Electric Shock Through Reflectors

[cheech]

My reflectors have an electrical current running through them. They aren't linked together with duct work, so I feel as if the current is coming from the panel or the light controller. Any ideas as to what to look for?

 

[G gnome]

Ur groundin out on something. Check ur neutral and ground.
Green = ground
White=neutral

 

[DrFever]

yeah bet your getting a buzzing sound i remember couple times touching reflector and get sharp pain of a electrical jolt kinda wakes a person up and puts them back on there toes thinking about safety n all

 

[Seamaiden]

Holy shit. Just sayin'.

 

[Smokey503ski]

To find the electrical leak. Hold on to the reflector while spraying with a water bottle.

 

[G gnome]

To find the electrical leak. Hold on to the reflector while spraying with a water bottle.

Make sure u stand in a puddle too fuck it

 

[DrFever]

and just think 0.1 - 0.2 amp will kill you :),,
i tell you a story buddy o mine replaces street lights / bulbs there suppose to where these special gloves etc . but after replacing thousands n thousands of bulbs they tend to relax and not tend to respect power haha
Anyways he was replacing a light bulb near transformer when he got jolted
I went to see him in hospital Doctors said he should of been dead but he survived..
but what i saw was like a cotton ball with blood stains from one end to the other..
I was like holy shit doctor explained that once current is in you it will exit only in the weakest area's of the body ,, which is knees , elbows , ankles etc .. and that is where the current that entered him exited
what fucking mess he was .. Sad thing is after the ordeal he is like mouse in a lab being tested and examined cause Everyone couldnt believe a person could survive such a jolt

PS he now only wheres long sleeve shirts and pants no shorts lol

 

[sixstring]

Please call an electrician if you dont know your way around a power panel real well.you should not be getting shocked by your hoods so you have a problem.prolly a bad ground or no ground at all as someone else said.be carefull.

 

[noone88]

You are living my nightmare...

 

[cheech]

Ha, nice replies.

I opened the panel my lighting controllers wired too and saw that one of the 120 volt wires (most of them are bare wire in my old panel), was pushed against my bus bar (ground bar) by one of my lighting controller wires. I moved it away from contact with by bus bar, and I think that will solve the problem. It's only a problem when the controller is switched on.

So I think I had a hot ground. I'll know when the lights are on.

Thanks

 

[Smokey503ski]

Let's hope you got it figured out. You most likely have it sorted out.

 

[Seamaiden]

This is *so* reminding me of the first time I had my hands in my reef tank and brushed against the microwave (apartment living) and ZZZAAAAAPPPP!!!

 

[OGwankanobe]

Ha, nice replies.

I opened the panel my lighting controllers wired too and saw that one of the 120 volt wires (most of them are bare wire in my old panel), was pushed against my bus bar (ground bar) by one of my lighting controller wires. I moved it away from contact with by bus bar, and I think that will solve the problem. It's only a problem when the controller is switched on.

So I think I had a hot ground. I'll know when the lights are on.

Thanks

There should never be any bare current carrying wires in a panel. The bare wires are the ground wires. The 120 volt wires tie into the circuit breakers and should be insulated. Would love to see a picture because I have been in a lot of old panels and never seen a bare wire in a breaker. If a hot 120 volt wire touches the ground bus you would have a dead short and it would trip a breaker. Sounds like a neutral(supposed to be white) wire is somehow touching a hood and leaking current. If it is a sub panel(not the main panel of the house) the neutrals and grounds should be on separate bus bars. Older panels were not wired this way and that could be the problem too. You need an electrician.

 

[cheech]

The problem was resolved, thanks for your input.

 

[tommy2snips]

You are living my nightmare...

The electrician that used to build our panels yrs ago...his best friend was found dead on the growroom floor one day. Full juice flowing thru one of the reflectors.
Shoulda seen the panels he built after that incident(as I recall...the death wasn't specifically caused by the panel)...but it shook him up so bad that he built in double and triple redundant safety features...GFI's all over the place etc...Works of art almost with all the extra detail....tripled the cost of a panel from this guy.
To this day, I'm still very nervous about touching a reflector that is lit, and rarely will.

TIP: Anytime you have to touch anything that might be hot(temp) or hot(electricity)...back of the hand first to "test". Your auto reflex will pull your hand away.

 

[Seamaiden]

Oh my God. :(

Thanks for the tip, but.. Good Lord.