Yesterday, I opened up my old "Racine" brand razor and cleaned out the whiskers that were in it. Afterwards, I turned it on and I noticed it was quieter. But a minute later I noticed that the familiar "buzz" came back, so I applied some machine oil on the blades. Then I turned it on and my bathroom GFCI tripped.
1…Did that old 1960's razor finally receive a ground fault?
2…Had it not been plugged into a GFCI outlet, would I have been electrocuted instead?
3…Did my opening it up to clean it out have anything to do with it?
I did not spill any water on it. And
I don't think my applying oil on the blades had anything to do with it, as I have done that many times before. But this was the first time I have ever opened it up to clean it out. I also noticed something was rattling loose inside it shortly before the GFCI was tripped.
In any case, it looks like it's time for me to buy a new razor! And when I throw out the old razor, I'll be sure to cut the cord off first, lest some dumpster diver (like me) pick it out of the dumpster.
Best Answer
Yes, since your razor has two prongs, it cannot develop a ground fault by itself... a ground fault requires a third path. Indeed, the path was through you, and indeed, it probably would have killed you. And this is why we have GFCIs in bathrooms.
Tearing it down was probably the triggering event. My guess is also that the unit is repairable, but will need some careful and/or expert attention. It sounds like you did find a problem, but shrugged it off because you want to shave. You will not find another unit of this quality except maybe the $100+ Euro jobs.