On Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:43:45 -0700, wrote:

On Jun 11, 4:30 pm, wrote:
The questions a

1) Why would a brand new furnace be leaking power? And how's it
getting into the shower? The only other electrical devices in the
building are lights, and a couple electric sockets.

Through the air. AC at 60hz acts like a radio wave in that it can
induce a voltage in a conductor near by. Any wiring, motor or
transformer will radiate electromagnetic radio waves. The plumbing
is the antenna that is being induced.

Yes, and of the billions of homes, office, business, etc buildings,
this one is the only one where this induced AC electromagnetic effect
through the air is occuring. And it's coming through the air from the
furnace to the bathroom shower? LOL

It depends.

If the exposed shower plumbing is large and not grounded properly.

If a person gets wet and increases their contact surface area and thus
their conductivity.

This is definitely a grounding problem of some kind. We don't even
know what the grounding arrangement is, whether it was done correctly,
or whether some grounding path has been interrupted. That's where
I'd be looking, not at EMI.

It definitely can be. The OP said that people can feel an electrical
charge. He didn't say that the charge knocked them down. Seeing how
these wet people standing on the wet ground are great conductors it
can easily be a induced voltage on the plumbing caused by a near by
transformer or motor.


2) Why isn't the power going out the neutral and ground?

The felt voltage is not coming directly from the wiring.

The shower head is the hot lead of the voltage source and the wet
ground or drain is the other conductor. Electricity has to have a
path to be felt.

3) How to safely take care of the problem so the campers aren't
being shocked?

Short the two leads. The shower head and the floor drain.


Yes, and of the billions of homes and businesses buildings, this one
is the only one where this induced AC electromagnetic effect is
occuring.

You'd be surprised what voltage is induced on different conductors.
'Normally you would never notice. This one is different because
showering people can conduct much more easily. Grounding such
systems properly becomes much more important.

The easy fix is to ground the shower plumbing to the
floor/ground/drain.