[HELP] Electric Shock from Shower

[JordanFern]

Not sure where else to go (so please don't get mad), our family electrician has run out of ideas so turning to forums for any help.

Had a new central heating cylinder fitted which allowed me to have a new mains shower fitted (replaced an old electric shower).

Every time i touch the wall (provided its wet), or the body of the shower its self, i get a 'mild' electric shock. (See video, 57V)

So i immediately called the plumber (as it didn't do this before he replaced the shower) he had no clue... so the electrician came round and earthed everything he could find (see pictures below). Removed the old electrical shower power, and did a full sweep to ultimately become stuck.

What do i do? No one seems to know the answer and I'm stuck here getting shocked every morning i shower...

[video=youtube_share;cGQgyhz9RWw]https://youtu.be/cGQgyhz9RWw[/video]

[video=youtube_share;cJSLpt63_mg]https://youtu.be/cJSLpt63_mg[/video]

[video=youtube_share;ANIRS0HTjio]https://youtu.be/ANIRS0HTjio[/video]

[video=youtube_share;uuhMQOjtIkc]https://youtu.be/uuhMQOjtIkc[/video]

 

[Geordie Spark]

I thought I responded to this thread, obviously not haha
it turned out to be the entire wall had become charged, he couldn't find what was causing it but in the end just earthed the wall at various points and its 'fixed'

The electrician thinks it could have always been a problem, but because there was only plastic fixed to the wall prior to moving to a proper shower it wasn't noticed

ive been in the loft to have a look and can't see any extra earthing wires so not sure how he has accomplished this, regardless, 1month in and no shocks so I'm happy

You're "happy"??

I wouldn't be!!

I would be incandescent by now and it wouldn't be from electricity flowing up me arm.

** Removed** Get a proper spark with proper tools & test gear onto the job - pronto!

 

[Kamikaze]

I thought I responded to this thread, obviously not haha
it turned out to be the entire wall had become charged, he couldn't find what was causing it but in the end just earthed the wall at various points and its 'fixed'

The electrician thinks it could have always been a problem, but because there was only plastic fixed to the wall prior to moving to a proper shower it wasn't noticed

ive been in the loft to have a look and can't see any extra earthing wires so not sure how he has accomplished this, regardless, 1month in and no shocks so I'm happy

Well…I’m absolutely astounded by your actions. Physics, it's not just a good idea, it's the LAW! It’s only a matter of time before you will become a victim of liberal style over scientific substance. Abandon your misguided faith now, while you still have that option and get it sorted out properly.

 

[hightower]

It's a bit like your car is letting toxic fumes inside and instead of fixing the exhaust you decide you're just gonna open the window - you know the fumes are there and they're dangerous, but you're successfully redirecting them. Until you get stuck in traffic and the fumes are no longer going out the window. To continue using this analogy, it's probably a good idea to fix your exhaust.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Well…I’m absolutely astounded by your actions. Physics, it's not just a good idea, it's the LAW! It’s only a matter of time before you will become a victim of liberal style over scientific substance. Abandon your misguided faith now, while you still have that option and get it sorted out properly.

Chuffin' 'eck Kammi ........ a stranger to the forum reading that will be thinking the place is full of Grammar School educated bods.

It reads like summat that David Bloody Cameron would've written!!
Tone it doon a bit man!! :laugh:

 

[Kamikaze]

Chuffin' 'eck Kammi ........ a stranger to the forum reading that will be thinking the place is full of Grammar School educated bods.

It reads like summat that David Bloody Cameron would've written!!
Tone it doon a bit man!! :laugh:

Sir... I doth proclaim mine love for thee's writing style also. Forgive mine brash impertinence in the face of your noble admission. I hath nicht studied an ancient tome on Geordie linguistics for some time since hence. That Cameron dude, isn’t he that geezer that let his kid stay in the pub all night and then let one of his protection officers pick up the tab. I wish, I have had a top dad like that.:jester:

 

[Geordie Spark]

Sir... I doth proclaim mine love for thee's writing style also. Forgive mine brash impertinence in the face of your noble admission. I hath nicht studied an ancient tome on Geordie linguistics for some time since hence. That Cameron dude, isn’t he that geezer that let his kid stay in the pub all night and then let one of his protection officers pick up the tab. I wish, I have had a top dad like that.:jester:

Aye ....... The same gadgee who inserted his member into an aperture in a pigs head - allegedly!!:laugh:

 

[Darkwood]

Reading through this whole thread - well I'm shocked to say the least (pun not intended), failing to find the cause of a potentially life threatening voltage within the confines of the bathroom, in particular the shower, the solution taken was to somehow earth the wall but notely not removing the initial problem.. who-ever thought this was a safe solution is incompetent and I would question his actual actions and his ability to do his job safely.

