current running thru handheld shower

[dames]

this is in Greece.
Taking a shower and a current could be felt whilst holding the handset. one particular day the current was too strong to hold the handset, other days just mild tingling and sometimes not apparant at all. the water was heated by C H boiler although there is an element fitted. the current seemed to be flowing thru the water. as the water covered you and hit the floor. wearing flip flops or changing the handset to plastic stopped it i suppose by insulation. i dont think its life threatening but got any ideas?

 

[DAZB]

Not life threatening ? Rather you than me.
I would be very cautious about going anywhere near a shower where you can feel even the smallest tingle of electricity. I know in European countries they only have two pin plugs and earth it differently to the UK but I am not qualified enough to suggest anything other than do not risk it. No doubt you'll get good advice on here from the sparkies.

 

[solair]

Well, my advice is that you should stop using the shower until you get a qualified electrician to inspect the entire installation.

In most European countries that I am familiar with, water heaters, central heating boilers, pumps and anything connected to the water system should normally be connected via an RCD so this kind of fault shouldn't really be possible in a modern installation.

It could be anything from a faulty water heater, pump, valve an earth fault of some sort.

Have you carried out any DIY work?

I remember coming across a situation in France where someone had bonded water pipes to the earth and then cross connecting that to the neutral in a supply that was not TN-C-S earthed i.e. TT with a floating neutral. The result was live pipes!

You should really get a local sparks to check it out properly there's no real way of diagnosing a problem like that without a good bit of testing and investigation but it is very serious and should not be left as is as you could end up getting electrocuted and possibly killed by a fault like that.

Even a very small current running through your body in the shower when you are standing with wet feet is potentially lethal if it crosses your heart as it can cause fibrillation and heart attack.[/b]

 

[dormermike]

Funny enough i experienced this on my one and only trip to greece. The shower in question also stank of raw sewage coming from drain. How they made it into eu i'll never understand, and shant be going back either. Dodgy electrics and abysmal sanitation.

 

[dbuss]

Funny enough i experienced this on my one and only trip to greece. The shower in question also stank of raw sewage coming from drain. How they made it into eu i'll never understand, and shant be going back either. Dodgy electrics and abysmal sanitation.

now now, that was uncalled for.