electrician in soon . Sorry to be blunt. Proper electrician, not a friend who tinkers with stuff.
Sounds like you may have been without a proper earth for some time. All it takes now is for a live-to-earth fault to happen in an appliance and you may end up dead.
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Most faults like this, Although they have the potential to be very dangerous (even fatal)
Are often a simple fix if you have the correct knowledge and equipment to test first, diagnose, fix, TEST AGAIN.
it could be as simple as a cable that is not connected, or broken.
a fault with the distributers supply to your house could also be the cause (they will fix that for free same day)
A professional electrician will tell you what the problem is and who/how it can be fixed and made safe.
depending on how your house is wired and plumbed, it MAY BE THE CASE that if you touch one of the items that is giving you a shock AND a radiator/sink etc. AT THE SAME TIME, especially with wet hands. THE SHOCK COULD BE A LOT WORSE. a couple of hundred people die in the uk from similar accidents in the uk each year.
Are often a simple fix if you have the correct knowledge and equipment to test first, diagnose, fix, TEST AGAIN.
it could be as simple as a cable that is not connected, or broken.
a fault with the distributers supply to your house could also be the cause (they will fix that for free same day)
A professional electrician will tell you what the problem is and who/how it can be fixed and made safe.
depending on how your house is wired and plumbed, it MAY BE THE CASE that if you touch one of the items that is giving you a shock AND a radiator/sink etc. AT THE SAME TIME, especially with wet hands. THE SHOCK COULD BE A LOT WORSE. a couple of hundred people die in the uk from similar accidents in the uk each year.
I have had an electrician out to it but they couldn't see what the problem was as they were obviously wearing boots. Only thing I don't understand is why it happened months ago, and then stopped for a couple of months and has recently started again. What could cause it to stop for a while and then randomly start again..
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If it's causing you to worry get an EICR done Electrical Installation Condition Report done. better safe than sorry.
ELECNEWT
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What testing did they carry out?
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As above what testing did they do. Looking for a fault like this you do not intentionally recreate the shock scenario to verify it, you test. The fact it came, went and came back again may well be a lose earthing conductor or cpc.
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ANY FORUM MEMBERS NEAR STOKE??
please offer this new member a site visit.
It is disappointing to hear that you have had someone look at it and you are still none the wiser.
I would expect anyone coming onto a fault like that to start with a simple earth loop test, it will take a few minutes to plug in a tester and find out if there is a good earth connection to the circuit in question.
the most likely outcome is that there is a fault with the wiring in your house, it is also possible that it is from an external source like a buried cable but that is far less likely.
i do know a good spark that is part P registered and lives over your way.
if you want his details then send me a personal message and i will give you Ian's contact details.
please offer this new member a site visit.
It is disappointing to hear that you have had someone look at it and you are still none the wiser.
I would expect anyone coming onto a fault like that to start with a simple earth loop test, it will take a few minutes to plug in a tester and find out if there is a good earth connection to the circuit in question.
the most likely outcome is that there is a fault with the wiring in your house, it is also possible that it is from an external source like a buried cable but that is far less likely.
i do know a good spark that is part P registered and lives over your way.
if you want his details then send me a personal message and i will give you Ian's contact details.
Please get a proper spark in. If you ask him if he is 18edition qualified.
as an aside but not giving you any reason for not doing the above :
it could be static electricity where you build up static depending if you are wearing nylon etc. The static is released when you touch a metal surface.
BUT you need to get it checked as a kitchen is not a safe environment if you have an earth fault
as an aside but not giving you any reason for not doing the above :
it could be static electricity where you build up static depending if you are wearing nylon etc. The static is released when you touch a metal surface.
BUT you need to get it checked as a kitchen is not a safe environment if you have an earth fault
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Post #7 makes clear that this ain't static.
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Tell us what happened if you do. Astonishes me that anyone can live with getting a shock and not doing something about, just leaving it months...
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Went to fit some dimplex heaters the other day. Customer had already had a go fitting two of them. When I touched the casing I could feel some voltage on it. I said as much to the customer, they felt and said "Oh yeh, never noticed that" So took off the spur and even though he had googled it and took photos of the original heaters wiring....That single 6181y is live btw. That was the end of his career in electrics. No surprise there was a live on the casing. So it can happen a number of ways.
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Takes some doing to get it that wrong!
ELECNEWT
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Don't forget your boots.
