On Sunday, July 28, 2019 at 1:56:39 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 27 Jul 2019 15:31:46 -0000 (UTC), "Arlen G.
Holder" wrote:

From the US homeowner's perspective of working backward from a wall outlet
o What is the difference between ground and neutral in the US?

A friend is debugging why the washing machine metal case is hot only when
the water pipes are hooked up and water flowing through them

So you've got a washing machine cabinet that she will almost certainly
touch that is hot with 110VAC, and you've got water too, maybe dribbling
a little where the hoses connect to the washing machine, or the water
pipes, and maybe even a little bit on the floor. Plus if she retrieves
something from the tub**, she'll have wet, soapy hands. Soapy water is
even worse than plain water. Dangerous.

Water and electricity is is a very bad combination.

It sounds like there is a short in the water valve. The washing
machines I know use a double valve, that is, the hot and cold water
valves are one piece. So you don't have to decide which half it is.

Measure the voltage at an unpainted part of the case, when the machine
is on and the water (hot AND cold) is filling it, disconnect the four
wires to the water valve, turn the machine on again, measure the voltage
again. If it's much less, replace the valve, and measure again.

Until she gets it fixed, have her go to the laundromat.

**I have a top loader so I can add and subtract while it's running.


when I tried
to explain to that homeowner over the phone the difference between ground
and neutral - where - I'm not sure I have it all figured out myself.

She doesn't need to know this right now. She needs now to get the
machine fixed.


She doesn't need to know it, but someone qualified needs to figure out
what's wrong, because it's a lot more than just the washing machine.
That washing machine fault, assuming there is one, could have the metal
cases of anything else on that circuit, maybe even in the whole house,
energized. As could another fault, someplace else. The washing machine
you can just unplug until it's fixed. The wiring problem, no one knows
the extent of it at this point.