Electric shock from socket

[Mybasilplantispastitsbest]

I’m in my newly renovated (two year project) house, finally unpacking stuff after having to wait months to get floors in.

Just plugged old lamp in, was changing round the plugs and felt a faint crackle, put my hand down again to the socket absent mindedly and got a proper shock.

Managed to put on some rubber shoes and switch both socket switches off.

Is it more likely to be the lamp or the socket that is the issue? Feeling like holy shit my life savings are spent on this renovation and now I don’t trust the wiring.

The electrician who wired it is coming round tomorrow to take a look.

Has anyone had this? I have never experienced this in more than 20 UK moves and am freaking out!!

@MidlandCatGirl I didn't mention the "electrical system" not being earthed I was considering the specific accessory that gave you a shock. It's amazing how often the earth resistance is either out of spec or open circuit, even where things look normal.

I assume the faceplate was screwed on and you got the shock from the exposed metal parts, the exposed metal parts must be effectively connected to earth.

If the earth impedance is below the safe limit then the difference between the main earth and the part you touch should always be below the safe limit (50v), except for the 0.3 seconds when a fuse or circuit breaker is opening the circuit.

So just to back pedal slightly, the crackle you felt in your system that was presumably tested and within spec was probably in the moments before the fault protection tripped.

What worries me is why the OP's breaker failed to break. I can't see how that is possible with just a bulb failure.

Totally agree, electrical systems have multiple layers of protection, so blaming the root cause isn't necessarily the whole answer

Yes, my friend who knows about power seemed to think there could have been a fault with the lamp/bulb, but if so, that it was hard to see that there wasn't also a fault with the wiring.

Hi guys, sorry, I didn't realise so many replies in my absence.

The shock wasn't enough to throw me across the room or anything, it was mild but it really freaked me out if you see what I mean.

It is a brass carriage lamp (Victorian) that was converted a long time ago into a lamp. I had put a new Ikea lightbulb into it - one of those clear ones. The plug has a five amp fuse that hasn't blown.

Lamp has only two wires in it - have ordered a lamp rewiring kit but possibly best just to return it to being an ornament?

He checked the socket, the lamp and the bulb with what I think was a non-contact voltage tester. He showed me the leakage from the bulb (sorry that might not be how he phrased it).

As I understood it, there was enough to give me a slight shock but not enough either to break the 5amp fuse or trip the system.

If this still doesn't make sense then I'd happily book - is it an EICR i need?

I would be really horrified if the electrician was at fault as it's all part of a full reno with a reputable builder and all tradesmen have seemed very trustworthy and above board and happy to explain everything to me (the problem being that I don't have the expertise/knowledge to completely understand what they're saying all the time. Or I understand it at the time but can't regurgitate details properly later!)

Thanks so much for all the info so far.

I'll post a photo of the bulb and wiring later.

Would have thought a lamp should have a 3amp fuse.

Ok is hard to tell from here but it sounds like the fitting that's been converted might be non compliant then, perhaps if it's a screw fitting the polarity is wrong, perhaps it is actually class 1 and the metal parts are exposed conductive parts and should be earthed.
If it's only a tingle rather than feeling like something heavy gripping your arm, it could be a sub 30mA shock which may not trip an RCD - they usually need around 20mA to trip.

I'm thinking when you touched the socket, that's an exposed conductive part so would have been effectively earthed. What were you touching with the other hand or any other part of your body? Were you touching the body of the light fitting? Or the bulb?

Either way I have revised my opinion to say it's probably not a wiring issue unless by small chance it's got reversed polarity and that's contributed to it. If you were going to get anything tested eicr style, probably the whole house would be overkill rather than just the one socket on that circuit.

I don't quite understand the non contact voltage tester idea, as the whole point of those is to light up when placed near a live wire, even if it's insulated properly. If you were using one of those to find danger then every cable and flex in your house would be dangerous, which is not the case.

However I would agree with your idea to get the light fitting checked and/or return it to being an ornament.

Good luck and sorry for all the serious sounding posts.

Your lamp sounds "interesting".

I would get it PAT tested (in service testing the latest terminology for this) if you wish to continue using it.

This should test earth continuity (chassis to plug connection) and insulation (phase+neutral to chassis). They may also be able to test for ELC with the bulb in place.