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Shocking shower.


fudd

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Good morning. I keep getting a tiny shock from my shower valve. Not a serious bolt, but it needs sorting. It feels like a tiny static shock but happens every time I touch the metal valve or head. I don’t wear nylon frocks ? and I have wooden floors. If it was static I would assume that once discharged that would be it until it builds up again.  I’ve had a few AC shocks and it’s not that. I’m on a shoreline and have an immersion heater. The first time it happened I thought I had imagined it, it’s that small but unnerving. My other half said she got a shock from the kitchen tap. I haven’t yet. The plumbing is all plastic. I’m thinking there could be some sort of continuity through the water and have an issue with the immersion element. I have recently replaced my charger and inverter with like for like Victron stuff and haven’t touched anything else. The problem started before that anyway. As I said, it’s a tiny shock. I’m also concerned about the possibility of galvanic corrosion. I have a Victron galvanic isolator installed as per manual. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. 

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Interesting question, we encountered this problem over several years in a hotel we stayed in in Greece. In the end one guest complained to the Travel Rep and a qualified electrician was called. He found a serious electrical 'leakage' fault and the problem was solved. We were all lucky apparently it could have had serious consequences.

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4 minutes ago, LEO said:

Interesting question, we encountered this problem over several years in a hotel we stayed in in Greece. In the end one guest complained to the Travel Rep and a qualified electrician was called. He found a serious electrical 'leakage' fault and the problem was solved. We were all lucky apparently it could have had serious consequences.

How bad was the shock?  Mine is so small you could barely notice it. 

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Do you still get a shock with all 240v off?  If so it must be static or a nearby boat or installation with an earth fault.

 

If no shock with 240 off completely, start by getting someone to put a Megger on the immersion.  If that is OK then do Insulation and earth resistance tests on the 240 volt cabling  downstream of the inlet connector.  After that look at any oshorepower  leads then all the victron stuff  including the GI.  The victron stuff should fail safe, hence it is late on the list.  You also probably don't want  to put 1000 V into it!

 

If all 240 OK it must be static or a nearby boat.  In that case try moving a  few hundred feet away from anyone and any mains electrical installations.

N

 

 

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49 minutes ago, fudd said:

How bad was the shock?  Mine is so small you could barely notice it. 

A bit more than the static shock you sometimes get from car seats etc and a bit less than that given by animal fencing............you always got it when touching the shower controls.

Edited by LEO
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8 minutes ago, LEO said:

A bit more than the static shock you sometimes get from car seats etc and a bit less than that given by animal fencing............you always got it when touching the shower controls.

It’s barely noticeable. The first time it happened it felt like I had a tiny metal splinter in my finger tip. Hard to describe. 

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7 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I do get quite a few static shocks off various bits of the boat. No mains power anywhere near. The atmosphere tends to be drier in winter which exacerbates it - I think you generate quite a bit just by moving about. 

I don’t think it’s static. I get it every time I touch the metalwork

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I had something similar a few years back. It was my friend who was visiting on board who first noticed it. He chews his fingers quite badly and had raw skin exposed, and got a prickly shock through the water when washing his hands at the taps. I was having some other work done by a boat leccy at the time and I asked him to have a look at the issue. After some testing he concluded the Sterling inverter was knackered. I replaced it myself with a Victron, no tingly fingers since. 

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It’s gone now, but about six years ago, and for about a year, we had a strange thing happen. When putting in diesel and when the nozzle touched the hull fitting to could see tiny sparks passing between the two. Didn’t notice this stopping or when but strange.

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I had someting similar hapening. It turned out to be that a dog had chewed through our local earth lead AND there was a fault at the sub station. It was as well I found it when I did since ether fault could have been 'very inconvienient'!  If you don't have the test gear yourself Best get it checked ASAP.  

 

Edit. Cros post with Sea Dog.

Edited by Taslim
Slow responce.
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It might be caused by dry of lube or worn bearings rotating in the engine or even in the fresh water pump. Vehicles often used to get this generating static business when the owners touched a door handle or something, usually caused by a worn or dry of grease wheel bearing, which we'd replace or lubricate which stopped it.

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4 minutes ago, bizzard said:

It might be caused by dry of lube or worn bearings rotating in the engine or even in the fresh water pump. Vehicles often used to get this generating static business when the owners touched a door handle or something, usually caused by a worn or dry of grease wheel bearing, which we'd replace or lubricate which stopped it.

You often used to see an earthing strap dangling from the rear of cars that suffered from it.

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3 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

It’s gone now, but about six years ago, and for about a year, we had a strange thing happen. When putting in diesel and when the nozzle touched the hull fitting to could see tiny sparks passing between the two. Didn’t notice this stopping or when but strange.

Were you refueling at the same place?

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35 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

If my memory serves correctly, it was mainly Fenny Compton Marina, so in answer to your question probably.

So possibly/probably static in the refueling hose?

 

In answer to the op, I'd think static in a shower was relatively unlikely. The tap would be fairly well earthed, and although it's possible that there is a build up of static when the OP gets undressed (I assume he gets undressed before showering!;)), I'd expect that to dissipate through the OP's feet well before he touched the tap.

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4 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

It’s gone now, but about six years ago, and for about a year, we had a strange thing happen. When putting in diesel and when the nozzle touched the hull fitting to could see tiny sparks passing between the two. Didn’t notice this stopping or when but strange.

This is common.  It is static generated by the fuel in the hose.  Aircraft fuelling hoses have an earthing strap built into the hose as well as a separate bonding cable which is always  connected first and removed last.

N

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3 hours ago, bizzard said:

It might be caused by dry of lube or worn bearings rotating in the engine or even in the fresh water pump. Vehicles often used to get this generating static business when the owners touched a door handle or something, usually caused by a worn or dry of grease wheel bearing, which we'd replace or lubricate which stopped it.

I used to own an Audi 100 and once got a shock from a battery post while the engine was idling, never did work that one out.

Also got a tingle from a 240v double insulated ultrasonic cleaner, prob below RCD cut off current but I always unplug now during preparation. 

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