My faucets are shocking me!!

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laurawalton

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:eek: Help! Our faucet handles and shower head in both the bathtub and the shower developed some very strange and strong vibrations in the last 24 hours. I actually felt like I was being shocked today in the shower - had to grab a towel to wrap around the handle just to turn off the water!! What is going on? Will it go away on its own? I should note that we had 15 inches of snow here in northeast Oklahoma, so the pipes might be under some stress...any help or advice is appreciated!!! Thank you!!! ~ :) :)
 

Casman

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Uh, you need an electrician, and stay out of the shower until you address this situation. It's not the snow.
 

SteveW

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I agree - don't put this off - get someone out to the house TODAY.
 

Bob NH

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It could be a utility problem related to the snow. My guess would be that the utility neutral may be disconnected somewhere and your neutral, which is connected to your water system, is carrying current that it shouldn't carry.

You could ask any neighbors on the same transformer if they are having any problems.

Check to see if one of the wires connecting the utility to the house seems disconnected. Look up along the line to the transformer. You might call them and describe the problem and they might come out and check their wires.

Anything on your side needs an electrician. He will probably check the neutral connection on your side of the main meter.
 

Got_Nailed

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I put getting nailed on a broken neutral or a bad tap on the transformer. If you have an underground service I would check the meter pan first. But I would call an electrician and unplug everything. Depending on what it is at any time it could get worse and send 220 through everything. This would FRY most everything that was plugged in.

Hmm I’ve had 480, 440, 277, 240, 120, 48, 24, and 12. The bad ones were the DC.
 

ToolsRMe

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Here's another guess.

Your ground connection broke. Electrical ground is almost always connected to your plumbing (and it should be!).

I'm guessing that some insulation has worn away and that a hot wire is "bleeding" through soil or is draped over a pipe.

I agree with everyone else here: get an electrician out to your house ASAP. You are living with a very dangerous condition.


Here's something you might want to do if you can't get an electrician out to your house because of the snow.

Go o you local hardware store. Get one of those "circuit testing pencils" (about $15) and see if your plumbing is electrically hot by touching the PENCIL to the plumbing. If the pencil blinks or beeps, you've got AC on your plumbing and that is NOT GOOD.

If hot, turn off your main and repeat the experiment. If it's still hot then it's the electric company's fault and you should contact them. If not hot then it's something in your wiring.

Good luck. So far you've had a lot of it.
 
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