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Electrical shock in the earthing..Heavy Electricity Bills

5K views 43 replies 12 participants last post by  BigJim 
#1 ·
Hi, I'm from Sri Lanka and am new to the forum.

The house we are live in is an old one. Walls are kinda infested with ants..they come out of switch placements on the wall, even from some plug points.

When I touch my computer casing and CRT monitor screen I get a heavy vibration or shock, its unbearable to the skin..it shocks me as long as I touch the ground..when am touching the monitor with legs off the ground, if someone else touches me with his feet on the ground, he too gets a huge shock...This seems to be more than normal...

I'm afraid that this possible leak to earthing would kill electronics of my PC.

The earthing of the house is apparently ok..

The monthly electricity bill too seem to be higher...

Could there be some current sent to earth? thanks
 
#3 ·
Sounds like you have no bond between neutral and ground at your service, and you have a ground fault somewhere on the system. As a result, your "grounded" metal is electrified and you have lots of current flowing into your ground rod all the time. This is a very dangerous condition, and must be fixed immediately. Forget damaging the electronics - it's going to kill someone. You need to bond the utility neutral to your grounding system, and fix the ground fault, wherever it is. Bonding the neutral will probably result in an immediately blown fuse or tripped breaker, since you have a ground fault. That will help identify which circuit has the ground fault.
 
#8 ·
For fun, get a clamp on meter and locate where you main ground line is. It's probably a green or bare wire going to the panel. It may be going to a water pipe. Put the clamp meter around it set to amps and see if there's any value. ANY value there is bad. Start turning off breakers till it goes to 0 to see if you can isolate it to a single breaker. It might be something as simple as a malfunctioning appliance. So it's worth doing a bit of investigating before you call someone.

This is a very serious issue though, so don't leave it this way longer than you have to. I'd be very scared to take a shower in that house. :eek:
 
#14 ·
If you are here in the United States, or Canada, yes we bond to the water pipe from the main breaker panel in most places, connected to the Neutral/Ground bus inside the main breaker panel. There is also a bond to ground at the meter pan, which you would bond your incoming telephone, catv, satellite, Outdoor antenna to, so that you do not have a floating ground from the incoming communication or tv services at the house entrance.

If you are getting electrical shocks touching equipment in your place of residence, and it is here in North America, you need an electrician. If it is a rental, then you have a issue, of the building owner not keeping up on proper maintenance of the electrical infrastructure.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Current going to earth can cause your electric bill to increase.

You need to find out where the current is getting onto the earthing system and repair that. Most likely in a defective light fixture or appliance.

It should not be necessary to water the ground rod except for use of certain radio equipment or test equipment that uses the earth as part of its antenna system. Under normal conditions, current should not be flowing in any of the earthing wires.

To the OP: Does your house have grounded (3 prong) receptacles? Have you done tests to see whether they are correctly wired?
 
#18 ·
I dont understand the following line..

To the OP: Does your house have grounded (3 prong) receptacles? Have you done tests to see whether they are correctly wired?

Whats OP, What are grounded receptacles? How can I check if they are correctly wired?

Now that the earth is common to all the appliances right? So the same problem should occur with other appliances such as iron, refrigerator etc? I plugged them in and they dont give any shock?:confused1::confused1:
 
#25 · (Edited)
I turned off the main switch and checked the computer casing if it had any shock.... There was NO current.

Then I turned off each of the circuits through fuse/service box or the miniature circuit breaker...all the others were ok except the one that is linked to the circuit that supplies current for the computers..When I was pulling the switch down, there was a spark came through the switch...most of the time when I turn the computers on, this particular switch turns off...I then have to manually turn it on, I have connected 2 computers, one subwoofer, modem, printer and sometimes phone charger to same outlet..I first thought I was drawing too much current from the same outlet and which was why the switch was going off...this doesnt happen always though...

For your info am attaching some shots of them...even I get this shock through USB ports, I couldnt even touch my phone when I was plugging it into USB port to upload pics...

Ithink that particular fuse/switch in the box is faulty, may be the L is touching E inside, the Earth attached to the box's frame right?



The sparking switch is the one to the right of the red indicator..



