Good morning,
I purchased a home last month and have been in the process of updating/renovating. My first night in the home was Saturday night. I went to take a shower, turned the water on and got in. I went to adjust the showerhead and felt a slight "shock" I thought I was going crazy, so I of course being the genius I am grabbed the shower head and yep, sure enough it had an electrical current going thru it. After going thru the process of elimination I found the circuit that was causing the issue, however its a circuit feeding the other end of the home.
What could cause this? Its a single story home, the plumbing should be coming from ground up and the wiring should be going up thru the attic to feed the house. The bathroom is probably about 5 feet from the breaker box (thru a wall) both bathrooms and the laundry room are clustered in one area and the breaker box is in the laundry room.
I had someone suggest its a grounding issue. I'm thinking its more of an exposed wire issue. The current didn't feel like it was 110 (I've taken that hit a few times) it was slightly more intense than a static shock. I left the breaker off overnight as I didn't need it to be on (its the breaker that feeds the den lights and receps). I turned it on midday on Sunday and went back and checked and there was no current at that time. I even went thru the motions of taking my shoes and socks off and turning the water on to try and duplicate the original circumstances.
As far as wiring goes, I haven't messed with anything in the house other than change out a couple receps and eliminate some piggy backed track lights in the kitchen.
Best Answer
This is how some of our troops got killed overseas. Simply taking a shower delivered lethal doses of electricity.
The problem is grounding. It is certainly possible that the ground in the breaker box has become separated from a real earth ground.
So first, the breaker box ground needs to be fixed at the very least.
Even if it requires driving in a new ground rod and new wiring. Then make sure all ground connections are tight.
Highly recommend a qualified electrician to look at this one.