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I have a 50W external light, installed on an outside wall, high on the wall.

When touching it, I received an electrical shock. I cut the electricity, and opened up the electrical junction. I saw there that the earth wire was not plugged properly. I plugged it back. The live and neutral cable seemed fine.

Does the fact that I got a discharge mean that the live cable was actually not wired properly? Should I bin the lamp? Is grounding properly just a way to hide the problem?

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    Ground doesn't keep you from getting that jolt, something else is wrong.
    – DonBoitnott
    Commented Apr 1, 2021 at 11:22
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    I would verify that the hot wire is on the correct wire. I have seen folks get lights with switch legs backwards a few times. A light with the hot wire on the shell not the center is a recipe for a shock. The other case is static discharge, I have been called more times for shocks than mis wiring where the only possible cause was a static discharge (all plastic part providing a shock) including solidly grounded fixtures and lights that I verified the earth ground resistance.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Apr 1, 2021 at 13:11

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Fixtures are grounded to protect one from getting shocked if there is a short or fault in the fixture. The ground wasn't connected properly, according to you, so you got shocked because of some problem. Now that the ground is properly connected, you shouldn't get shocked but the problem still exists and must be fixed. Examine the fixture for frayed wires, cracked insulation. Be careful if you're up on a ladder and make sure to turn off the power. If you don't feel comfortable examining it, just replace it.

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  • Agreed JACK! Grounding is there to provide safety "IN CASE OF A GROUND FAULT", not to provide for fixtures or equipment that are defective. There's something wrong with that fixture that needs to be corrected. + for your answer!
    – George Anderson
    Commented Apr 1, 2021 at 13:31
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Normally, in the fixture, the hot and neutral should both be isolated from the chassis of the fixture. So it shouldn't matter whether the fixture is earthed or not.

We earth things to allow for the possibility that hot or neutral is leaking onto the chassis. The idea is the chassis can't shock people; and if the leakage is severe, this will cause hundreds of amps to flow and trip the circuit breaker.

So what you certainly have here is a double failure.

  • the earthing was faulty ...AND...
  • the fixture developed a fault to chassis of the equipment.

The first one is the installer betting your life on the second one. The second one is the builder betting your life on the first one.

Was this a quality light that just had a bit of bad luck? Look for a BSI, TUV, ETL, UL or CSA certification on the fixture. CE is acceptable only if it was bought at a competent bricks-and-mortar retail shop inside the EU proper such as Wickes or Redoute. CCC is rubbish. Rubbish should be sent to Big Clive to tear down (literally and figuratively) on Youtube.

Perhaps one should not rely on plugs for wiring of safety earthing; in North America a ground wire must be wrapped in shepherd's hook fashion around a screw terminal (even while other methods are tolerated for the other wires).

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