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I'm from India

After searching many sites I signed up here to clarify my doubt as I don't know much about electricity...

I recently brought a fridge(250litres) (3 months ago) and it was working fine until 2-3 days back when I experienced a mild electric shock while touching the fridge. I called the service men from the company he said maybe the earthing is the problem.

It turned out earthing is all fine and when he came to the house and checked no shock was experienced (he just removed the earthing pin connected to frame and again connected back). After that 2-3 days it was fine but again I experienced major electric shock but this time much higher.

When I switched off the fridge and turned on 15 mins after there was no shock.

When I was searching about the same many things popped up on internet as possible causes but one that related was overloading for single socket.

  1. The fridge is connected to one socket.
  2. And from another socket, I have connected 4 devices using junction box:
  • Set-top box
  • LG smart TV(43 inch)
  • 5.1 Home theatre
  • Sony PS4 slim

My question is:

Although my fridge is connected to another socket is this okay to have these 4 devices connected to one socket, is this causing the problem?

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5
  • Check the wiring from socket to mains supply point. Also I would separate that electronic stuff from the socket used for the fridge.
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 11:12
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    it's possible that you build up static charge just moving around your house. And the fridge was the first grounded thing you touched which leads to the shocks you got.
    – ratchet freak
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 11:20
  • Thank you so much for your responses ..will check and revert back
    – RaviKumar
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 11:34
  • If the air is dry and the floor is carpeted and/or you're wearing fuzzy clothing, static is a major, but not deadly, issue. It may kill electronic components if you're rebuilding your computer (handling individual chips/boards) and don't discharge the static first, but it's only annoying when you shock yourself by touching a grounded appliance (or kissing your wife).
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 12:34
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    It could be a static electricity shock. If it's instantaneous, that's probably it. If continuous, it's not static electricity. When really dry around here, I'll touch a coin or key to a door knob to discharge any static buildup. There could be other causes, for example, if the earthing (ground in the USA) connection has failed and there was a ground fault in one of the other devices, it could get to the fridge via the earthing wires and the OP experienced it there bc that's what they touch.
    – George Anderson
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 15:12

1 Answer 1

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You need to assure that your refrigerator's metal chassis is firmly connected to the electrical supply's safety ground pin.

Then, you need to assure that your house's wiring is tip-top as far as the safety ground. The receptacle's ground is connected properly to the panel's metal chassis, AND, the panel's chassis is properly connected to grounding rods, an Ufer ground cast into a concrete foundation, or a metal water main not interrupted by a plastic meter.

Further, things like gas pipes and metal water pipes interrupted by a plastic meter also need to be bonded to the abovementioned grounding rods.

Then this check needs to be done for all other electrical circuits and devices in the kitchen. It could be that the refrigerator is grounded properly but something else you are touching is leaking current.

If that is correct and complete, it should arrest any shocks.

It may also be appropriate to think about an RCD for the house. That is a ground fault detector, which looks at current coming in and going out, and assures they are equal. If they are equal, all current is accounted for and it's not likely to be traveling through weird routes such as through a human.

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