Open ground on fridge

[cderalow]

Noticed today while turning off a set of halogen garage lights, that my fridge has got something wrong with it electrically. I keep a set of shop lights on top of my garage fridge pointed towards my work area.

went to turn them off and got what felt like a low voltage DC shock

got shock with lights on or off, on top of fridge or off.

Only happens on the back 1/3 of the fridge case, which makes me think either the ground is open for the controls, or there's contact between the metal case and some other part that isn't getting handled by the equipment ground.

thoughts?

 

[Gary S]

Years ago I had a refrigerator that would give a shock if you touched it while you were grounded somewhere. I measured the AC on the outside of the refrigerator case. It had about 80vac on it. I junked it before it could kill someone.

 

[Norcal]

This is a good reason for GFCI's on fridges, they show there is a problem & then fix it or scrap the appliance.

 

[nehog]

...
went to turn them off and got what felt like a low voltage DC shock
...

Was an AC shock, not DC (there is no DC in the fridge setup...)

I'd start with an outlet tester (HF sells them) and see if the ground tests as open. If the outlet tests OK, I'd install a GFCI and see what happens. It may well constantly trip or perhaps not. It is possible that what is supposed to be ground on your circuit is in fact not ground, but is slightly 'hot' because the building ground (rods) are not right and ground/neutral are tied at the box.

 

[Gregishome]

First be sure that your outlet is grounded first, then take a digital multimeter and touch one lead to a clean, unpainted screw on the ref chassis and the other to the oulets grounding plug. This test will show you how much voltage to ground leakage you have. Some people can feel 10 volts, some get 40 and do not know it....

The garage frig should already be plugged in a GFCI outlet if it is in the garage.

 

[cderalow]

Should have previously mentioned, plugged into a GFCI, no tripping on outlet, outlet tests fine.

I'll have to test what sort of voltage I'm getting, but it doesn't feel significant, definitely not the full 120.

 

[rkevins]

years ago I had a customer with the same problem, she could feel a shock when she opned the door I don't remember how much voltage I was getting to ground. The rec. eas fine so I ran a groung wire (grounding kit from a washer) to a copper cold water pipe under the sink and she never felt it again.

 

[nehog]

Some people are sensitive to voltages, so it may be a relatively insignificant voltage. But also consider the outlet/wiring has a fault that may be causing it--there could be an 'impressed' voltage (leakage, from elsewhere, such as damaged Romex cable) on the ground wire. That would cause the symptom but not trip the GFCI.