Shocked!

theres a possiblity the power source could be a neighbors malfunctiong whatever

Call electrician, then a priest.

Hmm. Praying, while down there?

Sounds dangerous. Please let us know, or have your next of kin let us know, how it works out.

I'd think more like neutral to the plumbing.

I vote no. Why risk further shocks?

Our OP has not said if he is barefooted, what else he was touching when he got the shock. But it does seem to NOT BE a static electricity thing since he states it is more or less continuous in one of his posts.

And sending power through the water pipe? I'd expect the neighbor's appliance to send power into the pipe, which would ground out between his house and Fred's.

Be spooky if Fred was getting zapped by some thing in a neighbor's house.

FIRST thing to check is the jumper pver the water meter - make sure the copper piping IS grounded. Once it is grounded there is a pretty good chance a breaker will "pop", telling you where the problem is. Just grab a booster cable to do the temporary ground - see if that fixes it.

MOST likely is the electric panel is "bonded" to the water pipe, and the jumper across the water meter is open. - meaning you have an open ground and a "live" plumbing system. Leakage to ground in ANY electrical device will make the system live - not just a "water connected" device.

However, IF you have an electric hot water heater and it's been a bit slow lately, you quite possibly have a blown heater element. Shut off the water heater to prove.

He also says it is intermittent. Which points to a high possibility it is a water heater problem.

"Fred" wrote in news:l4jvk5$gvr$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

Do you feel lucky?

NO, you should not. It might be the last shower you ever take.

bob haller wrote in news:276d23a2-9ba4-484d-ab23-15e1ed94a724 @googlegroups.com:

You f*cking moron. You tell him to look for leaks of 120VAC current by feeling for them -- I bet you'd tell him to look for gas leaks with a match, too.

Fred -- pay no attention to bob haller's advice. PLEASE.

Our ring voltage was 90v for most of my lifetime but I found out from AT&T that it somewhat recently changed to 45v. I guess the new landline phones have a better ringer than the old rotary dial types.

Agreed. Now that we know a little more about the situation, if the supply pipes are energized and they are not grounded it's very likely the drain pipe IS grounded and taking a shower will complete the circuit to ground. Through you.

If you can't get an electrician in on Monday I would consider calling either the electric and.or the water company. If *your* pipes are energized it could be very likely that your neighbor's are, too. It could present a hazard beyond your house and they have the proper test equipment to trace the fault.

If you want to do something before help arrives, I might *look* (but not touch) for any clamps with wires that are attached to your water supply lines. Incoming phone terminals, CATV lines, the circuit box area and the furnace areas are places you might find a ground wire connection (no longer code).

bathroom & laundry tub downstairs. It's not all the time, but it's a good enough zap to make you jump.

he got the shock.

more or less >continuous in one of his posts.

I don't see the water heater being a problem because I asked what type he had and he replied that it was gas. I would expect a current leak to come from an electric heater, but not a gas heater, but there is electricity going to modern gas heaters, so it's not out of the question. Just a lot less likely IMHO.

Now that it seems to be clearly not a static electricity problem, I advise not touching the plumbing until it's resolved. Who knows why the copper pipes are energized? There are any number of reasons including events outside the house that could account for it. It does seem very odd that the problem appeared first only in the basement and seems to be spreading.

Tingling is much better than zapped. Depends on what part of your body is making the path, and what your wearing. When I was a lot younger, I started getting tingling in the shower piping standing on cement floor. Turned out to be bad bypass connection on water meter. Could have been bad for me. That house was a 1960 model. Wiring code now is much better, but connections are connections.

Greg

Feel the shock ? !!!

Greg

Our ring voltage was 90v for most of my lifetime but I found out from AT&T that it somewhat recently changed to 45v. I guess the new landline phones h ave a better ringer than the old rotary dial types.

The local phone companies have been improving their outside plant facilitie s, and the result is that there are fewer very long customer lines with hig h resistance wiring so that not as much voltage is needed to get the same v oltage at the customer as before. Also, actual bell type ringers are non-e xistent any more, and the electronic-based ringers can work on much lower v oltages.

So you're suggesting he actually attempt to shock himself? That seems just a tad irresponsible.

How about suggesting a meter instead of "do you feel the shock"?

...other irresponsible suggestions ending with "do you feel the shock" snipped...

...or it could kill him.

...yet you suggest he try some things and see if he "still feels the shock".

Wow!