What's going on?

[HeyBub]

Electric range, metal cooking pot.

Stick a metal spoon in the porridge and get shocked!

Uh, why?

I don't have ANY experience with electric stoves, so any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Dan Espen]

It's probably the whole range, not the burners.

[hrhofmann]

All metal surfaces/all of the metal parts of the stov should be grounded thru the safety ground on the 3 or 4 wire plug. THat should include the coils that do the actual heating. If you only get ashock when you are touching something that touches the metal coils, turn off all of the heating controls and see if you still get a shock, IF you don't yuou have a leakage somehow in one of the coils and a potentially serious condition and should call an experienced electrician to check things out,

Do you have a voltmeter that you know how to use???

[DD_BobK]

How old is the unit?

If the unit is old, my guess is you've got a pinched wire or a wire with worn or soiled insulation...any one of these conditions could be providing an electrical path.

If the stove is type where the burners easily pull out of their "sockets" ...pull all but the "shocking" one out.

Replace it with another & switch locations of the single burner as well. Us isolation & process of elimination to localize the problem.

Either use a voltmeter or continue to use the spoon / porridge combo to verify leak.

cheers Bob

[Smitty Two]

Gosh, don't you know anything at all about porridge? You're supposed to stir it with a wooden spoon.

[Bill]

Could be many different problems and could even be an appliance other than the range. Could be the wiring in the walls going to the range and one loose wire.

First do you have a 3 prong or 4 prong plug for the range which plugs into the wall?

Then with all burners and the oven off, do you still get shocked?

If yes, then try turning off the breaker to the range. Do you still get shocked?

If you still get shocked with the breaker off to the range, then the problem is from elsewhere. (All "grounds" from everything in a house connect together at the main electric panel.)

The main electric panel should be properly grounded. You should not get shocked with a properly grounded main electric panel and a modern 4 prong range plug.

Is the wiring from the main electric panel to the range aluminum wiring? If yes, was anti-oxidant goop applied to the wires at the time of installation? Were the electrical connections for the wires at the breaker and range outlet torqued to the respective manufacturer's specification of tightness with an inch pound screwdriver?

[trader4]

He also apparently doesn't have a proper ground or he would not get a shock even with a short of some kind to the metal frame.

[bud--]

If 4 prong, one of them should be a ground.

If 3 prong, the neutral is also used as the ground. That requires a jumper from the neutral connection at the range to the range frame. Possible the jumper was not installed and the range is not grounded at all. (This way of connecting was common and is still allowed by the NEC where it already exists.)

I never had an electric range and haven't worked on them much. My recollection is the burners plug in and don't have a connection for ground at the burner plug. The heating element has a metal jacket that could be energized by a short or 'leak'. Far as I know the jacket is only connected to the frame by the 'legs' that support the burner - not a particularly good connection. Could be you just need a new burner element, but there other possibilities.

[Home Guy]

HeyBub wrote a post without making coherent use of the subject line.

Heybub's post -> FAIL.

[Stormin Mormon]

There was an old man, who lived in a village. The old man was angry much of time and yelled at the people around him. He would holler at the mailman, the milkman, and the butcher who ran the shop on main street. The angry, bitter old man used to correspond with another man, who lived miles away. The other man made a mistake, and offended the first man. The first man ranted and raged, stormed, yelled, and refused to stop yelling. The man who made the mistake apologized, sincerely, and tried to obtain forgiveness. But, the first man would not forgive.

The second man sadly had to use a "mail filter". Instead of reading the angry man's raging, he with great sadness discarded the first man's angry letters, as they arrived. And, many did arrive.

A few months later, the first man had some troubles in his home. He was still writing angry letters, and still kicking against anyone who disagreed. The second man overheard from friends, that the first man was having trouble with his electric range. He was sad, that anyone would have home repair troubles. The second man knew just exactly what the problem was, and had fixed a similar range, not long ago. The second man sadly realized, that any contact with the first man would result in more angry outbursts, and would not be read and taken seriously.

So, the angry old man continued to yell at the world, and the people who could have helped stayed far away and threw his angry letters into the trash. One final string of bad luck happened, the angry man's relatives all left, his dog died. Angrily, he cursed G-d and died the horrible death that could have been afforded to Job, of the Old Testament. As you treat others, so the world shall treat you. That should come as no shock.

The world became more sad a place, due to the yelling.

Christ> > Electric range, metal cooking pot.

[Stormin Mormon]

Newer, softer heart?

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

Could be you just need a new burner element, but there other possibilities.

[HeyBub]

I should have mentioned this range is in my son's house. As for myself, I hold an amateur radio operator's license, a 1st Class Radiotelephone ticket and, once upon a time, a 2nd class Radiotelegraphers license.

So, of course I know how to use a voltmeter, except for those new-fangled "digital" ones.

[hrhofmann]

Then you should be able to figure out whether the stove is electrically hot, or just one of the elements, and try grounding different points to either clear the leakage or blow a circuit breaker.

[gregz]

I would prefer using an analog in this case.

Gredadadit

[a2rjh]

floating neutral? probably no ground.