I recently bought a house and I am going around and making a list of renovations and things that need to be done. I was in my basement moving stuff around and I hit the grounding wire from my panel box where it connects to the water meter and it sparked on me. I took a closer look and it looks like the contact is loose and dirty but not sure if this could cause that. I was going to turn off power and fiddle with it but just wanted some reassurance and other possibilities. I am fluent in home repair but decided I should get help for this one. Any help is help I want. Thanks in advance!

Ali

This IS a potentially dangerous situation, so BE CAREFUL.

Turn off your main breaker. Get a pair of heavy leather gloves. See if the wire is still sparking. If so call your power company RIGHT AWAY.
If it is not I would call an electrician to check out the system. This is not really something that can be troubleshooted (is this a word?) via remote control.

There is likely a problem with the power company's transformer or the system neutral.

Stan is dead on, so to speak.

Troubleshooted? Those New Yorkers talk funny.

Well, I took your advice, kind of, and there were no sparks when power was off and it was being touched. I decided to give it a shot. Sure enough, the contact was super super loose. I could slide it up and down and even slide the ground right out. I cleaned up the contact and the contacts spot and reconnected everything and now I have no more sparks and it seems fine!! One thing I noticed that I'm not sure if it would matter but my ground was touched the copper piping about 3 times before the bottom... Does this create some form of current or anything?

Stan said:



If it is not I would call an electrician to check out the system. This is not really something that can be troubleshooted (is this a word?) via remote control.

With the Main Off, the sparks are coming from a fault in your system, and needs to be found and repaired

I openned a random outlet box and checked inside. The grounding wire is only connected to the outlet and not the metal box. This might be throughout the house. Could this be a problem. And what else could possibly be doing this?

I would avoid unintentional contact at the 3 spots. (Felt?)
If Ground was sparking, you may have had a short to ground on 1 or more circuits.
An electrician may place a meter or bulb between the spot you are getting sparks. Turn off circuits 1 by 1 to determine the shorted circuit(s).
Therough understanding of the Neutral and Ground will insure safety.

Perfect... Thanks a lot everyone but I ended up finding out what it was! One of the wiring was acually bare and sitting in my basement unconnected and free. The three wires were not only touching each other but also touching some of my ducting. I flipped off that breaker and flipped it back on and sure enough, it sparked inside and also tripped my breaker. I believe this is my problem as I recall turning off this particular breaker earlier and not having sparks at my ground. Thanks a lot for your help and responses. I'll be sure to use this site again and recommend it!

I think you got it. Good deal.

Very good. A problem with your service or the power company's equipment may have been a more drawn out fix.