External meter with service fuse.



Earth wire that goes into concrete.



Power outlet for PCs..3-hole one...
 
#28 · (Edited)
Iall the others were ok except the one that is linked to the circuit that supplies current for the computers..When I was pulling the switch down, there was a spark came through the switch...most of the time when I turn the computers on, this particular switch turns off...I then have to manually turn it on, ...
Unplug some of the computers and stuff and then try this switch (breaker?) again. I still suspect that current is leaking to the earthing wires and into the earth from inside one of the pieces of equipment that has a 3 prong plug.

If your neutral was compromised and current was using the earthing system as an alternate route, then your electric bill would not increase noticeably and also you would notice dimming and brightening of lights and erratic operation of equipment. The preceding can be damaging to equipment.

Your bill increased because much additional current was being used, possibly just short circuiting from a hot wire to an earthing wire or a surface or item that was earthed, enough to trip the breaker some of the time (when there is a lot of legitimate usage) but not a dead short that trips the breaker immediately every time. Note that noticeable or considerable heat can be generated along this path of unwanted current flow at any point where there is considerable resistance.

Fault -- Unwanted touching of wires or parts allowing an unwanted current flow (can be small or large) to occur.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I see from the picture you posted where the wire goes.


Allanj
Current going to earth can cause your electric bill to increase.

You need to find out where the current is getting onto the earthing system and repair that. Most likely in a defective light fixture or appliance.

It should not be necessary to water the ground rod except for use of certain radio equipment or test equipment that uses the earth as part of its antenna system. Under normal conditions, current should not be flowing in any of the earthing wires.
Someone else posted:

Sounds like you have no bond between neutral and ground at your service, and you have a ground fault somewhere on the system. As a result, your "grounded" metal is electrified and you have lots of current flowing into your ground rod all the time

well it may or may not be related to your problem, but it seems worthwhile to at least check it out

There shouldn't be current going into that rod/pipe unless there's a problem, and if there is current going into it you could get a shock from it.
If there is current going into it and it's not in good contact with moist soil, then you have problems, so when you get this checked out, that would be one part that should be looked at carefully.
 
#39 · (Edited)
Oh yes I figured as much from the get-go in his responses, but figured I'd be nice... for a while... in case he was just having a bad day :devil:
There's one like that on every forum it seems, attacks newbies, berates anyone's mistakes or typos, posts one upmanships usually citing their 57 different college degrees, awards, and all their credentials about why they are better than everyone else, rarely posts anything of real help other than to be critical and run the other guy down.

He's on ignore now so there shall be no further interaction, and his 'tude won't even be seen again by me:jester: I suspect you are stuck with him unless you find the ignore in your cp and make use of it :)

it just needs to stay on topic, and a someone needs to drop their 'tude. It always ends up being a trainwreck after 20 or so posts, when it comes to electric. Never seen any other board on here end up being nothing but a bunch of petty arguments how something should be done, and who is smarter than the other.
You said it well, and with the ignore function on, if he posts a reply to mine again it will be one-sided, you guys will be stuck with it, but I won't add to it as I won't have to read it :)
 
#38 ·
It just needs to stay on topic, and a someone needs to drop their 'tude. It always ends up being a trainwreck after 20 or so posts, when it comes to electric. Never seen any other board on here end up being nothing but a bunch of petty arguments how something should be done, and who is smarter than the other.

I am with you electures, I am going to sit here and watch a certain someone turn this one into another derail.
 
#37 ·
kelumpj....hopefully your still with us and not run off by the trolls.

I really doubt you have issues with your grounding...at least outside your house. Sri Lanka is tropical country...I'm sure you get enough rainfall to keep the ground pretty moist....and concrete also makes a good ground....

Your power system is 230Vac 50Hz. As you noted in one of your posts, your plug is L N E. L = line, N = Neutral and E is the earth ground (green wire).

If your plugs are like most...they are made (wired) by the user. Quite often when you buy a computer, unless you order it with a different power cord, it will come with a US type cord...hence, you chop off the male end and connect the wires to your new male plug.

I think your problem is in one of two places.....either your computer cord is wired wrong (L & E swapped...Or E & N) or the plug on the wall.

