retrodude

Hi All,
I put the charger on my battery the other night. While it was charging I started to check fluids and such. I found that when I touched anything metal in the engine compartment I got a tiny little zap. Nothing big, but like a little sting and your know it is a little shock.
Is my engine compartment charged when the alternator is charging?
Anyone ever had this happen and do you think there is an issue?
Thanks, Allen

Marlin

Check for shorts/rubbed wires but also I would clean and tighten your grounds.

wcsinx

That would worry me. I too would suspect a short somewhere. Was the charger showing an unusually high draw that never dropped down?

Vette5.5

This sort of thing usually happens when voltage is place acrosss and inductive coil, like a relay coil or horn. When removing the voltage source from the coil, while holding on the the coil terminals, can give you a little suprise.

bobs77vet

that definitely doesnt sound right, is the charger working properly?

retrodude

I even tried another charger, still the same thing.
I just cleaned and re-attached the ground to the frame. I didn't have time tonight, but I will this weekend to see if that helps.
Vette5.5, I have some kinda "Blaster Coil", I know you are right, that will give a bit more than a shock...lol

Danish Shark

It's leakage current from the 120 volt net to the secondary side of the charger. It doesn't matter what parts in the engine compartment is powered as the negative (the car chassis) will also have a higher voltage potential than earth so touching the car chassis can shock you.
Ground the car or buy a better quality charger if it bothers you.

P.S I don't know much about the US power net; is earth connections in the 110 volt outlets mandatory? In that case maybe it's disconnected. Try a different outlet if thats the case

bobs77vet

yes in all new construction, and probaly for at least the last 40 yrs, maybe even longer.

MelWff

My house is from 1979 and they grounded the power box to a water pipe. Problem is my house has a well and the pipe coming out of the ground into the basement has a rubber section, thus the box was never grounded, reran the ground to a rod outside the house. I found this out by touching a pipe while holding a drop light and getting a tingle in my fingers.

lvmyvt76

You need to ground to water and a ground rod, that is how it is properly grounded. The reason is that if the ground becomes very dry, it will not be a ground source. The water pipe will be a ground source since it goes so deep and will not dry out. When I worked with the telephone company, the party lines need a good ground to ring in properly, we would even pour water around the ground rod to help it ground correctly. The water line may have a rubber break in it, so make a jumper wire to go across this area with proper clamps on both sides.

bobs77vet

other then hiring a third party inspector i am not sure how you protect yourself if you have workers that are purposely doing stuff to cut corners and save a buck.