Electrical help...please

[Anonymous]

Last night I was fiddling with the lights on my refugiums and my arm brushed against the GROUND wire that was exposed after wiring my LOA light. ie the LOA doesn't use a ground and I wired it using a 3-wire cord (does that make sense?)

Well, it have me a heck of a tingle. it was definately not 20 amps of 115v but it wasn't pleasant either. How can that happen? The 3-pronged cord is plugged into a power strip equipped with a ground. The Power strip is plugged into the wall. fyi, I was also wearing rubber sandals at the time...

Is this dangerous? Can it start a fire?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: Guy ]

 

[StrikeThree]

Sounds like some stray power in your ground -Usually the house is the path of least resistance but you took that job over - could be a big problem if something fails, sends a lot of power to ground and you touch that bare wire. Get the 3 prong cable off and replace it with a 2 prong extension cord (just cut the other end off and wire black to black, white to white). You might also want to get a GFCI outlet for your tank - ad find out what is leaking to the ground and replace it.

Good luck-

Brian

 

[Alex_78745]

It sounds like you might have a ground fault in the cable or the house wiring (ground wire touching the neutral). I would get a circuit tester (the small, square type you plug into the wall) and check the wall outlet then the power strip. If it shows a site wiring fault or a ground fault in the house I would call a qualified electrician to look into it and fix it. if a fault is indicated in the strip then replace it. If it does not show a fault then I would replace the wire you used to wire up the LOA fixture with a new one. In my case I used a general purpose extension cord and simply cut off the end

HTH

-Alex

 

[FishHead1]

Sounds like you have an elecrical problem.

 

[SPC]

Guy, I agree with Alex on this, there is a ground fault either in the cord or the circuit. As he said it can be checked easily, and if it is the cord then it is just a matter of replacing it.
Steve

[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: SPC ]

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone!! I'll test the strip and the outlet. Ironically, the outlet the strip is plugged into is one of only a few not protected by GFI. All other aquarium related stuff is... Murphy's law!!

 

[suckair]

It sounds like a bad ground! You can purchase a small electrical test unit at most hardware stores for about $20.00 You plug in the device and it shows you if you
have a good ground and if the common and hot wires are in the right spots! A must have for any DYI electrical wireing!

 

[Anonymous]

OK... tested the circuit and it says the neutral and ground are reversed. I've unplugged the lights and plugged them into another circuit.

Guess I was lucky because I traced the wires back (it's in the basement) and it's wired into a 30 amp circuit. One of the original circuits for the house. The wire looks to be 100 or so years old.... LOL

Thanks everyone for the help!!

Guy

 

[scott324]

FWIW, The ground and the neutral are bonded in the first panel from your service lateral. So if your ground and neutral are reversed in would essentially do the same thing. Regardless of that fact you should not get shocked from either. Espeicially with sandels on (unless you were on your knees or touching something with your other hand. You should check to make sure your neutral has good connections back to your panel. Especially in an old house. In really old houses they didn't have a ground, The neutral and the ground were essentially the same thing. You may have a more serious problem than you think. HTH I am an electrician. Any questions just ask.
Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the offer and information Scott! All of the wires on that circuit are easy to trace as they are all in the basement and just tacked to the ceiling. I'm either going to re-wire it or just screw in a blown fuse into the socket and not use that circuit.

One question...is it normal for a fuse to be warm to the touch? Everything else is on circuit breakers so there's nothing to compare it to.