Hey all, complete noob here, and I want to try understand how much of an issue this is and what is it that is missing here. 

Yesterday we discovered that the earth connection in my unit was live, ~250V between neutral and earth on my db board. 

In the morning my wife and I got shocked while touching the shower tap. I don't even think I touched the tap. These were in different showers in the unit. I got hold of the landlord and he later sent an electrician to see what's happening. 

When he came, I followed around and asked question to try and understand what's going on. He tested the points between neutral and earth and it was live showing ~250V. Nothing on the board tripped. When I pressed the earth leakage test, it does trip but only the plugs go off (is this normal?).

He checked all neutral points of each breaker individually and they were all 0V, so it was coming from the main switch which is connected to the outside db board for the complex. 

Moving there he found the same, earth-neutral was hot, but nothing tripped. Here when testing every breaker he eventually found its the one that's controlling the gate motors and some outside lights. He said that live has a short to earth there, testing with his continuity tester. He briefly inspected the motor and said that its a cable that has probably been burned out by load shedding, and he is to come out to replace it today. Gates on battery in the meantime. 

 

I hope I explained that okay. My questions here are: 

1. Is this common or normal? 

2. Why didn't my db board or the outside db board trip? 

3. What would have happened if the gate was being used? 

4. What needs to happen in order to fix this and have a safer system? 

5. Should I move out lol

I would greatly appreciate help with some of these questions. Thanks!

 

Hi Imtiaz

Please note that pressing the button on die E/L is only testing the internal circuit of the E/L and is not an indication that it would trip when detecting a fault. You need a E/L plug tester to test that.

1. No this is not normal

2. Seeing that these circuits isn't on the E/L it requires a fault bigger than the breaker size to trip.

3. Nothing.

4. It seems that there isn't a bond between Earth and Neutral on site or just to your home. If in a Complex this could also effect other houses, apartments.

5. No, easy repair

 

Hey @Jacques Ester, thanks for the info! 

I was concerned that there is an overall safety and compliance issue with these units. And concerned that the live earth could actually cause harm to us. 

4 hours ago, Jacques Ester said:

Seeing that these circuits isn't on the E/L it requires a fault bigger than the breaker size to trip.

Shouldn't all of the cb on the outside main board detect earth leakage and trip? In this case, there was a short on the gate motor that caused this issue and should have tripped?

4 hours ago, Jacques Ester said:

It seems that there isn't a bond between Earth and Neutral on site or just to your home. If in a Complex this could also effect other houses, apartments.

The electrician said that the solution is to install a surge arrestor cb, which would make sure that the db trips if there is a fault in this manner. Does this create the bond you mention here?

Is is a bit difficult to give good feedback, not able to see the installation and test self. I would say ask the landlord to get a coc done to check all connections and protection is up the the standard. There should never be any voltage between earth and neutral in you house. All metal water pipes must be earth so ensure that no shock can happen. This will only help id there isn't any voltage!

Imtiaz, this reminds me of the situation my sister had after she bought a flat a few years back. The previous owner had been shocked in the shower, and the same happened 'randomly' to her after they moved in. Turns out that a shower cubicle mounting screw had penetrated the conduit to a downstairs guest toilet, energizing the whole unit if the light happened to be on. Nothing ever tripped, but water and electricity are great mates, and you don't need much to cause serious injury under those conditions. 

Bottom line, let your landlord know in writing, and let him know that you will be claiming in the event of injury. Should sharpen his focus, as it needs fixing ASAP 

 

25 minutes ago, Jacques Ester said:

Is is a bit difficult to give good feedback, not able to see the installation and test self. I would say ask the landlord to get a coc done to check all connections and protection is up the the standard.

@Jacques Ester yup, I understand. Thanks for the info!

 

18 minutes ago, Ian said:

Bottom line, let your landlord know in writing, and let him know that you will be claiming in the event of injury. Should sharpen his focus, as it needs fixing ASAP 

@Ian, definitely. Going to ensure its in writing. I feel like the guys he gets just come to patch things up without care.