I get shock when i touch my electronic equipments

[Physicslearner500039]

Hi all,

i get shock when i touch any of my electronic equipments (washing machine etc). To avoid shock i need to remove the connection from the socket and then only i can do maintenance and put the connection back to the socket and operate. Obviously i think earthing is the problem before i convince my landlord to do earthing for the house

1. Is there any danger involved in working with electonic equipments without earthing.
2. i also heard of a temperory solution but i am not sure is it possible to take a small wire connect to the electronic device and leave the other end in the air so that we can avoid shock. am i correct in this? or please suggest me temporary solution for me.

thanks and regards,
satya

 

[davenn]

There is only ONE safe solution... Get the equip checked out by a registered electrician!
Anything else is risking your and anyone elses life by the possibility of electrocution

Dont mess around with it yourself else your life span could be severely shortened

cheers
Dave

 

[jehan60188]

you shouldn't be working on electronic equipment when it is plugged in anyways
unplug the equipment, ground yourself on a doorknob, then start working

 

[marcusl]

you shouldn't be working on electronic equipment when it is plugged in anyways
unplug the equipment, ground yourself on a doorknob, then start working

The first part of this advice is sound: unplug the equipment. The second part is incorrect. You do not want to be grounded, you want to float so if you accidentally touch a live wire the electricity will not flow through your body. Wear rubber tennis shoes, don't stand in a puddle of water, don't touch anything metallic that provides a ground path, etc.

Finally, as a point of information, doorknobs are not grounded.

 

[cmb]

... ground yourself on a doorknob, then start working...

!

 

[jehan60188]

The first part of this advice is sound: unplug the equipment. The second part is incorrect. You do not want to be grounded, you want to float so if you accidentally touch a live wire the electricity will not flow through your body. Wear rubber tennis shoes, don't stand in a puddle of water, don't touch anything metallic that provides a ground path, etc.

Finally, as a point of information, doorknobs are not grounded.

you seem to be misapprehending my intentions- i did not mean to work while grounded, i meant to work after having eliminated any charge from your body. you know, like how you get shocked after touching a doorknob?
that happens because you transfer charge from your body to the knob- http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/electric_shock.html this site explains it in further detail

 

[cmb]

Well, if you are meaning to remove any ESD hazard, then touching a doorknob is a bit wrong. You are trusting the potential of the door knob?

To avoid ESD hazard, one usually wears a conductive bracelet connected to ground. However, this is for when working with components or systems that themselves are isolated and are ESD sensitive (other procedures then apply to handling them).

'Earth' is charge neutral. That is the only datum that you neutralise charge to.

 

[davenn]

you shouldn't be working on electronic equipment when it is plugged in anyways

Thats true but he DIDNT say that
read the OP's first sentence again ... The inference is that the equip... washing machine ... etc has an Earth fault and the metal chassis is becoming live under normal use
its as indicated that its more than one piece of gear then there could be a neutral fault in the building wiring

I will repeat what I said in my first post ...
There is only ONE safe solution... Get the equip etc checked out by a registered electrician!


cheers
Dave

 

[dlgoff]

you shouldn't be working on electronic equipment when it is plugged in anyways
unplug the equipment, ground yourself on a doorknob, then start working

I couldn't resist.

Seriously. We don't want anyone hurt from advice given here at Physics Forums.

 

[berkeman]

Hi all,

i get shock when i touch any of my electronic equipments (washing machine etc). To avoid shock i need to remove the connection from the socket and then only i can do maintenance and put the connection back to the socket and operate. Obviously i think earthing is the problem before i convince my landlord to do earthing for the house

1. Is there any danger involved in working with electonic equipments without earthing.
2. i also heard of a temperory solution but i am not sure is it possible to take a small wire connect to the electronic device and leave the other end in the air so that we can avoid shock. am i correct in this? or please suggest me temporary solution for me.

thanks and regards,
satya

It does sound like you have a wiring problem in your apartment -- a dangerous one.

Get yourself one of these inexpensive AC socket testers in the picture below, and use it to see what the problem is. Use it to show your landlord that they have a serious wiring problem that needs to be fixed by a licensed electrician.

http://www.summitsource.com/images/products/TO9610.jpg

http://www.summitsource.com/images/products/TO9610.jpg