Electrical Inspection Wall Of Shame


Here mostly all kids go preventive medical exam every year. on one examation color blindness is checked.

Some people dont even know that there is an issue. How to tell ? For them its correct colored
I had no idea that I was color blind until joining the Air Force and was shown those circles of dots.
 
Whoever wrote that gutter story did a pretty good job of detective work and brainstorming. His thinking of flipping breakers to find the circuit involved sounds good to me, then the thought of investigating every nail is mind blowing. I guess I'd try to locate the offending circuit's wire run to see where it gets physically close to the roof or gutters. Could be a pretty big can-o-worms.
 
My bet it's induced, not a direct connection otherwise you would have gotten A LOT more than a tingle.

To find out, clamp the meter lead to the gutter and the ground so it is reading without you having to touch it, clamp a wire to a ground rod in the dirt OR (2nd choice) take that ground pin of the extension cord you mentioned, put on a pair of gloves, stand on dry cement or wood, hold the grounded wire in one hand, put the other hand in your pocket and jam that grounded wire on the gutter while looking at the meter.

If the voltage goes away when you ground it but returns when you lift the ground then it's induced. If you get a BIG spark then nothing (maybe breaker tripped) then it's pretty much a direct connection (a so-called "short"....I hate that term) and that will be harder to find AND can be pretty dangerous until found and corrected.

Had many a street light exhibit induced voltage like that from nearby overhead primaries of 18KV to 60KV and the pole's bond wire was loose or had high-resistance from corrosion.
 
My bet it's induced, not a direct connection otherwise you would have gotten A LOT more than a tingle.
I'd bet with you, although it's less than 100%. Over the years I've seen this sort of thing with RVs that tingle. All of the experts jump in with their 100% diagnosis when what's really wrong is that the RV chassis, for some reason, isn't connected to the safety ground. This is one case where the high impedance digital meters lead the clueless to wrong conclusions. (On the other hand, RV makers are pretty notorious for driving screws through romex).

Years ago I visited someone whose house was very close a major transmission line. He liked to show visitors that a fluorescent tube would light up dimly when held up while standing on his deck.
 
This is one case where the high impedance digital meters lead the clueless to wrong conclusions.
Which is EXACTLY why I carried either a Simpson 260 or a Tripplett 630, both analog VOMs, for over 31 years......you learn how to "read" what they tell you, not just what the meter face says, and you wind up with a very accurate analysis......voltage is analog and IMO, nothing reads it better than an analog meter. I love digital stuff but please make my voltage diagnostic equipment analog. :cool:
 
Which is EXACTLY why I carried either a Simpson 260 or a Tripplett 630, both analog VOMs, for over 31 years......you learn how to "read" what they tell you, not just what the meter face says, and you wind up with a very accurate analysis......voltage is analog and IMO, nothing reads it better than an analog meter. I love digital stuff but please make my voltage diagnostic equipment analog. :cool:
I built this circa 1968, and I still keep it around for this very reason.

PXL_20250722_224541413.jpg
 
I'd bet with you, although it's less than 100%. Over the years I've seen this sort of thing with RVs that tingle. All of the experts jump in with their 100% diagnosis when what's really wrong is that the RV chassis, for some reason, isn't connected to the safety ground. This is one case where the high impedance digital meters lead the clueless to wrong conclusions. (On the other hand, RV makers are pretty notorious for driving screws through romex).

Years ago I visited someone whose house was very close a major transmission line. He liked to show visitors that a fluorescent tube would light up dimly when held up while standing on his deck.
I kept getting a tingle when my forearm touched a slider when getting into the RV. I checked with my Fluke between the slider and concrete pad. It started out about 10 and I decided I would need to look into it later. At 60 volts, it hurt and I decided I should look into it NOW! The ground pin had corroded away and things were finding a way to make it to earth. Namely me! My wife never felt a thing and thought I was imagining things. She never brushed up against the slide getting in. I got a new television out of the ordeal and of course, a new power cable.