Domestic Electrical Issue - Live Volts in House but Not Getting Shocks. Any Help Appreciated

[R Yates]

Hi All, firstly to introduce myself I'm not an electrician but was hoping to get a bit of advice on an electrical issue I have. Basically we wanted to get a boiler service but the plumber would not touch the boiler as he said we have electrical volts running through the house (radiators, sink, boiler, plug sockets etc). There is a link to the videos below to explain this.

Dropbox - Electrics Issue - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/umynb3ta0j7sdo4/AABwsQkPwfBwDvdoe7LrtMpXa?dl=0

We are not getting any shocks and apparently it is running through all circuits in the house. Every electrician we have talked to is baffled by it. I was wondering whether anyone has ever come across this and what advice you may have on how to proceed/what may be causing it?

Many thanks in advance as I appreciate this is a first post.

 

[telectrix]

Thanks all for the quick replies. The plumber recommended an electrician who had never seen it before and spent hours looking for the problem to no avail. We then got another electrician with a good reputation who came out one evening, it's 75v that is flowing through everything and he said he cannot understand why the RCD is not kicking in. We are not getting any kind of tingling (the electrician said it wold feel like a static shock). He said it would be investigate work to try to find the source to start with and worst case scenario a potential rewire at up to £3-4k. There were more details but didn't get chance to write it all down so I'm not sure about the supply Andy but I'll find out.

I admit I don't fully understand the details/implications which is why I wanted to reach out to see if there were any pointers/anyone who had come across this before given the potential end cost.

Telectrix we are north west gtr Manchester.

Again, appreciate the help so far from everyone

send me a pm if you want me to sort it early next week.

 

[Rosco]

Agree with @Voltigern at least if you or someone can do this then it might give a visiting sparks half a chance to help without ripping your whole house apart

 

[telectrix]

Agree with @Voltigern at least if you or someone can do this then it might give a visiting sparks half a chance to help without ripping your whole house apart

he'll be OK.i'm clean out of semtex this month.

 

[The Ghost]

Personally I would go out tonight with that kind of scenario if it was in Bristol. And at least make it safe one way or the other. And for goodness sake be careful in the electric shower if you have one, don't!

 

[Marvo]

Yeah, this issue does have the potential to be a real hazard that could cause someone to get a shock so get a sparky in with real test instruments and good experience in using them, the voltstick type testers in the video aren't giving any actual useful info. I'd take Telectrix up on his offer of assistance if I were you.

 

[dmxtothemax]

There's an old saying " a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing"
Most non contact electrical testers will give eronious results
that's why electricians don't rely on them.

 

[R Yates]

Cheers for the replies.

Vortigern, they did isolate the circuits individually and it is running through all four which is why they said investigative work testing sockets, connections etc one by one is their recommended way to try to find the issue in the first instance. The electrics are still on.

Telectrix thanks for the offer, we have already booked in the electrician to come out initially to try to source the problem and if they can't do this after a day's work I'll pm you.

Will keep you updated.

 

[Midwest]

What the chaps are saying, from watching your videos, the equipment shown being used, is not proper test equipment, more like toys. If the 'electrician' is using them to fault find, he/she won't find the fault, if one actually exists.

 

[R Yates]

Might not have made it clear in my earlier posts, the video's were taken by the plumber initially who said we needed it looked at before they could do a service on the boiler.

The electrician who has diagnosed that it's 75v, on all circuits etc. was using proper diagnostic equipment, much more advanced than what is in the videos.

 

[Dave OCD]

I bet there's a damaged cable on one circuit only probably creating a very low resistance to the circuit CPC , the circuits need proper disconnection at the consumer unit to narrow the problem down and locate.

 

[Des 56]

Read the thread and seen that video I was disappointed that it did not show the investigator with a divining rod

To the op,be aware

There is no restriction on the term " Electrician",it can be considered and used by anyone,even a plumber

 

[The Ghost]

Well if it is running through four circuits then it must be where cables are bunched together. Just thinking aloud really, just ignore me. Still would be scared to have a shower though.

 

[crow11]

sounds very much like a problem i got called out to once on a tns system, all they said at the time was if they touched the sink or rads without anything on their feet they were getting a shock but if they had their shoes on they was ok, so that's what they had been doing for 2 months, went to check it out, voltage present at sink and rads, same again no rcds tripping, problem was out in the street at the joint coming into the house, joint had blown sending voltage up through the old lead sheaf, electricity north west was out within 20 mins, and took them 2 days to sort it out after a lot of digging, just mention it to your electrician so he can check, will only take him 2 mins before he starts ripping your house apart

 

[dmxtothemax]

QUOTE [What the chaps are saying, from watching your videos, the equipment shown being used, is not proper test equipment, more like toys. If the 'electrician' is using them to fault find, he/she won't find the fault, if one actually exists.] END QUOTE.

Not quite -
Most electricians would not work on an instalation based solely on what a non contact tester yells them,
They are known to give eronious results sometimes.
so they would back it up with further more reliable testing.
In you op you said that the traddie claimed there is power running thru your earth system,
therefore it is dangerous, and he based this presumibly on a non contact test ?
The fact is most if not all earhing systems will have small currents bleeding thru them,
That does not always mean they are dangerous.
the best way to determine if its safe to work on is put a decent load on it,
such as a test lamp, if the voltage suddenly dissappears ?
then it is a ghost voltage.
probably what you got on your system.

 

[DPG]

sounds very much like a problem i got called out to once on a tns system, all they said at the time was if they touched the sink or rads without anything on their feet they were getting a shock but if they had their shoes on they was ok, so that's what they had been doing for 2 months, went to check it out, voltage present at sink and rads, same again no rcds tripping, problem was out in the street at the joint coming into the house, joint had blown sending voltage up through the old lead sheaf, electricity north west was out within 20 mins, and took them 2 days to sort it out after a lot of digging, just mention it to your electrician so he can check, will only take him 2 mins before he starts ripping your house apart

Seen a couple of broken neutral connections in joint boxes under the pavement. One was at my house. Caused the earth to rise to a sufficient level to give shocks when metal switches were touched. Mind you, they were quick out to fix it!