Electric shock - remedy an option?

Question

Simultaneously touching my dishwasher (i.e. the aluminum coating on the inside) and my kitchen sink just gave me a rather unpleasant electric shock. Measuring the potential showed around 110v between the two. Shorting the connection, I measure around .2A.

My questions are:

Am I right that this is unacceptable?
Would any device bring remedy, e.g. an Fi-plug between dishwasher and wall socket, or
should I just get rid of the dishwasher?
And, living in Europe with 230v@50Hz, what could be the source of those 110v?

(I somehow suspect a quite sounding "yes" for 1. and 3., but I might well miss something.)

Thanks

This question might get better answers (or even have already been asked) on [Home Improvement](http://diy.stackexchange.com/). — The Photon, Oct 09 '20 at 17:41
4. Y capacitor leakage. Very common problem for class 1 devices connected without ground. — winny, Oct 09 '20 at 18:15
You got a corroded leakage to unearthed DW. Test it with power off V, R — Tony Stewart EE75, Oct 09 '20 at 22:28
When I saw the title as originally shown (still is, at this time) "**Eel**ectric shock", I thought it was about shocks from electric eels. — Michael Harvey, Oct 10 '20 at 09:03
@winny Y capacitor leakage with 200mA short-circuit current? That's a rather big cap. — marcelm, Oct 10 '20 at 10:05
@marcelm Whoa! I missed that part. Dual winding motor forming a voltage divider? Two series heaters? — winny, Oct 10 '20 at 11:17
OP, can you confirm it’s 200 mA AC short circuit current? Not 200 uA (0.2 mA)? The latter would be Y cap leakage. The former something else. — winny, Oct 10 '20 at 11:18
That’s enough to kill even large animals in the wrong condition! Seek professional help from an electrician before someone gets hurt! Hopefully it’s “just” your dishwasher and it can be repaired or replaced. — winny, Oct 10 '20 at 13:37

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 09 '20 at 17:30

Let me give you some food for thought:

Whether it is acceptable or not that dishwasher shocks you is up to you, but 99% of people would say no I believe.

The most likely reason for this is that your dishwasher machine is not properly grounded. One of the purposes of the ground wire in wall socket is to dispose of unnecessary electric energy that might appear into the ground (since this path has less resistance that your body). That way even if something is wrong and metal case of device is electrified, you wouldn't get shocked.

If you have read the manual to dishwasher, I guess on the first page there is a warning that you should only connect it to grounded socket.

There are devices that would protect you by switching off electricity if they detect current leakage. But I would solve the root cause (no proper grounding) but not the symptom.
No you shouldn't, at least before it is checked by technician. It might be the case that dishwasher itself is not usable any more, but I believe it's not the case in your situation.
It's because some of the electricity goes to metal case (probably from the filter circuit)

In any case, I would advise you to call qualified electrician so that he will check the real problem. What have I done is picked best guess from the information you provided.

The current allegedly available would indicate this is not just a lack of a ground allowing some sort of non-contact coupling, but an actual wiring *fault*. However that's somewhat inconsistent with the asker not having suffered at least an involuntary jerk. — Chris Stratton, Oct 09 '20 at 17:53
Thanks! Sounds reasonable - I'll have it checked, and will make sure that the electrician checks if our outlets ground line is intact. — Zsolt, Oct 09 '20 at 17:55
@ChrisStratton: I might actually short-circuit the dishwasher to the sink - if the fuse blows, the washer goes. — Zsolt, Oct 09 '20 at 17:56
Please don't. Get it correctly evaluated. And the problem is most likely the wiring, not the machine itself. — Chris Stratton, Oct 09 '20 at 17:56

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 09 '20 at 17:27

Most likely the machine required ground, so if it has grounded plug, it needs to be connected to grounded outlet. Either the outlet is not grounded, or, it is a grounded outlet but with a broken or missing ground, which explains the half of AC mains appearing on device metal parts as the mains input filter is ungrounded.

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 10 '20 at 19:32

If you're in Europe, you're unlikely to have ungrounded AC outlets.

Clearly the dishwasher's case isn't grounded though. I'd check the wiring both of the appliance and the AC outlet itself.

Until that's sorted all bets are off.

You might not have to junk it after all.

Electric shock - remedy an option?

3 Answers3