Just got a REALLY nasty surprise

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67Dart273

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Whipping up some supper, involving a couple 'a boiled eggs and some veggies

Put two pans on the stove, turned on high, got the eggs 'n veggies out of the frig.

Dropped on egg into one pan and realized I wanted the eggs in the smaller of the two pans, so I ended up like 'a so:

On hand putting one egg in the correct pan, the other hand reaching into the first pan to retrieve the "wrong" one and transfer to the correct pan............

AND I GET ONE HELL OF A SHOCK

This means that one of the two elements has an internal leak / short to the outer part of the element.

(Note to self........grab the multimeter after supper!!!)
 
Well I just got done trying every combination. Meter from each element to ground, power on, power off

Meter from one element to the other power on, power off

Stuck one meter probe into the neutral leg of an outlet, and checked each. NADA

Next project.......let 'em cool off again, and go find my old megger............

155905544_biddle-avo-mj559-megger-meghommeter-insulation-tester-.jpg
 
Do you have tile floor? Were you barefoot? Were you touching the stove with other hand? You became a good ground and it got you.
 
No it was through both arms.

Tile floor, shoes on, not touching the range

One or the other of the elements has a leak from the internal element to the outside spiral. The second element formed the ground. With each hand in two pots of water, "the juice" went from the bad element, through the pot and water, through my arms, and to the second one.

This is probably a "small" (high resistance) leak or it would have killed me.
 
wow, glad you were not hurt any worse ....that is so dangerous, people who know less about that kind of stuff could probably get hurt a lot worse and not completely understand what is happening....that would have surprised and scared me.....I would be under the bed hiding right now if that happened to me because I wouldn't know where or how to look for the problem.
 
EOWWWWWW Make sure you heart stays in rhythm. A shock can knock it out.
 
Well poo............the old reliable Biddle hand crank, as well as an old TIF battery megger, both 500V testers, both show infinity.

So we have a dreaded intermittent.

This means I'll either have to replace both elements, or remember to test them about once a week to see if I can "catch" the bad'n.
 

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Er. cookin in general, at least with an electric range, LOL
 
Could one of them have been wet between pan and contact plug?
 
Don't think so. The pans were starting to warm some, I would think that any water would have evaporated. It is a narrow possibility
 
Just thought that might explain a trace current. If I could not come up with a good answer quick, I'd give both elements an express ticket to the trash can. Been zapped before- Not fun. Glad you're OK
 
Yowzers, at 1st I thought you were gonna say you burnt yerself. I know I wouldnt want either the burn or the zap!
Maybe switch one of the elements with one of the other ones and try it again??
 
Just thought that might explain a trace current. If I could not come up with a good answer quick, I'd give both elements an express ticket to the trash can. Been zapped before- Not fun. Glad you're OK

That just might be what happens

Is the stove properly grounded?

Yup. First thing I checked. All wiring was redone about 03? after "a little" house fire

Yowzers, at 1st I thought you were gonna say you burnt yerself. I know I wouldnt want either the burn or the zap!
Maybe switch one of the elements with one of the other ones and try it again??

So far I cannot duplicate the problem. I'd guess it's of intermittent nature
 
I understand you want to KNOW what happened and not be a 'parts changer', so... I don't know what the outside of the elements are made of, but I just look at it like a wire with bad insulation. There only needs to be one bad spot in contact with the pan. We really don't care where the spot is, just which element. To duplicate that - I would set the pan on it and test from the conductor to the pan for conductivity(stove off)first, To insure better contact, you could lay some aluminum foil between. Put water in like it was so the weight is also helping to insure good contact. If nothing found- you could turn it on and try checking for V from pan to ground (remove foil or you might weld the pan to the burner).

If you already tested in a similar fashion, I would go back to my original thought of both burners going right in the trash...
 
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