The Electrician(s) who have tried to find this fault may be inexperience, the fault may be elusive even for a seasoned Electrician but however you look at it, the safety of the customer is priority and regardless of the front end device been an RCD it shouldn't be seen that this could not kill someone, the 30mA trip value is a compromise between having nuisance tripping for designed leakage and giving some form of safety, getting a shock under its trip threshold is no guarantee you will survive albiet the risk is lower but considering this is in a shower where your body resistance is reduced dramatically as your skin is your main protection against voltage, it cannot give this protection when soaked ,thus there is every possiblity that enough mA could cross the heart and cause it to go into fibrillation - its a very complicated calculation as so many variables exist but knowing my job, I wouldn't play Russion Roulette in these circumstances.

As the situation stands, I would not be using the shower under any circumstances, until the cause is known and steps have been taken to stop it rather than by-pass the issue.

I would consider an Electrical Engineer if you have exhausted your time with local Electricians with no results, they will have more indepth training and be accustomed to diagnosing very tricky to find faults - this should be a breeze in the park for them.

I would be thinking outside the box here if the general tests have come up clear and haven't identified any particular circuit.

-Other considerations would be - Aerial booster, TV fault making the Aerial co-ax live and could hold a lengthy charge due the electronics even after power is removed.
-The voltage could be from an external issue and using your Bonding to route to a good earth, this was an issue I had in Leeds once where the DNO joint in the road had earthing problems and an intermittent fault next door used the plumbing in the house I was in to return to earth - a Clerk of works nearly lost his job over this fault as he wouldn't believe my theory and it turned out to be the neighbours microwave, I confirmed this to him by pullin the DNO fuse for safety but the voltage still kept appearing.
-Internal fault less than the trip threshold and could be down to an isolated section of pipe which is either giving a floating voltage on the wall or the shower itself has part of it isolated with a floating voltage on it.

What ever the cause I can only say - DO NOT USE YOUR SHOWER! ... until this is resolved.

 

[sean_ork]

What's the house construction type ?

There's still plenty of what we would call non standard construction houses standing - commonly known as pre fabs - all have an amount of steel embedded within the cast panels that form the walls. The steel is often exposed when making new routes so it's plausible that a cable was damaged on route through ...... combined with the fact that these houses are very very prone to damp (the structure is just a sponge)


so perhaps the wall being "charged" isnt entirely a daft comment


continuing to use the shower knowing the real issue hasn't been solved however is really really daft

 

[Kamikaze]

Now that he has bonded everything to the same potential, it’s certainly going to make the electrons more frisky when his luck finally runs out. If you have a closer look at the videos, you will see that the voltage is not at the wall, but the wall has a low resistance and is therefore the return path. The +50V is picked up from either the shower itself or the pipe work. The 1[SUP]st[/SUP] port of call has to be the intake, to test if there even is an earth.

 

[Darkwood]

I do wonder if the drain is steel too and could be bringing in a external PD in ... we could guess all day and to be honest it could be many things, as a Job, I would love this to get my grey matter thinking but not anywhere near me unfortunately.

 

[Octopus]

I was asked to investigate something VERY similar to this last year!

My findings were:

1. The bathroom fitter had changed the light to lights and not connected the CPC - so I reconnected them properly

2. The bathroom fitter had removed the pull cord and installed a wall switch, outside the room and not connected the CPC - so this was reconnected properly

3. The shocks only occurred when the lights were on!

4. When checking the earth continuity from the dual fuel radiator outlet point (tested for Zs to confirm a good earth) and using my tester to check continuity from this "known" point, around ALL the metal work in the bathroom, I realised that the entire shower frame was at 230v to earth.

The muppet had obviously stuck a shower cubicle screw through the switch cable.

It was an interesting investigation, all the same!

 

[JordanFern]

I'm not sure what to do, I emailed the 2 people you guys recommended from Derbyshire and got no response?It's a weird one as I'm reluctant to spend money on it when it no longer is an 'issue' and even if it was, the current was no enough to not cause any serious harm. Regardless, if you want photos / videos I'll happily post some to give me evidence but spending another £--- is a little hard to swallow at the moment(Please don't jump on me and say what's £--- for your health)

 

[Octopus]

I'm not sure what to do, I emailed the 2 people you guys recommended from Derbyshire and got no response?It's a weird one as I'm reluctant to spend money on it when it no longer is an 'issue' and even if it was, the current was no enough to not cause any serious harm. Regardless, if you want photos / videos I'll happily post some to give me evidence but spending another £--- is a little hard to swallow at the moment(Please don't jump on me and say what's £--- for your health)

TBH unless its been explained how the issue has been completely resolved, I would worry that the issue is still present.....

 

[Nuvo]

Just read these five pages and what a read. someone please go and sort this fault as the next time we see a post will be hes wife saying hes brown bread. jordan please do the right thing and call a proper registered electrician because earthing a wall ive never heard such nonsense as murdoch says the issue is still there as its unexplained fix. im from birmingham and feel like driving over to help you out im snowed under atm.

 

[DPG]

i'm not sure what to do, i emailed the 2 people you guys recommended from derbyshire and got no response?it's a weird one as i'm reluctant to spend money on it when it no longer is an 'issue' and even if it was, the current was no enough to not cause any serious harm. Regardless, if you want photos / videos i'll happily post some to give me evidence but spending another £--- is a little hard to swallow at the moment(please don't jump on me and say what's £--- for your health)

unbelievable !!