Shocks from Kitchen Appliances

[karlpestell]

Is it an electric bread bin?

See above

 

[JohnW2]

Right, using a bit of common sense... is a sink electrical? No one questioned when I mentioned that.

Nope, since if you have metal pipes, that sink will probably be connected (indirectly) to your electrical system's earth.

I originally said, if i touch the D/W and sink... ie the sink is metal.

As above, it's perfectly possibly that your sink is earthed, in which case touching that and something 'live' could result in a shock.

I then said, I touch the toaster (which is electrical) and a metal bread bin. I dont really understand what I have said wrong.

No-one is disbelieving you. However, unless (like your sink may be) the bread bin is connected to earth, there's no rational reason (hence 'makes no sense') why you should get a shock, even if you touched it whilst touching something live. Is there any way that it could be getting earthed? I assume that it's not an 'electrical bread bin', but is it, for example, sitting on something metal that could be earthed (like the draining board of your metal sink), or touching any metal pipework?

Kind Regards, John

 

[karlpestell]

Right, using a bit of common sense... is a sink electrical? No one questioned when I mentioned that.

Nope, since if you have metal pipes, that sink will probably be connected (indirectly) to your electrical system's earth.

I originally said, if i touch the D/W and sink... ie the sink is metal.

As above, it's perfectly possibly that your sink is earthed, in which case touching that and something 'live' could result in a shock.

I then said, I touch the toaster (which is electrical) and a metal bread bin. I dont really understand what I have said wrong.

No-one is disbelieving you. However, unless (like your sink may be) the bread bin is connected to earth, there's no rational reason (hence 'makes no sense') why you should get a shock, even if you touched it whilst touching something live. Is there any way that it could be getting earthed? I assume that it's not an 'electrical bread bin', but is it, for example, sitting on something metal that could be earthed (like the draining board of your metal sink), or touching any metal pipework?

Kind Regards, John

Hi John

Thanks for the reply.

The bread bid sits next to the toaster, quite possibly could be touching at times, if not very close to it which I assume might answer your question about something earthing it?

 

[JohnW2]

Hi John Thanks for the reply. The bread bid sits next to the toaster, quite possibly could be touching at times, if not very close to it which I assume might answer your question about something earthing it?

Unfortunately not really! If the bread bin were touching any other metal electrical appliance (or earthed surface, like sink) other than the toaster, then there would be a possibility that simultaneously touching the toaster and the bread bin could result in a shock. However, if the bread bin and toaster were in contact, there is no way that you could get a shock by touching both of them, because there could be no voltage difference between them (if they were in contact).

However, as everyone has said, you really do need an electrician asap in order to discover what on earth is going on. You don't need us to tell you that (although it may turn out to be 'nothing') it's a potentially dangerous situation.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnD]

The short, and correct answer, which you have had already, is that you have an earth fault in your house and you need a competent electrician to find and fix it.

There is no point in wasting time trying to decide if it is your water pipes that are not bonded, or your electrical circuit that has the fault. Either way the action you take needs to be the same and you need to deal with it quickly before anything undesirable occurs.

Ask around friends and neighbours for a recommended electrician. Before making an appointment, ask which Competent Person scheme he is a member of, and check him on their website. This is a rough and ready check, but it is akin finding out if a taxi driver has a licence before you get in. Doing work in people homes and not being in a scheme is a bad sign and he is very likely unqualified and uninsured.

 

[JohnW2]

Ask around friends and neighbours for a recommended electrician. Before making an appointment, ask which Competent Person scheme he is a member of, and check him on their website. ...

We have an electrician coming on the weekend.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ricicle]

Do not use any electrical appliances in the kitchen until this problem has been rectified.

 

[ericmark]

We can only guess but in most cases there has to be multi faults to get a shock not one single fault.

For example bread crumbs could be connecting the element in the toaster to the body (Fault 1) but also an earth wire would need to be missing (Fault 2) and also there to be no earth leakage trips installed (Fault 3) for you to get repeated shocks from the toaster.

I would suspect a socket or may be a string of sockets have lost their earth connection. Even the simplest socket tester

should highlight faulty sockets.

However these will not repair sockets so better option is an electrician who will also correct the fault.

But refraining from using a faulty socket could save your life while waiting for an electrician to arrive.

Socket testers like these

do a far better job and are recommended for the DIY guy but jumps from under £10 to over £50 and to identify and mark "Do not use" until electrician arrives the £10 model will do the job.