have any of you ever been shocked by the coax cable ?
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The situation occurred because the system ground is faulty or the neutral and ground has been improperly connected together in a sub-panel, and/or the ground screw and neutral are wired together
In the power industry, wiring the neutral to the ground screw is called a bootleg ground. There is only one tester that will tell you that this situation is present in an outlet, without removing the outlet.
The $2 three prong tester will not detect this situation. The Ideal SureTest tester ($200 plus) is the only tool that will identify this situation, without removing the cover plate and inspecting the connections.
If you are installing a satellite system and have a coax that has been grounded to a secure ground, your best way af testing for a "bootleg ground" or a floating ground is a DMM (digital multi-meter) set on the AC voltage setting. A n inexpensive one costs about $20, but make sure that it is marked "double insulated." I prefer one that is auto-ranging.
Set the DMM on AC voltage. If it is not autoranging, set it at 0-250 volts. Do not touch the tips of the leads. Put one lead into the wider "neutral slot" on the receptacle. Place the other lead on the outside "shield" connection of the "f" connector.
If you see a voltage above 1-5 or 75-150 volts, you have a "bootleg ground" with another situation called a "floating ground."
Basically, the electrical system's main ground is disconnected or faulty, and the neutral has been connected to the ground screw.
Placing the leads on the neutral and hot cavities of the receptacle will result in a voltage reading of between 75-150 vac.
This problem often occurs, when the neutral and ground wires are wired together in a sub-panel. These wires "can" be wired together in a main panel, but NEVER in a sub-panel.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, NEUTRAL is NOT GROUND! It is a LIVE RETURN WIRE. A GFCI will NOT protect you from a LIVE neutral.
____
In the power industry, wiring the neutral to the ground screw is called a bootleg ground. There is only one tester that will tell you that this situation is present in an outlet, without removing the outlet.
The $2 three prong tester will not detect this situation. The Ideal SureTest tester ($200 plus) is the only tool that will identify this situation, without removing the cover plate and inspecting the connections.
If you are installing a satellite system and have a coax that has been grounded to a secure ground, your best way af testing for a "bootleg ground" or a floating ground is a DMM (digital multi-meter) set on the AC voltage setting. A n inexpensive one costs about $20, but make sure that it is marked "double insulated." I prefer one that is auto-ranging.
Set the DMM on AC voltage. If it is not autoranging, set it at 0-250 volts. Do not touch the tips of the leads. Put one lead into the wider "neutral slot" on the receptacle. Place the other lead on the outside "shield" connection of the "f" connector.
If you see a voltage above 1-5 or 75-150 volts, you have a "bootleg ground" with another situation called a "floating ground."
Basically, the electrical system's main ground is disconnected or faulty, and the neutral has been connected to the ground screw.
Placing the leads on the neutral and hot cavities of the receptacle will result in a voltage reading of between 75-150 vac.
This problem often occurs, when the neutral and ground wires are wired together in a sub-panel. These wires "can" be wired together in a main panel, but NEVER in a sub-panel.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, NEUTRAL is NOT GROUND! It is a LIVE RETURN WIRE. A GFCI will NOT protect you from a LIVE neutral.
____
When installing the satellites I have gotten shocked. I would not worry about it since it is not enough voltage that could hurt you. It is only 13 or 18 volts running through the line (depending on if you are on an even or odd transponder).
my two cents here
at my work they were complaining that there D* was down and called out
the installer who did the installation he though the dish was moved out of alignment and went up to work on the dish
turns out one of the STB shorted out and was sending 110 volts up the coaxial and zapped him pretty good when he started working on the dish.
the system wasn't grounded but if it was he wouldn't have been zapped as bad as he was
my employer ended up buying another dish,lnb and STB from me and I reinstalled it
at my work they were complaining that there D* was down and called out
the installer who did the installation he though the dish was moved out of alignment and went up to work on the dish
turns out one of the STB shorted out and was sending 110 volts up the coaxial and zapped him pretty good when he started working on the dish.
the system wasn't grounded but if it was he wouldn't have been zapped as bad as he was
my employer ended up buying another dish,lnb and STB from me and I reinstalled it
Last time i checked, the 13 or 18v coming from the reciever to the lnb is only like 500mA. This is not enough to "shock" you. Remember, its the amps that you feel . A 12v car battery can kill you, since it has an immense stored power, several hundred amps. So.. back to the problem...
If he just touched the metal coax connector and got shocked, there is definately something wrong, the ground is not "ground" anymore. (since current is flowing from the reciever through you to the earth)
I worked for a major cable ISP, we had a test rig setup with a bunch of splitters, amps, etc. Working on the gear in that rack was fine, until we ran a coax wire to another rack. If you touched any gear in the 2nd rack and the coax coming over, you'd get a nice tingle. Ended up being a grounding problem in the main electrical system suppling the racks.
To those of you making fun of mike, so far its been the only real answer i've seen.
Good luck
. A 12v car battery can kill you, since it has an immense stored power, several hundred amps. So.. back to the problem...If he just touched the metal coax connector and got shocked, there is definately something wrong, the ground is not "ground" anymore. (since current is flowing from the reciever through you to the earth)
I worked for a major cable ISP, we had a test rig setup with a bunch of splitters, amps, etc. Working on the gear in that rack was fine, until we ran a coax wire to another rack. If you touched any gear in the 2nd rack and the coax coming over, you'd get a nice tingle. Ended up being a grounding problem in the main electrical system suppling the racks.
To those of you making fun of mike, so far its been the only real answer i've seen.
Good luck
Mike500 said:
You got that right.
There is no way you should ever get a shock by touching the shield (outer conductor) on a pice of coax. That's the whole point of the grounding provisions of the NEC: to see to it no one gets shocked.
If you do, there is something wrong with the grounding system in the residence. Just like Mike says.
Where did he say he touched the outer connector? The way I read it is he got a shock by touching the cable. I assume he meant the inner conductor cause that is where I can arc some sparks by touching my crimping tool to it and the outer connector. That is how I got sparks whent the other end was hooked into my receiver.
I don't think anyone here said the shock was knocking them on their ass or knocking them out, it just startled me and I am sure it startled this guy too.
I also went and tested this again with an old receiver that is hooked into a GOOD grouned outlet. Plugged in the coax, turned on the receiver and sure enough, I was able to generate a spark. I even held it for a second, it's doesn't hurt anymore than touching your tongue to D cell or something. Just startling since you don't expect it.
I don't think anyone here said the shock was knocking them on their ass or knocking them out, it just startled me and I am sure it startled this guy too.
I also went and tested this again with an old receiver that is hooked into a GOOD grouned outlet. Plugged in the coax, turned on the receiver and sure enough, I was able to generate a spark. I even held it for a second, it's doesn't hurt anymore than touching your tongue to D cell or something. Just startling since you don't expect it.
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