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And a couple of spare valves.
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i'll just borrow some out of the TV. she can record emmeroids and constipation street on the betamax.
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Need a band 3 converter for ITV don't forget.
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Had a job like this a few years ago customer reporting shocks from sink or metal appliances for 2 years
I was 7th electrician to look at this and spent 10 mins trying to measure this voltage before I started digging got 70v rising quickly to 120v then settled at 230 ish
found it in a few mins, went to check incoming supply polarity
earthing was originally TT spike still intact and the conductor was still connected into an earth block
I could see it was now TNCS
and outside 10 ft away was a new looking Tx on a pole and supply cable, asked the customer how old it was....
"2 years" .......
Tested polarity nothing unusual and did same again using the TT earth got L and N both at 230v to earth
Called Western Power got them out to check, showed him what I'd found he went straight to the Tx and checked
Lots of muttered excuses about the wind blowing a "Stay" loose in the Tx
I watched him change the connection to tap and said show me the bit that's been blowing about mate
His colleague started laughing and admitted it was connected up wrong.
I was 7th electrician to look at this and spent 10 mins trying to measure this voltage before I started digging got 70v rising quickly to 120v then settled at 230 ish
found it in a few mins, went to check incoming supply polarity
earthing was originally TT spike still intact and the conductor was still connected into an earth block
I could see it was now TNCS
and outside 10 ft away was a new looking Tx on a pole and supply cable, asked the customer how old it was....
"2 years" .......
Tested polarity nothing unusual and did same again using the TT earth got L and N both at 230v to earth
Called Western Power got them out to check, showed him what I'd found he went straight to the Tx and checked
Lots of muttered excuses about the wind blowing a "Stay" loose in the Tx
I watched him change the connection to tap and said show me the bit that's been blowing about mate
His colleague started laughing and admitted it was connected up wrong.
There is always a reason. Not always a good reason mind!
Some folks don't check the CPC integrity, and even if it is OK, checking the CPC potential to true Earth (as what is probably under the concrete floor) is not always done.
My only experience of that was a mate's father's home, said he got shocks from the garage door. Turned out no incoming supply earth to MET connection and recently an electric fire was added that the fixing screw managed to puncture the live. Result was whole house at 230V
No idea if it was just missing at the start, or some muppet had removed it for whatever reason.
Some folks don't check the CPC integrity, and even if it is OK, checking the CPC potential to true Earth (as what is probably under the concrete floor) is not always done.
My only experience of that was a mate's father's home, said he got shocks from the garage door. Turned out no incoming supply earth to MET connection and recently an electric fire was added that the fixing screw managed to puncture the live. Result was whole house at 230V
No idea if it was just missing at the start, or some muppet had removed it for whatever reason.
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update. went round this morning. this is what i found:
mem rewireable CU. all outgoing cables no sheath inside enclosure, holes in to IP00, could park a bus in them.but the main fault was the 6.0mm main earth cable . comes out of MET up behind CU and instead of connecting to the CU E bar, it loops round and back to MET. cut and connected correctly and fault cleared. then. 1 light circuit had a 30A fuse carrier bodged in ( the blades are thicker, so it was hanging by a thread, just making contact. must have disturbed it when i took the cover off, so then sparks fron the fuse. correct 5A fuse was lying in bottom of cabinet. fitted that with a new fuse wire and lights on no problems. total time on site 90 minutes.
mem rewireable CU. all outgoing cables no sheath inside enclosure, holes in to IP00, could park a bus in them.but the main fault was the 6.0mm main earth cable . comes out of MET up behind CU and instead of connecting to the CU E bar, it loops round and back to MET. cut and connected correctly and fault cleared. then. 1 light circuit had a 30A fuse carrier bodged in ( the blades are thicker, so it was hanging by a thread, just making contact. must have disturbed it when i took the cover off, so then sparks fron the fuse. correct 5A fuse was lying in bottom of cabinet. fitted that with a new fuse wire and lights on no problems. total time on site 90 minutes.
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Nice update Tel, pics n all.
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Why would someone do that with the earth lead, seems very strange, unless they where thinking it would clear the fault. ?
It beggars belief that the first "electrician" failed to notice or comment on these factors when they went to look at it. Not just the missing earth but the wrong fuse as well.
Well done @telectrix !
Well done @telectrix !
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it disappears into the wall with the T/Es. was dubious about trying to trace in case of disturbing something else.
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