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Default Getting Shocked at Sink

Hello- I seem to have some stray electrical current in my sink drain
pipes. When I turn the sink on I get a noticeable shock from the
water. The shock only occurs when I've let the water run for a few
seconds, and only when the water is flowing through the pipes.. no
shock if i put a bucket under the faucet. I opened up the wall to test
the voltage on the cast iron down pipe and get about 25 volts, and no
voltage on the copper plumbing. Also there is about 3 feet of ABS
drain pipe between the sink and the cast iron pipe. I am assuming that
there is an electrical short somewhere along the cast iron pipe and
when the water is running through the ABS pipe it jumps from the cast
iron through the flowing water to the sink , and then goes to ground
through the copper plumbing. My problem is tracing the source of the
electricity. I have narrowed it down to one circuit breaker, but
that's as far as I get. Any tips on how to trace the stray current, or
ideas of what is going on would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in
advance. John

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RBM
 
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Default Getting Shocked at Sink

Check, or have an electrician check the grounding system on your electric
service. If it's installed properly and intact, this shouldn't happen.


wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello- I seem to have some stray electrical current in my sink drain
pipes. When I turn the sink on I get a noticeable shock from the
water. The shock only occurs when I've let the water run for a few
seconds, and only when the water is flowing through the pipes.. no
shock if i put a bucket under the faucet. I opened up the wall to test
the voltage on the cast iron down pipe and get about 25 volts, and no
voltage on the copper plumbing. Also there is about 3 feet of ABS
drain pipe between the sink and the cast iron pipe. I am assuming that
there is an electrical short somewhere along the cast iron pipe and
when the water is running through the ABS pipe it jumps from the cast
iron through the flowing water to the sink , and then goes to ground
through the copper plumbing. My problem is tracing the source of the
electricity. I have narrowed it down to one circuit breaker, but
that's as far as I get. Any tips on how to trace the stray current, or
ideas of what is going on would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in
advance. John



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Rudy
 
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Default Getting Shocked at Sink

Hello- I seem to have some stray electrical current in my sink drain
pipes. When I turn the sink on I get a noticeable shock from the
water.


Metal Plumbing is/was often used as a ground. Perhaps the ground wire from
the pipes has come undone. You might look down in your basement/crawlspace
and see if there is a clamp around the pipes w/o a nearby wire attached. Its
been done that some folks wire their washing machine by twisting the white
neutral wire along with the green ground because they only have a 3 prong
plug. That could be the source of the stray current.


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m Ransley
 
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Default Getting Shocked at Sink

You have a bad short, probably costing you 10-20$+ a month, if you have
a ground strap on your pipes dont play around testing removing it unless
you Know what your doing and you dont. Id suggest an electrician will
fix it safely.

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Default Getting Shocked at Sink


m Ransley wrote:
You have a bad short, probably costing you 10-20$+ a month, if you have
a ground strap on your pipes dont play around testing removing it unless
you Know what your doing and you dont. Id suggest an electrician will
fix it safely.


first whats on the effected breaker? things like washing machines can
be responsible.

make a list of everything on the breaker, then unplug everything see if
the voltage goes away?

if it goes away plug in one item at a time, and try to find which item
causes the problem.

if the voltage is there with nothing plugged in it can still be fixed
but will more challenging



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Jimmie D
 
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Default Getting Shocked at Sink


"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
Check, or have an electrician check the grounding system on your electric
service. If it's installed properly and intact, this shouldn't happen.


wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello- I seem to have some stray electrical current in my sink drain
pipes. When I turn the sink on I get a noticeable shock from the
water. The shock only occurs when I've let the water run for a few
seconds, and only when the water is flowing through the pipes.. no
shock if i put a bucket under the faucet. I opened up the wall to test
the voltage on the cast iron down pipe and get about 25 volts, and no
voltage on the copper plumbing. Also there is about 3 feet of ABS
drain pipe between the sink and the cast iron pipe. I am assuming that
there is an electrical short somewhere along the cast iron pipe and
when the water is running through the ABS pipe it jumps from the cast
iron through the flowing water to the sink , and then goes to ground
through the copper plumbing. My problem is tracing the source of the
electricity. I have narrowed it down to one circuit breaker, but
that's as far as I get. Any tips on how to trace the stray current, or
ideas of what is going on would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in
advance. John




Ground is only part of the problem, you shouldnt get shocked even if the
ground is bad. To which breaker did you narrow it down? I had something like
this happen an found my garbage disposal was not GFCI protected. new garbage
disposal and replacing the existing breaker with a GFCI type cured the
problem Oh yes the ground was open at the disposal. I hate to think these
electrical connections had been made by an eletrician. The plumbing under
the sink wasnt any better. Probably same guy did both.


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Default Getting Shocked at Sink


Art wrote:
To clarify, you have a short and inadequate grounding system. If the ground
system was right the short would trip the breaker. It isn't doing that so
you may have a dangerous situation in the house. Since you don't seem to
know much about electricity, get some one to fix it that does.



A short will only trip a regular breaker if it exceeds the current
rating. He could easily have a short of 100ma to ground, which can
still kill, but not trip a breaker. It would trip a GFCI, but not a
regular breaker.







"m Ransley" wrote in message
...
You have a bad short, probably costing you 10-20$+ a month, if you have
a ground strap on your pipes dont play around testing removing it unless
you Know what your doing and you dont. Id suggest an electrician will
fix it safely.


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Autumn
 
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Default Getting Shocked at Sink

I had the very same problem with my washer. I would be loading clothes in it
with the water running and after running awhile it would give me a shock if
I put my hands in it.

We had the washer tested and the grounds tested more than once. Had new
grounds placed on the whole house. No one could figure out what it was, two
electricians, and one washer repair man. I made sure I had tennis shoes on
when I washed clothes and kept my hands out of the water. What else could we
do if the professionals could not figure it out?

When the well pump went out we finally figured it out. The submerged pump
housing had vibrated against the well pipe 78 feet in the ground for years
and finally eroded a hole in the housing. Whenever the pump went on it sent
a shock up the 78 feet and along the metal pipes into my washer. This would
take a little while because the water pressure tank holds some water and
until it ran out and the pump came on the current was not there.

The new pump has a special rubber ring around it that prevents the housing
from hitting the pipe.

Don't know if this fits your problem, but it may have gone on for years with
no one able to find it had the pump not gone out.


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