WHY HAVE I GOT POWER SHOWING ON SOME OF THE EARTH CONNECTIONS TO SOCKETS AND THE FRIDGE IS SLIGHTLY LIVE TOO IE. THE BARE SCREWS, I HAVE HAD A NEW FUSE BOARD FITTED WITH MCB's WHY DONT THEY TRIP OUT? I HAVE JUST MOVED IN SO THIS COULD BE AN OLD PROB, AS FAR AS POS I HAVE CHECKED FOR SCREWS OR NAILS IN CABLES. aNY IDEAS? SMUDGEER
WHY HAVE I GOT POWER SHOWING ON SOME OF THE EARTH CONNECTIONS TO SOCKETS AND THE FRIDGE IS SLIGHTLY LIVE TOO IE. THE BARE SCREWS, I HAVE HAD A NEW FUSE BOARD FITTED WITH MCB's WHY DONT THEY TRIP OUT? I HAVE JUST MOVED IN SO THIS COULD BE AN OLD PROB, AS FAR AS POS I HAVE CHECKED FOR SCREWS OR NAILS IN CABLES. aNY IDEAS? SMUDGEER
IT'S RUDE TO SHOUT.
FIND THE KEY MARKED "CAPS LOCK" AND PRESS IT.
CHRISTIAN.
P.S. THROW YOUR NEON SCREWDRIVER AWAY. NOW. THEY'RE PATHETIC USELESS DEVICES THAT HAVE NO VALUE WHATSOEVER FOR ANYTHING.
Oh yes, and get an electrician in to do a "periodic inspection report". This will include a test of the earth loop impedence and earth continuity and won't cost the earth. (no pun intended).
Christian.
Dun that whats next THEN!!! Smudger
thanx Christian wil have to.
Will that comply to Part P? Part P will kill him by electrocution. He has to do it all himself, even though he doesn't know how to, and no one ever will be electrocuted.
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In article , smudger writes
Date anyone;?.....
Firstly, how do you know you have "power" here? What are you measuring relative to?
It's very kind of you to ask, but I am a happily married man ;-)
John
Dear Jon, I used neon tester, also can feel power through bare screws on fridge, also shows on socket fixing screws with neon tester
Being able to feel a tingle yourself is far more of an indication that there may be a problem than a useless neon tester.
Do you know what type of earthing system you have?
Do you have an earth rod?
In any case, if you don't have much of a clue yourself, I'd get the electrician in PDQ. Make sure he knows you have an issue with the earthing and that he/she should specifically test the local to installation earth potential.
Christian.
Ah ok... as the others said, the neon beastie will not tell you much other than you and the screw are at a different potential. But you knew that from the tingle ;-)
Knowing what earthing you have is important here. It may be the whole house is not well earthed (if you have a local earth rod rather than a earth supplied by your electric company, then this may be the case). In this case you may not actually have a problem, and it could be all you are seeing capacitive coupling inducing a voltage on to the (partial) earth. So long as you have RCDs in the right places this would be nothing to worry about.
However you may have a fault. If you house earth is a good low impedance one, then you would not expect to sense voltage on the earth as you have done. This could indicate a faulty earth to the sockets in question. The source of the voltage could still be capacitive coupling (i.e. not dangerous in itself), but you are being made aware of it due to a fault.
More seriously the source of the voltage could be a more direct connection to live. If this is the case then this is far more serious.
If you can't identify the earthing arrangement, or don't feel up to working through methodically with some test gear, then I suggest this would be the time to call for help. It may be you have nothing to worry about, or it may be you have discovered a potentially life threatening fault.
Have you checked for any puddles of electric on the carpets/flooring beneath wall sockets?
It takes something like 80v to light a neon. Whether the liveness is coming from the screws or the floor the OP is standing on, either way theres a problem. Although neon screwdrivers have their problems, this would not be happening if all was well.
At best the OP has a few bits that ought to be earthed but arent, and are passing feelable leakage. At worst the whole system may be a real danger. I wouldnt use the electric shower until its sorted!
NT
My dear old (and departed) Nan [1] thought for years that you needed to keep even a blown light bulb in the holder or a plug in an un-switched socket to stop the electricity from flowing out...
[1] Born 1901, gas lighting was the norm when she was a child.
Indeed and a lot of people still think there is gas flowing in central heating radiators you know..! Its true and its difficult to convince them otherwise.
Undo the end a bit...
why is it some of the earth connections are live on some of the sockets and not all of them, as far as i can tell all sockets are on one fuse. On the fuse board is the notice saying THIS IS PROTECTETED BY MULTIPLE EARTHING SYSTEM, ANY HELP? SMUDGER
YES I KEEP CLEANING THEM UP BUT THEY STILL COME BAK. lol
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