Electric Shock

[parryhandy]

Well today one of my daughters informed me that she received an electric shock from the railings on top of the outside wall, on the side of our (rented)house!! Anyway whilst questioning the wife about this and her saying "Chinese lady say because of rain, ok now" the other daughter has grabbed a different section of the railings and has indeed received an electric shock clamping her hand to the rail.After prising her off and getting the odd job man out with his voltmeter the said railings were indeed 220v.

Now according to the odd job man the problem came from a neighbours old outside light which somehow has caused the railings on top of our wall to become live. Anyway he (the neighbour) has cut the cable beneath the switch and the rails are no longer live.

Can someone explain/guess how this has happened ?

here are some pics to help

the old switch

the hole near the wall where the old fitting was

the wall and railings from neighbors side, just above the fitting hole

same from our side

How did this make our railings live and can I be sure that we are now safe ?

One good thing is my daughters now fully understand the power of electricity.

[Mrjlh]

Pictures don't tell anything. My guess, might have tried to add a "earth" or Ground" and tapped one of the 220V terminals instead of the ground terminal on the switch.

Very poor electricians here.

[parryhandy]

ok will try again.

That round hole in photo 2 is at the foot/base of our wall post in photo 3 and is supposedly where an old light (?)fitting was that was operated by the switch in photo 1.This somehow made the railings atop our wall live ???

Edited May 15, 2011 by parryhandy

[Crossy]

I suspect that the railings are in contact with (or welded to) the re-bar inside the wall.

A pound to a penny that the re-bar is exposed (or near the surface) inside the hole where the old light resided.

Poor housekeeping when the fitting was removed left a live wire exposed.

Getting wet from the rain provided a current path from said live to the re-bar.

QED.

[electau]

I suspect that the railings are in contact with (or welded to) the re-bar inside the wall.

A pound to a penny that the re-bar is exposed (or near the surface) inside the hole where the old light resided.

Poor housekeeping when the fitting was removed left a live wire exposed.

Getting wet from the rain provided a current path from said live to the re-bar.

QED.

One would agree with you here, light circuit wiring not terminated in an approved manner. An RCD on the lighting circuit would have isolated the supply.

[parryhandy]

I suspect that the railings are in contact with (or welded to) the re-bar inside the wall.

A pound to a penny that the re-bar is exposed (or near the surface) inside the hole where the old light resided.

Poor housekeeping when the fitting was removed left a live wire exposed.

Getting wet from the rain provided a current path from said live to the re-bar.

QED.

This makes sense and is pretty much what the wife said, but why does the current not travel to earth through the rain and out of interest would it have been costing the neighbour money i.e. causing his meter to spin.

[electau]

I suspect that the railings are in contact with (or welded to) the re-bar inside the wall.

A pound to a penny that the re-bar is exposed (or near the surface) inside the hole where the old light resided.

Poor housekeeping when the fitting was removed left a live wire exposed.

Getting wet from the rain provided a current path from said live to the re-bar.

QED.

This makes sense and is pretty much what the wife said, but why does the current not travel to earth through the rain and out of interest would it have been costing the neighbour money i.e. causing his meter to spin.

Leakage current only due to moisture. It takes about 10watts @ 220volts to operate (cause the disc to rotate) of a kWh meter.

Edited May 16, 2011 by electau

[Artisi]

You should buy a lottery ticket while you luck holds, 2 kids and 2 seperate life threatening situations. Give them both a big hug as well and be thankful it is still possible.

[parryhandy]

Yes I agree though the wife and everyone else involved (except the youngest daughter) seems so non fussed about it all.The worst part is that there is nothing I/WE could have done to avoid this situation.