This is my first post so hope I’m in the right place. If not, please let me know where I should be posting.
My wife and I inherited a 37 year old house that we’re planning to fix up as a rental. I noticed a porcelain light fixture in the unfinished furnace/laundry room was broken. It didn’t have a light bulb in it; the box it was fastened to was being used as a junction box for 2 florescent light fixtures in the same room. There are wires coming in from 2 3-way switches, wires to the 2 florescent lights, and a hot wire continuing elsewhere in the basement. I decided to remove the broken fixture and just put a cover over the box and let it serve only as a junction box. I turned off the 15 amp breaker for the basement area, removed the light and started to reconnect all the white wires together. I suddenly got a small shock. I probed the area with my insulated pliers and saw a tiny spark when I touched 2 of the white wires. I got nothing from the other 3 white wires. Thinking I must have a bad breaker, I then turned off the main breaker and checked the wires again. I still got the tiny sparks when I touched the wires with pliers and I got a very small shock if I touched the wires with my fingers. By being extra careful, I was able to connect all the white wires with a wire nut and get everything back together properly. Everything seems to work ok. FYI, my panel box is Federal Pacific. My question is why am I getting the tiny sparks and small shocks when the 15 amp breaker is off and when the main breaker is turned off? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
My wife and I inherited a 37 year old house that we’re planning to fix up as a rental. I noticed a porcelain light fixture in the unfinished furnace/laundry room was broken. It didn’t have a light bulb in it; the box it was fastened to was being used as a junction box for 2 florescent light fixtures in the same room. There are wires coming in from 2 3-way switches, wires to the 2 florescent lights, and a hot wire continuing elsewhere in the basement. I decided to remove the broken fixture and just put a cover over the box and let it serve only as a junction box. I turned off the 15 amp breaker for the basement area, removed the light and started to reconnect all the white wires together. I suddenly got a small shock. I probed the area with my insulated pliers and saw a tiny spark when I touched 2 of the white wires. I got nothing from the other 3 white wires. Thinking I must have a bad breaker, I then turned off the main breaker and checked the wires again. I still got the tiny sparks when I touched the wires with pliers and I got a very small shock if I touched the wires with my fingers. By being extra careful, I was able to connect all the white wires with a wire nut and get everything back together properly. Everything seems to work ok. FYI, my panel box is Federal Pacific. My question is why am I getting the tiny sparks and small shocks when the 15 amp breaker is off and when the main breaker is turned off? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thank you.