Made me jump!

[Johnmelad502]

I was doing some work in a kitchen today (worktops new doors and sink) was removing the sink which was connected to the copper supply pipes with a couple of lengths of plastic pipe.

I drooped my screwdriver behind the washing machine (not plugged in) and when I went to retrieve it, the back of my hand came into contact with the water pipes and I got a belt.

What would cause this to happen and why was the voltage so low? I say low as the belt was not 230 volts, have had one of those and this was nothing like it.

Any local spark fancy taking on the job of testing and repairing for the homeowner, he has not been able to find a local spark so far.

 

[LoveRocket]

There's either a fault to the pipework and the pipes aren't bonded, or there's an earth fault somewhere but a very poor (or non-existent) earth.

PS. It could well have been 230v, the magnitude of the belt depends on many more factors, so you can't make such a statement.

 

[ColJack]

it could just as easily been you filled with static..
do they have laminate flooring, or that flotex stuff.. ?

was it a sustained tingle or a one time crack?

 

[Johnmelad502]

Definitely not static.

 

[viewer]

Is washing machine OK? There are capacitors which could give you this and worse. If there was a fault then because the machine was unplugged the charge could be earthed until you touched the machine and the metal water pipes.

 

[ColJack]

more likely a fault / leakage current on the washing machine which isn't all being dissipated due to the high resistance on the water in the plastic pipe section..

 

[Johnmelad502]

Electrician turned up today, apparently there is no earth back to the consumer unit...