- This topic has 2 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 24 years, 6 months ago by
Mel Clarke.
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Thomas Finegan
Yesterday my wife received an electric shock from an outside faucet while watering the garden. I investigated and found that all the house faucets were hot (100 volts). I traced the problem back to the top element of my RUUD PACEMAKER water heater. There was only a 15 ohm resistance between the element and the tank itself, thus electrifying the pipes and water! The first concern is why the breaker did not trip, and secondly, why the faulty element is causing power to get into the water supply. I am planning to have the county & state inspectors investigate. In the meantime, has anyone else experienced a dangerous situation like this with water heaters, and was it a RUUD heater? Thanks,
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The problem may have been created by a rusty corrosive link to the tank .The element should be insulated at the connection (by plastic or a fabric washer) If it has copper water line for distribution they should be grounded at the tank. As for your breaker it sounds like it needs replacing and verifying ground connection.
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This could only happen if your residences main ground connection was missing or defective, orherwise the circuit breaker would have tripped. The element has burned in two, exposing the core wire to the water which in turn transferred it to the piping and heater shell. It is not a failure of the heater, it is an improper house or mobile home wiring job.: Yesterday my wife received an electric shock from an outside faucet while watering the garden. I investigated and found that all the house faucets were hot (100 volts). I traced the problem back to the top element of my RUUD PACEMAKER water heater. There was only a 15 ohm resistance between the element and the tank itself, thus electrifying the pipes and water! The first concern is why the breaker did not trip, and secondly, why the faulty element is causing power to get into the water supply. I am planning to have the county & state inspectors investigate. In the meantime, has anyone else experienced a dangerous situation like this with water heaters, and was it a RUUD heater? Thanks,
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