Voltage on pipes

[awaitcall]

Friends tennant complained that occasionally she recieved static shock from the bath

Called in a leky and found that on the pipes in the bathroom he was getting 2-4volts so he grabbed the nearest earth from a socket and wrapped it around the pipes and still no change. The house Is part old and part new wiring

He wants to get a periodic on the property will this problem be picked up?


Is this problem be sorted easily or will he be opening a can of worms?

 

[Taylortwocities]

So is it really a static shock then, maybe not!

This 2-4 volts, where was that measured between?

Running an earth from a nearby socket is not a solution, suggest a proper electrician is used next time!

Supplementary equipotential bonding may resolve this, - see WIKI for what this means.

Solution depends on what the problem really is.

 

[ricicle]

If he had a voltage then he must have been testing between two points. Where did he test, between two pipes or between the pipes and earth ?

 

[awaitcall]

The leky did the supplementary bonding still the same problem exists

He was checking pipe to earth

 

[JohnW2]

He was checking pipe to earth

What earth? Clearly not the one he subsequently connected to the pipe without altering the voltage being measured.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[bernardgreen]

As mentioned the important thing in solving this is to know between which two points the voltage was measured.

It might be that the pipes are at ground potential and person is slightly "live" due to walls or floors being connected by a relatively high impedance path to a live conductor. Dampness in a junction box and surface it is fitted to being one possible fault that could lead to this effect.