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Mon 3 Dec, 2018 05:07 pm
Hi All
I know next to nothing about electricity and wanted to ask for some advice. Apologies for any cross-posting.
I moved into a rented house in Spain a few months ago. Turned out it wasn't grounded. Providing a ground turned out to be a little complicated as the property is build on top of a few meters of concrete. The makeshift solution was having this house attached to the grounding rod next door (landlord's own house). However, I was still getting shocked (continued hot tingling upon contact sort of thing). The electrician investigated and said there was still 8V hanging round that wasn't being discharged through the rod, or something like that (perhaps insufficient capacity for two houses?) Anyway, he was adamant it was nothing, that I should shut up. The landlord wanted him to put in a separate grounding rod for this house anyway - and the electrician says he will - when he gets time - and this is, he said, a very low priority job.
Things can move slowly out here. It's been ten weeks and he's yet to have time. For a couple of reasons, the landlord is reluctant to change electrician, but if I should I can put on pressure, either for the original electrician to come out, or to find someone new who is bothered to do something. I do still get shocked when I come into contact with metal things plugged into the mains, but I've been promised that at this voltage (8V) it's not even worth saying ouch over. Also, I assume, it will not be doing any damage to the electrical appliances I currently have plugged in? So do I just wait? Or should I insist this is sorted ASAP?
Thanks in advance
@dd454,
My electrical knowledge is limited to 12 volt D.C., so this is just an "until a better answer/ if nothing else" answer. You might call your local fire department and see what they say about it. If it is nothing to worry about they will tell you, and if it is a problem they might get some action on it.
@Ponderer,
I didn't mean that getting shocked wasn't a problem. That would be a big problem for me too. (And, in turn, for the landlord)
I would complain once a day until it became important enough for them to fix it.
@dd454,
The metal plumbing pipes should provide a temporary ground until a decent one is put in.
@dd454,
I think something different might be going on here. 8V is not really enough to "shock" you under normal conditions. If you touched your finger to 8V and another part of your hand to ground, you might feel a tingling, but if you are getting shocked, you have more there. Is the shock repeatable, i.e. will you always get the same shock in the same way when you touch something?
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