Shocking!!

[Deerlope]

Whatever you do don't give this story to the US transportation sec. Evryone in the world will eating cold food.

 

[veresjwv]

The exact same thing happened to my sister in a new house with a new stove using a wire Wisk stirring something on the stove and she got a shock.

Also the tenant said she remember the same thing happening at her parents home when they had just bought a new stove and she was doing the same thing when it happened.

The Key word here seems to be "NEW". Most older homes have what is called a 3 wire branch circuit. No separate ground wire. In this case the ground wire or frame ground is "bonded" to the neutral wire. NEW stoves come wired for a 4 wire branch circuit "a separate ground wire" that is attached to the ground wire or frame and not bonded to the nuetral. In this case the frame is "floating and can be at a different potential then the neutral and can cause a shock. The installation manual of new stoves explain how to correct wiring for older homes. It also stipulates that the buyer should have a QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN make sure the wiring is adequate and installed correctly. Here the key word is qualified!

 

[kebo]

I got a call from the rental management co. that manages my apartments telling me that one of my tenants had a complaint about the electric stove and that she received an electric shock from touching the stove. OH that's not good, I don't want any thing to do with any one getting hurt.

Time to run down to HD and buy a new stove but I might as well stop in and talk to the tenant and coordinate getting in the new stove. So I'm talking to the tenant and she's telling me she was cooking and stirring something on the stove with a utensil in her right hand and touched the stove with her left hand and got a shock. That's when I realized that there wasn't anything wrong with the stove.

What happens is the heating coils on an electric stove create an electromagnetic field around the coils. When you move a metal object through the electromagnetic field it induces a current in the metal object that you're holding and then if you touch any metal on the stove you get a shock. I explained all this to the tenant and that I could buy a new stove and if she did the same thing moving a metal object through the electromagnetic field she would just get shocked again. She just needs to use wood or plastic or any non metal utensils to cook with.

Wow, I love your explanation there. It's true in part, but you are off base a little bit. The heating element (coil) will generate a relatively weak magnetic field along the entire length of it. Any wire (even straight wire) with current flowing through it will do the same thing. Wrapping a few turns of wire around the first wire (or in the case of a stove the heating element) will excite the electrons enough in the second wire you just wrapped around it to induce some current flow. This is how transformers work, the primary winding induces current flow in the secondary winding (usually coupled by a magnetic steel core or laminations to improve transformer efficiency), and that's what you're trying to say is happening with the heating element on the stove.

However, I don't think that simply passing a metal object through a relatively weak magnetic field is going to induce much current flow at all. At least not enough to shock someone. If your theory were correct, a lot more of us would be getting shocked by grabbing a drop cord (plugged in with something turned on) with your hand while wearing a metal watch band or a ring on your finger, but the truth is it almost never happens. Not saying it can't happen, just that it rarely happens.

Try a course in Basic AC theory and you'll have a better understanding of it.


Or this could all be the result of electrostatic discharge (ESD) events. In the wintertime, the humidity is usually low (when it's cold and dry), and there is less moisture in the air (remember water is a conductor) to bleed off the static charges that can build up with friction. That's why in the summer with the higher humidity there is much less chance of electrostatic discharge events.

Like the others suggested, try checking the wiring on the stove (and the elements) before someone gets hurt and you get sued because you knew about it.

 

[Oldtrout]

Dare I say the stove is not grounded properly!!!! Suggest you call in an electricaian to check.

 

[MikeD74T]

veresjwv; Welcome aboard TBN & DBF to you. MikeD74T Tang SS563

 

[JB4310]

Maybe just static electricity, I get pretty good zaps just walking around the house sometimes, and can get them by touching the screws on switch covers which are grounded.

JB.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Static electricity is a possibility. If you have an AC voltmeter and good test leads maybe test for voltage from the heating element to a screw on the frame of the oven. Have one test lead on the screw and then hold the tip of the other test lead to the heating element and turn it on just for a few seconds to see if you get any voltage. You shouldn't read any appreciable voltage. Or if you are brave enough and still have good test leads read from a bare screw on the oven to the middle ground post on a nearby electrical outlet. NOT THE BLADE SLOTS. You should still not have much voltage at all.
Some of the other Electricians on this forum can chime in and fill in more detail or tell me I am wrong.

 

[jimmyj]

What on earth is she cooking!

Seriously, good advice given here, get it checked out. The consequences could be really awful otherwise.

 

[oliver28472]

Live eel.

 

[BrentD]

I've worked with intense magnetic fields, electric fields, and high-power RF energy generated by Tesla coils and while I've had my fair share of shocks I can tell you beyond any doubt that there is no possible way the EMF from a heating element would be powerful enough to shock someone through a metal spoon.

Now, I do know from experience that there are several ways to get shocked by a stove. About 15 years ago I got a call from my grandmother that her stove was shocking her. Went over to take a look myself and sure enough, if you bumped the stove just right while you were cooking you'd get zapped. I suspected a loose connection since the problem was intermittent so I grabbed the oven door handle on the front of the stove and started to pull it out when my hands clamped down hard. Fortunately it caused me to jerk backwards with enough force to short the loose wire directly to the other phase and pop the breaker or I'd have fried. The ultimate cause of that problem was that the "neutral / Ground" wire (3-wire plug) was completely disconnected and one of the two hot wires was loose and partially touching the metal clamp that held the wires down.

And around that same time period my other grandmother had an incident where she was cooking dinner and got a slight shock when she touched a pan handle. Her reflex was to jerk the pan off the burner at which point the burner popped and started arcing. The root of that problem was a tiny worn through spot in the burners ceramic coating. It was letting the internal part of the element arc to the bottom of the pan. Turning the burner off before moving the pan kept the burner in working order, but when she moved the pan while it was arcing it caused the whole burner to fail.

Have the stove checked out. If the woman got a shock worse than normal static electricity (Which can, coincidentally be generated by stirring certain liquids) then there is some sort of problem.