Electric shocks from cooker

[Patricia007]

Electrical shocks from my cooker which is electric. I seem to be getting pretty bad shocks every time I cook so trying to use precautions like using a cloth for handles and wooden or plastic cooking utensils. I had a kettle plugged into the same socket as the cooker which I have now removed so unsure if this was the problem!! Do I need a new cooker ?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

You need to stop using the cooker right now and get an elecrician (or someone who is competent with a multimeter would do) to check the cooker, sockets etc .
If you are renting, call the landlord/letting agent now.

EDIT If the shocks you are getting are a single zap then it may be static discharge- uncomfortablr but not usually dangerous. If the shocks are a continuing vibrating pulse then you have a big life-threatening problem

 

[Deleted member 267285]

Not necessarily new cooker, but it does need to be checked out

 

[ericmark]

I have not had a shock at home without some thing tripping, so it would seem some thing wrong with the installation. We bond items, this means we electrically connect them all together so they are all the same voltage, does not matter what the voltage is, as long as it is all the same.

To get a shock you need to touch two items of a different voltage, so for example the floor and the cooker, either could be wrong voltage.
Due to using AC we have capacitive and inductive linking, so we need to connect items together to ensure they are all the same voltage, we normally also connect that bonding to earth.

But a large body can charge up, so in the main we are at earth potential, so if I hold my meter in my hand or with aerial leads connected, it will show if there is a potential difference, shown here near my socket extension showing there are live wires within, all four bars are lit. The reference point is the air around it, that's why we can't trust them, to be sure we need a more reliable reference point.

So the earth pin in a socket, or a water pipe is favourite, however since around 2008 we have been allowed to omit earth bonding as long as all points are protected with a RCD. So if you had for example a fault with your boiler, it could make all central heating pipes live, so in essence whole house live, so touching anything earthed will give you a shock.

However it should also trip the RCD, and this is the worrying bit, why has nothing tripped?

 

[Murdochcat]

if it isn't static, then it sounds like a poor or missing connection.

Recommend you get it looked at by a competent spark fairly quickly.

 

[opps]

I can't see why the kettle would be the issue, but I am not an electrician.

Can you take a photo of the consumer unit (read: fuseboard).

A photo of the flooring may help.

The fact that you have been using non conductive cooking utensils suggests that this has been a problem for a while.

The more info you can offer up, the more likely it is that you will get a definitive answer.

Regards.

 

[Murdochcat]

The more info you can offer up, the more likely it is that you will get a definitive answer.

Regards.

I think its fair to point out that's impossible without going to site

This or a variety of sites may offer suggestions as to the cause .......

 

[PrimeTraveller]

Electrical shocks from my cooker which is electric. I seem to be getting pretty bad shocks every time I cook so trying to use precautions like using a cloth for handles and wooden or plastic cooking utensils. I had a kettle plugged into the same socket as the cooker which I have now removed so unsure if this was the problem!! Do I need a new cooker ?

I would definitely be calling a local sparky asap!

 

[ericmark]

It is easy to say get an electrician, however it is harder to convince the reader that it is actually required, I hope by saying how hard it is to locate the problem safely, that I can convince @Patricia007 that is the best option.

What ever the fault the RCD should have tripped. The fault may be with the cooker, but it could also be with something else, and some thing even if a RCD is not fitted should trip before you get a shock, so swapping the cooker is not going to cure the route fault.

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[bernardgreen]

A significant ( as in painful ) shock may have less than 20 mA flowing through the person in which case the 30 mA RCD will not be tripped

 

[JohnD]

What ever the fault the RCD should have tripped.

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The OP did not say she had an RCD.

 

[Patricia007]

You need to stop using the cooker right now and get an elecrician (or someone who is competent with a multimeter would do) to check the cooker, sockets etc .
If you are renting, call the landlord/letting agent now.

EDIT If the shocks you are getting are a single zap then it may be static discharge- uncomfortablr but not usually dangerous. If the shocks are a continuing vibrating pulse then you have a big life-threatening problem

Thank you so much for your advice I live in a rented property so yes the electrician has just been the wires at the back of my cooker had burnt out/ popped hence why my cooker top was live and I kept getting shocked he stripped back the wires and has given me a temporary fix but said I need to get a new cooker because the same thing will happen in a couple of months

 

[Patricia007]

Not necessarily new cooker, but it does need to be checked out

Definitely time for a new cooker as the elective to the back of the cooked had popped you could literally see the damage was quite dangerous

 

[jj4091]

Did the electrician talk. to you at all about whether you had RCD protection. It may be something your landlord needs to investigate if you have not already told them.

 

[conny]

If the RCD hasn't tripped, (or even the MCB, come to that), then it sounds as though there is a possibility of rewirable or cartridge fuses in the 'fuse' box.
Definitely needs an electrician to check it all out. (At the landlords' cost, not the OP's!)