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Thread: Tingling feeling in the shower

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    Tingling feeling in the shower

    I have another one of these...so far i have checked the following and the problem is still present.

    I have checked and secured the main incoming earth...even sanded the lugs and washes to make better contact.

    Done a loop impedance test at the meter box...main DB and sub DB,s... 1.3 ohms ( Z= V/2 I) 238 volts/ 2 x 80 amps = 1.49 ohms max

    Installed and replaced bonding straps and re terminated the earths on all the geysers.

    Done insulation resistance tests on the geysers (all 5 of them)

    Gone around the building and secured and added bonding where it had broken off or found loose connections.

    Checked the voltage L-N = 238v ... L-E = 237v ... N-E = 0.5 - 3.8 volts (now this concerns me the way it moves up and down)

    Did earth continuity tests from the earth bar to the taps o.1 ohms and lower if i check on the copper pipes.

    If i do a potential difference test between the taps and outlet/drain (all PVC pipes with metal covers in the shower) ... the voltage ranges from 0.5 volts to 5 volts

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    Your elevated NE voltage, are you using an earth external to the installation? Like do you knock an earth spike outside the house and run an extension as your true earth?

    Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

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    Hi Ians

    Get called out quite often for this problem.

    Have had it at my house as well.

    From past experience I can say that 99% there is a bad, high impedance neutral connection somewhere between the installation and the sub station transformer.
    The problem is NOT on the installation itself and strange as it may sound, the better the earthing on your installation, the more pronounced the tingling will be.

    This problem is more prevalent in areas that have overhead supplies where the connections are exposed to the elements.

    If no other residents in the area are experiencing the same, then the fault will be either on the pole supplying the installation or in the roof box.
    For underground supply, check the neutral connection in the stubby on the pavement.

    I have in the past found a whole street experiencing the same and it was a bad neutral connection on the Municipal transformer.

    Good luck.

    Derlyn

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    Quote Originally Posted by sytcee View Post
    Your elevated NE voltage, are you using an earth external to the installation? Like do you knock an earth spike outside the house and run an extension as your true earth?

    Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
    I have an earth spike in the ground next to the meter box and a suppliers earth from the road.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Derlyn View Post
    Hi Ians

    Get called out quite often for this problem.

    Have had it at my house as well.

    From past experience I can say that 99% there is a bad, high impedance neutral connection somewhere between the installation and the sub station transformer.
    The problem is NOT on the installation itself and strange as it may sound, the better the earthing on your installation, the more pronounced the tingling will be.

    This problem is more prevalent in areas that have overhead supplies where the connections are exposed to the elements.

    If no other residents in the area are experiencing the same, then the fault will be either on the pole supplying the installation or in the roof box.
    For underground supply, check the neutral connection in the stubby on the pavement.

    I have in the past found a whole street experiencing the same and it was a bad neutral connection on the Municipal transformer.

    Good luck.

    Derlyn
    I had an issue at home where the live wire broke off the over head line and landed on the metal part of the street light ...jumped in the shower and almost died ...fortunately for me i had not secured the tap with the little screw on the side so as i got hooked up the handle came off and released me.

    The house is supplied from an underground cable.

    I have done a loop impedance test which indicated that the connections "should " be ok ...if this reading was high ...i would have notified the supplier... which i might still do.

    I have even done insulation resistance tests on the geysers to make sure we dont have a bad element.

    My concern is the voltage between the drain (PVC) and the taps metal.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ians View Post
    I have an earth spike in the ground next to the meter box and a suppliers earth from the road.
    For testing purposes, kindly knock an earth spike away from the supplier's and the one you installed. The idea is test the integrity of your supplier earthing. As a municipal worker , I know many municipal electricians who would appreciate the results of your elevated NE tests.

    Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

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    Platinum Member Derlyn's Avatar
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    Hi Ians

    Remember an earth loop impedance test does Not test the impedance of the neutral conductor.

    It's actually called a Line Earth Loop Impedance Test. It tests the loop impedance of the Live, Transformer winding and earth.

    A high impedance neutral connection cannot be detected by doing the above test.

    Derlyn

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    Hi Ians

    We have been caught out twice looking for similar faults in a shower and to make it worse it was intermittent , so we thought.

    When the shower doors/panels were installed they managed to get a screw to just touch the live in a piece of twin and earth coming from a light switch . The shower doors would go live at 220v when the bathroom light was switched on .We were there during the day and my guys never thought to switch the lights on.
    Because the shower taps and drain etc were connected with pvc piping you only got a tingle and not the full 220v
    When I took a earth from the socket in the room next door and tested to the frame work we found the 220v with the light on.
    Has happened to me on two separate occasions , years apart.

    When the water ran down the frame into the drain and connected with the sewer line it appeared that the voltage was coming from the floor drain which was also pvc

    Worth a try using a earth from the sockets close by and switch on all lights , heated towel rails etc

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    Quote Originally Posted by Derlyn View Post
    Hi Ians

    Remember an earth loop impedance test does Not test the impedance of the neutral conductor.

    It's actually called a Line Earth Loop Impedance Test. It tests the loop impedance of the Live, Transformer winding and earth.

    A high impedance neutral connection cannot be detected by doing the above test.

    Derlyn
    I use a fluke 1653 ...i do the loop impedance and line line impedance test and both are within spec.

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    An update.

    We have now confirmed that all the showers in the house and both outbuildings (granny flats) have the same issue.... Since it started raining... no tingling... it could be that all the work cleaning and re terminating the bonding straps and earth points around the taps geysers... meter box and sub DB's ...however this we can only confirm if the tingling starts again.

    The council have been to site and checked the incoming power and fuse... they dont give any feedback...so i dont know what they did or if they actually did anything....from my last experience dealing with then... other than testing with a duspol tester to see if the light comes on and it shows 230 v there is no much more they can do.

    So the next lot of tests... if we receive a complaint in the future...

    Investigate the 3 inverter units in parallel by others.

    Separate the earth at the meter box ...test to live and neutral and see if there is voltage on the supply side or property side.

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