I have a cable running along my basement ceiling. There is a cord connection (looks like an extension added to it) but where they connect is all metal (it looks like an AUX jack). There is slack in the cable and the metal connection point was on top of an HVAC duct and when I walked by it I heard like a white noise and it was sparking!! I'm freaked out and have no idea if this is dangerous and what would cause it to spark and I'm scared to touch that wire now. I moved it off the duct but now I have no idea what to do. Any answers would help.
Electrical – Is wire arcing a potential danger
electricalfire-safetysafetywire
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The system is designed to dial out on a phone line to a central station or a police monitoring system. These alarms have built in warnings for a failure in the phone line. This is a safeguard so you know the system is not working properly.
So long as the system is operational and cut off from the phone line, it will continue to beep. By removing parts of the keypad and circuit board, you have apparently shut down at least part of the system. If you truly don't want the system on, you need to remove power from the entire system.
The power to the system is probably controlled by master box (probably where the battery was) that has a wire running to a transformer on or near your main power panel. The simplest way to stop the system is to disconnect the wires going from the transformer to the alarm control panel.
The transformer wires are low voltage (usually 24 volts) on the outside (inside the panel they are 120 volts). To be safe, it is better to turn off the breaker connected to the transformer before disconnecting the wire. If you cant figure out which it is, have a flashlight handy, turn off the main breaker, then disconnect the wires. Then turn the main back on.
Once the system is disconnected form both the mains and the battery, it cannot send a false alarm or activate the safety beeper.
You're lucky you haven't been hurt!
It sounds from your description like the ground wire came off the pipe clamp
If I was you I would definitely not touch that again. Under normal circumstances that wire should not carry any current. If you are seeing sparks, the ground wire is energized and carrying current.
If it does, it may indicate an extremely dangerous condition. It can shock you (possibly seriously injuring or killing you), start a fire, and damage electrical devices in the house. The shock hazard isn't just with the loose wire, it may be there with incidental contact with the pipes, sinks, etc. in the house. It's not really safe to be in the house.
If it is what it sounds like to me, you pulled the ground wire loose from its lug on the ground clamp - it shouldn't come loose easily, so maybe the wire was damaged, or the screw was not tight. In any case you didn't cause this problem by pulling that wire loose; disconnecting that wire revealed the problem.
If you have problems on multiple circuits in your house, it's especially concerning, you may have a problem with your electrical service (lost neutral or other problem). The problem may also involve your neighbors.
It's good that the main power is off, but that doesn't necessarily make everything safe in the house. I'd call the electric company immediately and consider it an emergency. Call an electrician too, as soon as possible.
edit: The original poster followed up that an electrician came and fixed the issue. With that resolved, incidental contact with the ground wire where it's exposed in the closet isn't dangerous. Disconnecting the ground wire from the pipe shouldn't be dangerous, but it can't be assumed to be safe, because there may be an undiscovered issue waiting to bite you.
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Best Answer
Was the air handler running? Metal duct’s should be grounded but sometimes are not. I have seen metal trunk ducting build up large static charges. In one case it was about every 12 seconds there was a snap quite loud. The charge was building up and discharging to a water pipe.
The white noise could be the close proximity of the cable to the duct so the charge is building up quickly and discharging. This will be the case only if the air handler is running.
I would want to verify if it is static charges building that the duct gets grounded large static charges can hurt like &$%#.
If the charge is there without air flow I would be checking the electrical system (grounding, possible only ground the water pipe replaced with plastic) OR if there is a voltage on the cable. The cable should be grounded at an inter system bonding point but if the main ground has failed this could have a floating voltage.