not re but maybe ground.

gww1 · September 2014

I was using a hand held mixer (food) today and I reached over to the sink to wipe something off the finger of my other hand and got a jolt on it from the sink. Any ideals.
Thanks
gww

BB. · September 2014

Re: not re but maybe ground.

Is this an older Mixer with two prong plug and metal case?

Sounds like a ground fault (hot wire in mixer is connected to metal case/beaters/etc. One hand on mixer, other hand on grounded sink.

So--Mixer has a hot to metal (case/beater) ground leak. Fix or replace.

Next--The outlet next to the kitchen sink:

If two prong outlet, replace with GFI + three prong outlet.

If three prong outlet and three prong mixer--Check for missing ground on kitchen outlet. In any case, if not GFI protected, replace with GFI outlet.

A remote possibility is the sink is "Hot" and the mixer was (properly) grounded through ground wire in plug. That would mean there is something wrong in your AC mains+earth safety grounding somewhere (age of house will affect grounding/2vs3vsGFI outlets).

-Bill

inetdog · September 2014

Re: not re but maybe ground.

gww1 wrote: »

I was using a hand held mixer (food) today and I reached over to the sink to wipe something off the finger of my other hand and got a jolt on it from the sink. Any ideals.
Thanks
gww

Probably not the best forum for this sort of question, but I will give it a try:

1. We can assume that you are not using a GFCI protected receptacle to power the mixer?
2. If it happens only when the mixer is running, then there is either resistive leakage inside the mixer from the hot side of the circuit to exposed metal and that exposed metal is not connected to ground by a third wire in the cord and in the receptacle wiring (defect) or there is capacitive leakage between the mixer wiring and the exposed metal (not a defect) and there is no ground wire connection through cord and receptacle. You may want to try reversing the plug if it is two-wire unpolarized plug.
3. If it happens even when the motor is stopped, then there may be a potential difference between the mixer's grounded metal and the sink metal. That could be a sign of some real problems in the house wiring system and at that point you need to get a real electrician to look directly at your problem. Internet diagnosis will not be safe.

*** And what Bill said.

gww1 · September 2014

Re: not re but maybe ground.

The house is 1968, I believe it has 3 wire. Mixer has two prong. Sink does not shock at any other time. It does have one big and one little prong. (plug/mixer) I may have forced it in bacwards. The mixer was running. I will have to try it with the mixer off. I will do this the next time I feel a little tired. I had just put new back board on the sink and replaced the plug cover with a wider one. I didn't look to see if the ground was connected or just hanging there. I knew this wasn't an electrictions site but most electritions I talked to prior to installing my solar and wind were not really that helpful on the inverter solar side and some guys on here are good at it all. I have live in this place for about 20 years and have never had this happen before and my wife would have told me if it had happened to her. I did install the solar and I am not sure if I put that plug on the inverter or not. I didn't do the whole house cause I run out of room in the 12 breaker sub-panel. I came really close though. You guys have given me things to check out.
Thanks
gww

KenZ71 · September 2014

Re: not re but maybe ground.

Would using an electrical circuit tester be less painful, i.e. no shock ?

I would be working this out asap, shocks near water can go bad real quick. Especially for kids or pets.

BB. · September 2014

Re: not re but maybe ground.

When I was a little kid back in the early 1960's -- I would occasionally help my Mom cooking... I learned not to touch the old metal 2 wire hand held mixer and the sink at the same time pretty quickly (nothing to fix there :roll:).

You can get a simple 3 prong tester from the hardware store to do a quick outlet sanity check.

Receptacle tester - Wikipedia

The mixer is probably very old (prior to the advent of double insulated tools). You may have to decide to replace the mixer for safety.

Installing GFI outlets near sinks/tubs/garage sinks/water/outside is the "modern" solution anyway. If the mixer keeps popping the GFI--Then the mixer needs fixing or replacement.

The problem with "testing" is it does not take very much current to zap you... (about 5 mAmps +/-). A DMM will draw much less current and gave give you unreliable readings (very little current will read a voltage on the meter).

A "Wiggy" solenoid volt meter:

http://www.amazon.com/Ideal-61-065-Volt-test%C2%AE-Solenoid-Voltage/dp/B000BVNSLG

Will draw more current--But is probably not going to be sensitive enough to detect 5 mAmp current leak.

-Bill

gww1 · September 2014

Re: not re but maybe ground.

Thanks guys.
I appretiate the responces. I wasn't that worried but more surprised. I have been under houses in the crawl space laying on the dirt and getting tingled when touching the copper piping. Honestly we still only fixed the pipe altough if the electric bill would have went up we would have looked further. I haven't rushed to fix anything yet but just wanted some avenues for when I get to it. I am happy for the ideals even though this is probly not the proper subject matter for an re forum, but, you guys are smart.
Thanks
gww

niel · September 2014

Re: not re but maybe ground.

note that here in the u.s. a gfci is required in any kitchen or bath. this could be a breaker into the main breaker panel, but they sometimes fail when installed in wet basements. the types made to install into an outlet box fair better, but are harder to wire sometimes.

if you could force a polarized plug in backwards into an outlet then replace the outlet so that you can't plug into it backwards. plugging it in backwards could cause you to lose the benefits of having it polarized and re-introduce the shock hazard.

not re but maybe ground.

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