The following may be a little off topic, but somewhat relevant I believe
For this very reason that you have outlined (keeping switch mode power supplies accidentally energized, in the absence of proper grounding) the devices that the company I work for manufactures are required to never reference to ground. They reference to the load, which ends up on the neutral if the load is resistive.
Where shit starts hitting the fan is if the load is inductive, such as a low power LED driver. Many a commodity solid state switch is gonna have difficulties keeping that gate open (or closed).
I think we have a combination of poor electrical design in the fixture, improper outlet wiring, and the lack of case grounding.
If it were me in OP’s shoes, I would deal with grounding and wiring first.
Not direcrly @AlwaysLearnin, unless you are going to take the fixture apart and start digging. You will, however, be able to eliminate faulty wiring as a potential cause.
So when you are sure that
A) your outlet is wired correctly, which it should be at this point
B) your timer is working properly, switching the hot and not the neutral
C) you have a good ground going to the case of your fixture
D) your fixture is still misbehaving,
the only remaining conclusion is that there is something wrong with the fixture itself.
There are quite a few people on here with solid electrical and electronics knowledge, the Hive Mind will help you troubleshoot I am certain.
Be safe, ask if unsure, but don’t be afraid to dig into it.
I need to go under the house an check to see if there is even an actual ground wire connected to any pipes or going into the ground itself.
Boy, what did I get myself into
I do appreciate all the advise an help that everyone has given me. Thank you.
We should be able to tell if there is a direct shock hazard present after you had corrected the outlet polarity. Where, previously you were experiencing a shock with the lamp turned “off”.
Although, there is something of a consensus thing going on here and there seems to be other things going on with the household wiring. Some of the issues you’ve noted are probably from when the old outlets were swapped with the more modern grounded outlets. Some of the outlets appear not to code with somewhat random wiring, perhaps a homeowners special. This has raised some suspicion. Since your home was build in the 50’s and the code may have changed, there are also some question as to whether there is a proper earth ground bond.
There are several ways this is done and you may or may not be able to tell. Here is one example:
Here is another diagram of bonding: [1]
This earth ground bond is not easy to test but an electrician could tell/test. These are things, personally, I think can be planned for and further discussed, as a follow-on, if we are able to determine if there is an immediate shock hazard.
That first picture is what I was going to be looking for when looking for a ground but I might have to go under the house.
All my wiring comes out of the main breaker box an then under the house below the subfloor but it’s all covered with conduit. Looks weird kinda
In many cases it’s near the service panel but it could be elsewhere, too. For instance, ours is in a sump well that’s practically on the opposite side of the house from the panel.
You want your ground to be set to solid copper, 1/2 inch thick and as deep as you can sink it. In Mass, you need 2 within 6’ of the main connection, for new construction or new service to residential.
Yeah, like 99% said, galvanized isnt the best option by far, and probably not up to code. The code in my area requires the same 1/2" copper rod driven 6’ into the earth or to a copper pipe that runs under ground. If your copper pipe doesnt run under ground, it wont work either.
You should be able to get some free pro advice by calling an electrician out to look at your wiring and the panel ground. Tell them you suspect the home isnt grounded properly, and you want an estimate for what it will cost to fix it. You can meet him when he come out, and walk around with him and ask a lot of questions. That should tell you exactly what you need to do.
Id also get them to check the outlet wiring while they are there and get a quote on fixing that. While he is in the grow room, mention that you got a shock, and ask him for his opinion on why, and how to fix it and what that would cost.
Then you can decide if its something you can do DIY, or if you need to budget for a pro to do it.
In BC there is no requirement for it to be copper, you are allowed to use either a solid rod, or a horizontal ground plate of a certain size. Rod has to reach a certain depth, to make sure dirt is wet. Same with the plate, it has to be buried deep enough. I forget the depth right now, but it is somewhere around 1m.
Yeah, in that picture @Northern_Loki posted above, there are 6 different ways to do the ground. However, not all local codes allow all options and the details can vary, so its best to check with your local code enforcement office. Sometimes thats the city, and sometimes the county or the state. Your local electrician will know.
There are two main reasons NOT to use galvanized pipe. One is its a poor conductor - especially if the couplings have corroded, which can lead to voltage showing up on the grounds where you dont want it. Galvanized pipe is also often installed with isolation couplings (intended to stop galvanic corrosion from the dissimilar metals) when transitioning to copper pipe - which breaks the circuit.
