Shocks off a bath

moonrakerz

HugoSP - it is nice to see someone joining this discussion who actually appears to know what he is talking about.
I totally agree with every word in your post.

I don't really want to start an argument, but ......... some of the theories put forward do show a remarkable ignorance of matters electrical.

I said I thought it was caused by static - on the information given by the house holder I would say that was still the most likely cause. If the bath has been checked with a voltmeter (properly !) and nothing found, it could possibly be some strange fault with the electrics. However it is very rare to get a 'bit of a shock', you normally get the full 240 - in which case you are usually dead, especially if you have one hand in a bath full of water.

iwanttosave_2

How can I have a bath? I am starting to smell

It seems to be only my left hand, I took my riing off and my jumper but still got it right through my blimmin finger

BobProperty

robby-01 wrote:

no.cant be arsed .Sick of people posting wrong info on this site.
The facts are in the wiring regulations a bathroom is classed as a special location .that means a location were the risk of electric shock is increased.
In a domestic installation that means rooms containing a bath or a shower and areas around swimming pools.
In such areas local supplementary bonding is required.
A metal bath needs to be connected to that .
That has always been the case ask any qualified sparks .
There is no requirement for supplementary bonding in kitchens at all and that includes the metal sink top .

The fault the op describes is potentially very serious. The installation needs checking.
It is not a job for a plumber, a gas fitter or a handyman with a book. It is a job for a decent sparks with experience in inspection and testing.
It may turn out to be something and nothing ,although18 years experience in this field tells me it isnt.

Not a very useful post there, IMHO. All I did was ask you to quote the details of the regulations. You have just come across as the stereotypical electrician: "I know what I'm doing. I've got a book of regulations in my back pocket and my interpretation is all that matters".
Someone posted a link to an IEE document. I pointed out that part of it backs my viewpoint.
I have spent part of my working career checking that what people say is going to happen, actually did when the product was used. I get fed up with people telling me that they are right when they are not prepared to document their opinions.
I too am sick of people posting duff information on this forum, but I will back my opinion with documentation or change it if I am wrong.
I also agree this is a job for an electrician, I didn't say otherwise. I did question whether the "electrician" who checked things out with a voltmeter was doing enough.
I also do know about "equipotential bonding" which is why I questioned the use of the word "earthing". Hugo has supplied a detailed explanation but you have to get into the details as to what is to be included and what is allowed to be ignored and in what circumstances.

BobProperty

Cagey wrote:

In my experiance plumbers tend to leave earth wires off when they renew pipes. As you say Robbie you do not have to be Corgie registered to plumb in a bathroom but I think they may be more up to scratch with regs` if they have done a Corgie course.

If this is a council house get the council to get it sorted out right away before someone gets killed. Don`t use the bath until it is fixed.

CORGI registration has nothing to do with water plumbing, I wish people would understand that.

I do agree that you should not be using the bathroom until this gets sorted.

Russ66

iwanttosave wrote:

If it helps any arguments, my OH took a bath last night, and didn't get a shock till he had one foot out the bath on the floor (just bare floor boards at the moment) and had another foot in the bath. He said it wasn't anything big, but could feel the current through his legs one to another.

Have you checked that no ones screwed / nailed through a cable under the floorboards.

You could be standing on a live screw and going to earth when you touch the bath.:eek:

iwanttosave_2

Russ66 wrote:

Have you checked that no ones screwed / nailed through a cable under the floorboards.

You could be standing on a live screw and going to earth when you touch the bath.:eek:

I was just about to come back and tell you.

I just tried Hugos idea about turning the power off, and guess what no shock!!!!

Put it back on, and it hurt me again, bit of a biggish one as well because I can still feel the tingle now So its definatly not me, but I must still be sensative to them

There are some cables running right under where I am standing, so I went to the end of the bath, still got a small shock, but it was less of one.

weekendwarrior

robby-01 wrote:

no.cant be arsed .Sick of people posting wrong info on this site.
The facts are in the wiring regulations a bathroom is classed as a special location .that means a location were the risk of electric shock is increased.
In a domestic installation that means rooms containing a bath or a shower and areas around swimming pools.
In such areas local supplementary bonding is required.
A metal bath needs to be connected to that .
That has always been the case ask any qualified sparks .
There is no requirement for supplementary bonding in kitchens at all and that includes the metal sink top .

The fault the op describes is potentially very serious. The installation needs checking.
It is not a job for a plumber, a gas fitter or a handyman with a book. It is a job for a decent sparks with experience in inspection and testing.
It may turn out to be something and nothing ,although18 years experience in this field tells me it isnt.

There is a lot of confusion about this and often people interpret rules differently.

A metal bath does not need supplementary bonding if it is supplied by plastic pipes and if it is not connected to extraneous-conductive-parts.

There is also a publication going around by Paul cook from the IEE about plastic pipes and earthing/bonding and in that it says that a bath that it supplied by metal pipes does not require supplementary bonding if the taps supplying it are supplementery bonded.

roswell

One option would be touch a radiator before touching the bath if you get a shock off both then somethings definately wrong.

Nobleck

Get a Competent Electrician in to have a look A.S.A.P. If he finds a fault and it is related to the work done to your bath refurb, then send the bill onto the Council. (Always use your own selected Tradesperson when dealing with Councils)
Do NOT keep touching the bath. IN fact stay away from the bath until the fault is located and dealt with.

Cagey

iwanttosave wrote:

I was just about to come back and tell you.

I just tried Hugos idea about turning the power off, and guess what no shock!!!!

Put it back on, and it hurt me again, bit of a biggish one as well because I can still feel the tingle now So its definatly not me, but I must still be sensative to them

There are some cables running right under where I am standing, so I went to the end of the bath, still got a small shock, but it was less of one.

Please stop touching the taps ,the next shock might be fatal.