Washing machine shocks through water

Any equipment can receive an electric shock when it comes into contact with a person, but with a washing machine everything is more complicated. After all, its work is connected with water, and ordinary tap water is a powerful conductor of electric current. A blow through water is much more painful and, to say the least, more dangerous. What should you do if the water surges when the washing machine is turned on?

How does the problem manifest itself?

There are as many reasons why an electric shock occurs as there are variations in how it happens. This may be a barely noticeable tingling sensation, as with electrophoresis, or it may be a rather strong and painful blow.

First, let's figure out which parts of the machine contact with can lead to unpleasant symptoms.

• When a person touches water with any part of the body. For example, if you take wet laundry out of the drum.
• Contact with water mixer.
• Touching the machine body.
• When touching a drum or homemade ground.

Any of these signs indicate a malfunction inside the machine, and current is a serious matter. Such incidents create a significant danger to the life and health of the machine operator. Therefore, it is necessary to fix the problem and urgently! Of course, this is not the case when you need to do something yourself. The only thing you need to do quickly is to disconnect the machine from the power supply and do not turn it on until the technician arrives.

You can feel the electric shock from the water jet.

Let's figure out what to do depending on the cause of the problem. Only a master can determine this and make repairs. Here's some data:

• If electrical parts, such as heating elements or motors, become unusable, they must either be repaired or even replaced with new ones, just to be sure.
• The insulation of the internal wires is broken, causing the current to come into contact with other parts. In this case, only repair will help.
• Interaction of contact with other parts due to increased humidity. In this case, you need to install grounding or change it if it is already in place but does not help.
• Neighbours use a water pipe as a ground electrode. Then you will have to install your own grounding device, as well as contact a special service, since using the pipe as a working ground is unacceptable.

There are also situations when water or the machine continues to shock when disconnected from the power supply. It would seem like a mystery. But no, it's simple. Most likely, these are problems with the wiring, and not necessarily in the user’s habitat. The floor slab may contain elements of moisture and allow current to pass from another apartment to yours.

How to prevent tragic consequences?

In case of problems with electrical appliances and general problems related to current, it is better not to call a washing machine technician. Contact either a service center or an electrician because the problem may not be in the unit at all.

However, some users with in-depth knowledge and experience in electrical engineering may try to carry out some procedures on their own. These include:

• Installation of RCD (residual current device),
• Installation of DSUP (Additional potential equalization system),
• Self-installation of grounding.

Such measures may not fundamentally solve the problem, but at least they will reduce the severity of the consequences, that’s for sure!