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Common wire and neutral wire shock
Wiring a three wire to older romex. Hot to hot, common to common and the neutral to the romex metal jacket at the box. But I get shocked when I touch the neutal and white wire in the new box. So for now I disconnected the neurtal wire. What can cause this?? How can I fix it??
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What's common? You have a non white/green wire which is hot. A white wire which is neutral and a green/ bare wire which is ground. What is a common? |
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Black to the hot wire and the white to the other wire in the box... the bare wire to the metal jacket of the existing romex. Can touch white and bare wire separate and no shock... but touch them both you get a jolt. |
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Yes, if you have anything on that circuit on, such as a light, and you will have voltage on the neutral. Hold the neutral and touch the ground and you will get a bumble bee in your hand. |
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Your ground wire doesn't normally carry any current but the neutral isn't neutral if there are other fixutes on thuis same circuit using power. |
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OK, this whole thing scares me.
 Originally Posted by jdemyon
Originally Posted by jdemyon
Describe a little better what you are talking about. Originally Posted by jdemyon
Originally Posted by jdemyon
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Ok.. sorry... not an electrician... 14/2 wire going to older two wire metal jacket romex... no three wire switches... just an old junction box I am taping off. New wire is black white and bare... black to hot, white to the other , and bare I wrapped around metal jacket of existing romex... in the new box I put in, I get a jolt when I touch the bare wire and the white wire... normal or something wrong. But I can touch the bare and white wires by themselves with no jolt. |
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First of all stop touching live wiring, you're lucky you aren't dead. Second, the neutral wire carries current and current will flow through all available paths back to its source. Different amounts of current will flow on each path depending on the resistance. The neutral and ground wire in this circuit both end up connected together in the main panel so current will flow in both of them if you connect them together. When you touch both your body completes the circuit and current flows through you and down the ground wire. So again, stop doing that. Also, white is NOT always neutral. It almost certainly is in this case though because you are still alive to ask the question. Had it been a second hot wire and a ground that you touched we'd never have heard from you. |
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Originally Posted by jdemyon
Originally Posted by jdemyon
Second, just wrapping the ground wire around the metal sheathing is NOT a safe or compliant way of connecting. In fact, you cannot even be sure that the metal sheathing is a valid ground. Is there any way you could post a pic of this existing box? Originally Posted by jdemyon
See what we mean? This is all very confusing unless you give us very detailed information. |
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Ok... enough dead... we are talking about 110 here, who the hell has not been zapped by an outlet... metal jacket two wire... in a junction box... one wire hot and one wire not... you want to run a light and a plug... how would you do it... lets keep it simple here. Just need to know if I simply clip the new bare wire or what to do with it properly |
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jdemyon, 110, what country are you in? This is Romex Southwire 12-3 Romex SIMpull NM-B 25' - 56754321 at The Home Depot This is BX BX Cable which one are you working with, think its BX |
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There is quite a list of people who are dead because they had that mentality. I'm sorry I gave you good advice that you don't like, I won't waste my time on your questions in the future. |
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I'm with Tev. You obviously think we are all mind readers or can telepathically see what it is you have there. I have asked several times for details about what you have and where. All we get is "you want to run a light and a plug... how would you do it... lets keep it simple here." You won't even tell us if there was a switch or receptacle in this box before. This is all aside from you poor casual attitude towards electricity. I bet you don't even own a tester which is why you keep getting your dumb self shocked. :rolleyes: Good luck, you're going to need it. :( |
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It is critical that we know what is in the outlet box that you are taping into. For example, if you are trying to tap off a SPST wall switch, then there is no Neutral conductor. The white is used to bring power to the switch and the black is used to return power to the fixture. Is the box you are tapping into a metal box? We can help you if you will help us. |
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Thanks... all set... ran new wire, the BX was very old and had outlets on the line with reversed polarity, and other crazy junction box after junction box after junction box. |
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How do you reverse polarity on an AC circuit? |
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Anyone that thinks that working on live 120 volt circuit will only cause a shock, and will not result in death by electrocution, is sadly mistaken, misinformed, and does not respect the energy of electricity.
Clearly a hazard to oneself, and more importantly, a hazard to other innocent people. When certain conditions exist, 120 volts can be more hazardous than higher voltages. So, in an effort to inform and educate any that may read this thread, here are only a few websites that help explain the hazards: 120 volt electrocution Electrocution Statistics [Archive] - Mike Holt's Forum http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3075.pdf Doing electrical work without the proper knowledge of materials, grounding, and proper tools, such as a voltage tester, can be dangerous. Since the original poster seems to have solved the problem, somehow, who knows how safely this wiring has been done, this thread is closed. |
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