Dishwasher shock - what test would isolate issue?

[ericmark]

If some thing is touching the drive belt it could generate static, however I have not had problems with bonded equipment, but a combination of earth wire left off inside the machine and something touching the drive belt could cause it.

What I can't understand is

when the engineer mentioned he got a shock on a separate appliance (dishwasher).

one would have expected him to have tested. He has to report in writing, that is a HSE requirement, could be email or text message, but must be in writing, so he is saying I have had a shock, but I have not cured the problem, and have allowed the tenant to remain in the house.

It seems likely with all RCBO that it is static, since he was working on washing machine seems likely the fault is on that, left an earth wire off a panel which has some thing touching drive belt so is getting charged up.

 

[JohnW2]

However, you have an earth fault and you need a competent electrician to trace and fix it. You have said there have been multiple shocks so you are aware of the problem.

I think we probably really need to know more about the nature of these "multiple shocks" before jumping to the conclusion that there is an 'earth fault', don't we?

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

What I can't understand is ....

...when the engineer mentioned he got a shock on a separate appliance (dishwasher).

... one would have expected him to have tested.

One would expect that, and it would seem that's exactly what he did. What makes you think otherwise? ...

After testing the earth on it he concluded he could detect nothing was wrong.

Kind Regards, John

 

[crystal ball]

I get many calls to test various bits of kit in schools because someone has had a shock, never found a fault yet, nylon undies & static to blame

 

[fixitflav]

hmm, good points. The floor is lino and concrete, and it is a top floor apartment, so certainly not damp. The only other items near by are the washing machine which was recently checked and repaired. It was also pat tested after this shock was reported.

Static was something that we assumed at first. But if they are reporting a shock, it's not something we can ignore or just put down to static without excluding everything else first.

This shock was not noticed until the engineer who repaired the washer/dryer seemingly got one. Only since that time has it been noticed and not for the last 7 months prior.

So based on that, it's something that has only suddenly occurred in my view.

As per above, that engineer checked the appliance and found nothing amiss, and the pat test since has concluded the same.

If it's any help, back in the 1980s my ex late mother-in-law started getting shocks from her cooker. Found there was an earth wire from the cooker to the switchbox on the wall, but the box wasn't earthed! Just a 2-core cable to it (1930s built house). Earthed it properly and that cured it. Why it hadn't given shocks many years earlier I've no idea.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

If it's any help, back in the 1980s my ex late mother-in-law started getting shocks from her cooker. Found there was an earth wire from the cooker to the switchbox on the wall, but the box wasn't earthed! Just a 2-core cable to it (1930s built house). Earthed it properly and that cured it. Why it hadn't given shocks many years earlier I've no idea.

It had probably developed a bit of leakage from live parts, to the body of the oven over time.

 

[securespark]

Do not use an advertising website where readers pay to be listed, even if it masquerades as a Recommended or Trusted website.

I see what you did there!

 

[crystal ball]

I was called to a fault where the householder was getting shocks from the cooker, after some investigation I found a woodscrew through the cooker cable under the bedroom floor, it looked like the earth was broken but possible making contact as people walked on the floor, or vice versa, it had also affected other cables in the notch

 

[RandomGrinch]

Can you ask if any of the shockee's saw a spark when they received the shock?
I believe a mains voltage spark may only travel less than 10 μm in free air?
Often a static shock, when pressing for example a lift button can be felt and seen.