I noticed that our stainless steel refrigerator door makes a high pitched feedback sound when I touch it.
Investigating further, I found that the previous owner of the home (who left the fridge) removed the grounding prong from the outlet.
I measured the AC voltage between the door and a nearby grounded outlet and found a voltage of 24v. What's happening here, and is it dangerous?
Answers to questions in comments
The door has a dispenser in it. I cannot tell if it is the door or the person making the noise- it seems to originate from the point of contact and is louder when a better "connection" is made (whole hand vs finger)
The 24v I am measuring is AC. Turns out it is 24 when the fridge is running and 3v while holding temp. The rest of the house is grounded, at least I can test an outlet and get voltage difference between hot and ground.
The PO broke the pin off the plug- the socket in the wall is functional.
Best Answer
Chop the butchered plug off and replace it with a proper grounding plug
Fortunately, the disfavor that the previous homeowner did you by chopping off the grounding pin is fixable. Simply chop the butchered plug off the cord and replace it with a field-fit type NEMA 5-15 plug, available at any hardware or big-box store. (Strain relief isn't much of an issue here, as how often do you move the fridge, anyway?)