ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area "Hot" Tub

If it is not a Federal Pacific breaker panel, then I think you are pretty safe. If there were a severe hazard powered through the panel, an OCPD would have operated.

Your readings don't quite make sense to me.
That's doesn't mean that you did anything wrong. I just don't understand what about the bond wire made the problem disappear. Your readings are better explained by a broken meter.

Or is there a dirt floor in the bathroom?

The bathroom has brand new tile along with the tub being re-finished.

The shocking only occured when they were immersed and touched the hot or cold taps... and the problem seemed to be worsening.

It's a very old 60A Murray fused load center... 4 120's, range and main, the "range " circuit feeding a GE sub-panel to feed new dryer and washer circuits... their range is an old gas stove... not even 110V for a timer... The problem was in #3 120V circuit (on the requisite 30A fuse BTW...#14 wire)

Dspark, by broken meter, do you mean the PoCo's or the one I tested with? I used two meters, my new Fluke T-5 1000, and my old Radio Shack TRMS... They measured roughly the same with the Fluke a little higher as one would expect from an averaging meter.

The Radio Shack TRMS would be suspect if used alone, due to age and performance rating... ("not for commercial use" it says...) but I've compared it to lineman's TRMS meters and "it's close enough for government work"... as the saying goes...



[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 08-29-2001).]

> (on the requisite 30A fuse BTW...#14 wire)
I see that in almost every panel or this sort.

> do you mean the PoCo's or the one I tested with?

Yours.

>With both the tub drain and the sink drain bonded, the problem seems to disappear.

What if you just bonded them to each other but not the panel?

The only other things that kind of fit your data are a 240 V fault where there is no net current flow on the "neutral" you created, or a fault from a source not supplied through the panel to which you bonded that now takes a different path to complete its circuit.

OK, now you're scaring me...



How do I find out?

First remove the bond from the panel?

Virgil;
you went, assessed the situation, gave it a bandaid ( that apparently works, whatever the situation),and are negotiating with the customer as to the ultimate fix.

this happens a lot to me, with the occasional inclusion of the riot act
you have the right to sit in the dark
you have the right to zap yourself
anything you say can be contracted against you
you know the drill

Of recent times, I will do the above, then bill out the service call & bandaid with a written warning
I did so say it,,,see....

If full disclosure is made to the customer, the responibility & liability falls on them , not you. Myself, I have even laid it on the state here ( they have wide shoulders) in this respect
fire..fire..hehehehehe{Bevis&Butthead voice}

I ran across the same problem 25 years ago when a handyman had retiled a bathroom in a house. Voltage readings were in the 50v range, just enough to give a tingle and heat the lead on the main plumbing stack enough to cause it to reliquify. Problem was solved when we removed a single pole switch and discovered a pin hole on the hot from jamming the switch back into the box. Reinsulated the wire reinstalled the switch, problem solved.