Here is what I would do....I assume you have a toaster and it does not shock you? Right? If so....plug your computer into that outlet. If all is good....then the problem is the outlet you have been using for the computer. If you still get shocked....either your computer cord is wired wrong or you have an issue with the power supply in the computer...or both.

Most modern computer power supplies will operated just fine if L&N are swapped....

I'm betting that your neutral (N) is swapped with your earth ground somewhere.

As for your energy bills....swap out those incandescent bulbs for CFL's. I really doubt an wiring problem is causing your bill to be too high.....

But just in case....look around your house...make sure your neighbor has not ran an extension cord to your house.
 
#40 ·
RWolff, he is always having a ego day. His ego is bigger than the world put together. If you dig up a couple of my rants, where I finally let it go, and put it all out in the table, telling him that I am not happy with his attacks on me or singling out others, because he feels that he knows oh so much more than the next guy.

It just gets old after a while and the ego & attitude just needs to go. This is not the place for it, since all this is, is a discussion forum about answering others questions, not being code compliance officers.
 
#41 · (Edited)
Well said Greg, we are on the same channel, appreciate your thoughts and professionalism. You are right on the mark, this is a forum with a professional atmosphere to it, one where we're supposed to HELP people who have questions if we might have suggestions, answers, or even opinions for them, and to ask questions on things we in turn might need help with. It's not a venue to ridicule someone new for typos or because English is not their first language, or they don't know some of the technical jargon.
I like this forum, it's got a lot going for it, and I suspect that is why you are here too.

I'm no electrical guru, I can't wire up a nuclear power plant control panel, but I sure can manage ordinary 120v and 220 v wiring circuits, outlets, breaker panels, electric motor repairs etc.
I maintain all the machinery, tools, lights, the basic building systems, A/C and heating at work with maintenance and minor repairs as needed, if something goes beyond what I can do I tell my foreman to call in someone. I worked along our local electrician to install new wiring with him in a new building addition at work, pulling cable, planning circuits, replacing over 100 ballasts and he knows I'm a capable guy.

In the past I've worked as a commercial building superintendent's assistant in a 9 story 20,000 sq ft loft/factory building doing anything and everything required, from roof repairs to plumbing, electrical, demolition, renovation, painting, running the boilers, fixing the elevators a few times, masonry, replacing glass, door locks, etc. The superintendent himself was about 70 and worked in the building for decades, and he had no clue that things like electric motors and compressors take grease or oil. One by one the pumps, motors and air compressor for the toilet pressure tank burned out from lack of lubrication, and there I was 19 year old kid and even I knew that those machines needed oil. When I said "didn't you know that air compressor takes OIL in the crankcase?" he said no, he didn't know it took oil!
When the firebricks in the high pressure boilers' firebox fronts kept falling down every WEEK and being replaced by the same contractor week after week to the tune of $3500 a shot, I got suspicious of why this was only lasting one week and why we had to contend with the heat being off in the winter for 2-3 days at a time while they fixed it, so I climbed inside one night on my shift to look.
I discovered this boiler contractor had been using a 1/8" thick 2x2 angle iron 6-8 feet long as THE support for the firebrick wall 6' by 1' high.
It was obvious even to me, a 19 year old kid that the heat was causing the angle iron to fail.
I went to the landlord's agent and suggested they have the bricks replaced in an arch configuration and getting rid of the angle iron. That was done and the bricks never collapsed again.

I learned a LOT by watching workers, contractors and tradesmen working, asking lots of questions, observing, and by doing, I'm no expert by any means, I don't have all the answers but I'm also not some clueless newbie who can't wire up basic circuits, replace plumbing, a roof etc either!

Not to derail the OP's thread any further now, hopefully he will come back with more information and together we help solve his problem, or at least find out exactly what the problem WAS!
 
#42 ·
Moderator here----This thread is to long for me to figure out who is causing the thread to derail---

Remember, we are here to help the OP find a solution to his problem-----let's stay focused on the prize?----
 
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#44 ·
Beleve it or not there is another forum here that does about as much arguing also. Maybe some of you fellows have a memory about like mine so I thought a reminder would be nice about now.

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