Cooker: Static electricity shock (?)

Hi all,

is it possible to get an "innocent" static shock from a cookers metal hotplate? Or is there the possibility there is something a lot more dangerous going on?

Thanks.

2011

Cadence Late Pigeon wrote: »

Hi all,

is it possible to get an "innocent" static shock from a cookers metal hotplate? Or is there the possibility there is something a lot more dangerous going on?

Thanks.

A person who is statically charged that touches an earthed conductive part of a cooker (or other appliance, kitchen sink etc.) would receive a shock.
Do you have a specific reason for suspecting static charge?

Static charge can be generated by two conductors rubbing together, for example walking with rubber soled shoes across a nylon carpet.


I don't know what you mean by "innocent"

Thanks for that. By "innocent" I mean static and not from the mains.

It's in a workplace situation. May I ask, is there a legal requirement for organisations to have all electrical appliances regularly checked? The cooker and other electrical appliances, toasters, kettles, are used on a day-to-day basis by many people.

Thanks

2011

Cadence Late Pigeon wrote: »

Thanks for that. By "innocent" I mean static and not from the mains.

By its nature static generally doesn’t come from the mains.

It's in a workplace situation. May I ask, is there a legal requirement for organisations to have all electrical appliances regularly checked? The cooker and other electrical appliances, toasters, kettles, are used on a day-to-day basis by many people.

PAT tests should be carried out on portable electrical appliances on a scheduled basis. This would be a legal requirement in the workplace.

Many thanks, that is of great help.

meercat

Cadence Late Pigeon wrote: »

Thanks for that. By "innocent" I mean static and not from the mains.

It's in a workplace situation. May I ask, is there a legal requirement for organisations to have all electrical appliances regularly checked? The cooker and other electrical appliances, toasters, kettles, are used on a day-to-day basis by many people.

Thanks

I’d advise getting the earth connection on the cooker checked.


Portable appliance tests are a requirement in some companies also.

2011

If it is static then it is highly unlikely to be due to a faulty appliance.

meercat

2011 wrote: »

If it is static then it is highly unlikely to be due to a faulty appliance.

Its possible to get a shock off an appliance if the earth is at a different potential (ie appliance not earthe)

2011

meercat wrote: »

Its possible to get a shock off an appliance if the earth is at a different potential (ie appliance not earthe)

Sure, but that does not conflict with what I said.

It was a bigger than the usual static shock from a car or similar.

I've had a bit of a hit from electrical appliances before and the shock from the cooker did have a similar lingering numbness that I would have associated with mains electricity.

I always want to err on the absolute side of caution. So I've put the cooker out of service, and I'll get its earth checked by a qualified spark asap/tomorrow.

Bruthal

2011 wrote: »

PAT tests should be carried out on portable electrical appliances on a scheduled basis. This would be a legal requirement in the workplace.

Thank god for that, lest we all be killed making tea.

2011

Cadence Late Pigeon wrote: »

It was a bigger than the usual static shock from a car or similar.

I've had a bit of a hit from electrical appliances before and the shock from the cooker did have a similar lingering numbness that I would have associated with mains electricity.

I always want to err on the absolute side of caution. So I've put the cooker out of service, and I'll get its earth checked by a qualified spark asap/tomorrow.

Sensible move. It it was static most likely people would be getting shocks from lots of different appliances and anything else that is earthed. There is a strong chance that it is mains voltage.

2011

Bruthal wrote: »

Thank god for that, lest we all be killed making tea.

I have seen many a good man go that way. It's an 'orrible death... :pac:

Hahahaha! I never knew electricity could be such fun! Hahaha! I've a picture in me head one of me mates getting fried by the kettle! hahahahaaa!!

Many thanks folks.

Anteayer

A mains voltage shock isn't always very dramatic. If you're wearing shoes and the floor surfaces aren't very conductive and you're not touching any other earthed objects, it's possible that a live surface will just give you a bit of a tingle or mild shock.

The problem is that if you managed to touch it while better earthed it could be very dangerous or even fatal.

Generally in Ireland RCD are not used on cooker circuits. If it's just a trickle to earth now and then, it's not going to trip the MCB / blow the fuse, so a dangerous situation can still persist. An RCD would trip out beyond 30mA (which would still feel btw) whereas your cooker circuit is going to need a fault current significantly beyond 32Amps for the breaker to trip.

So get the cooker checked out.

micks

2011 wrote: »

By its nature static generally doesn’t come from the mains.



PAT tests should be carried out on portable electrical appliances on a scheduled basis. This would be a legal requirement in the workplace.

As a "By The Way" a cooker is normally a fixed appliance and would not be tested under "PAT"

kramer1

This sounds like a faulty earth on the cooker circuit, get it checked and don't use it until then