wiring or faulty appliance?

[nobody]

Hi,

I bought a satellite receiver and got what I thought was a static shock off the case. Then another.

So I got out a digital multimeter and I find that I am picking up either 110v or 220v between the case of the receiver and earth - It depends on which was round the cable is connected to the receiver - its one of those figure 8 connectors L & N only. I tried this with 'earth' being the earth pin in a socket as well as a radiator.

If I touch the case of the receiver and touch a radiator I can feel a slight tingle. (yes I know that thats a stupid thing to do, but I got the shock bending down to the receiver with my arm brushing the rad.)

I dont see why changing the cable around / reversing live and neutral should change the voltage?

I returned the receiver, but the replacement is just the same. Dont have this problem with anything else in the house.

Any ideas ? Is it a batch of faulty goods or could we have a problem with our electrics. (rewired by previous owner who was .....An electrician!) Although the fuse box is old so I think all he did was renew cables. All Ive done since is replace a socket, move a light and extend a ring. 9 years ago when we moved in I replaced the fuses with those trip switches. And Im confident that thats all OK.

Our earth is I assume the big copper pipe stuck in the ground with a length of wire to it out the front.

Any suggestions as to what I could check ?

 

[magic_m]

(In theory!) If you ran your hand along the surface of the receiver (without touching anything else) and it felt like the surface was vibrating that would indicate that there is a pathway for electricity to flow to the casing. This is more safely demonstrated by a volt meter between the case and a known good earth connection. That would be a fault with the appliance, and not one I would live with.

If you are concerned about your installation you could get sombody out to check it over.