electric shock on dishwasher

[Ben Im]

the house is 40 years old.
It started remodeling after the owner moved out and just finished.
I turned on the dishwasher and opened the door. As soon as the door corner reached the oven, OMG, the flame splashed and the contact surfaces burned down like arc welding. I almost had a heart attack.
What the electrician & installers have done?
How does it happen?http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_inspection/attachment.php?attachmentid=33643&stc=1http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_inspection/attachment.php?attachmentid=33644&stc=1

[Jim Luttrall]

the house is 40 years old.
It started remodeling after the owner moved out and just finished.
I turned on the dishwasher and opened the door. As soon as the door corner reached the oven, OMG, the flame splashed and the contact surfaces burned down like arc welding. I almost had a heart attack.
What the electrician & installers have done?
How does it happen?http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_inspection/attachment.php?attachmentid=33643&stc=1http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_inspection/attachment.php?attachmentid=33644&stc=1

Well first, they installed the dishwasher to close to the inside corner. Then they wired one or both wrong. Get a competent electrician to fix it and DON'T TOUCH either one until then. If you can shut off the breakers to both appliances it would be a good idea.

[Jack Feldmann]

My guess is the range or range outlet was wired wrong. Likely a hot wire was put where the ground wire should be. If you touched the door handle of the dishwasher and didn't get shocked, its probably not the dishwasher.
Hopefully you turned off the breakers and notified the seller of the home.

[Glenn Curtis]

There is (obviously) electrical current flowing 'on' the metal cabinet components of one or both appliances. Do you carry a 'sniffer' in your tool-belt? I can't tell you all the times my 'sniffer' has warned me not to touch an electrified breaker cabinet, disconnect, HVAC cabinet, appliance, metal clothes line (wha??) etc. Here's an example of what I mean:

https://youtu.be/6mjD3A7nxok
https://youtu.be/4cdRGsxOHF4

Now...for you 'tech' guys...I was using a Sperry 2-in-1 VD7504GFI non-contact voltage & GFCI Outlet Tester in the video. What the video did not show, was my follow-up with my Klein Tools NCVT-3 non-contact Voltage Tester...to compare results. There was no variation between the two instruments and their readings. I also went to my truck and retrieved my Cornet Microsystems Inc. ED88T tri-mode, tri-field LF/RF/EM field-strength meter and all readings were in the 'Red' (I use this meter at my home ham-shack to check field-strength radiation levels of my ham-radio/coax/antenna equipment to monitor personal exposure levels on a regular basis, per FCC requirements). This meter also confirmed the presence of an expanded electrical field and confirmed what the 'sniffers' were indicating.

As Paul Harvey says....here's the rest of the story. I ran into the listing agent a few weeks after the inspection and he said they had 4 electricians over to the house and none of them could find any problems. In a way...that's not surprising...but it is distressing. I know your next question....yes, the buyer walked away from the home. And yes...they called me to inspect the next one. (trying to cover all the bases here).

Moral of the story: 1) Use a 'sniffer'. 2)Pick a quality model. 3) Have one or two different brands to double-check your findings. 4) Never trust a single instrument without a back-up verification from another trustworthy model, preferably from a different manufacturer. 5) Go home 'alive'. 6) Use your PPE's and don't 'assume' anything electrical or 'metal' is safe to touch.

Note: I'm an inspector and a ham-radio operator (KF7GCQ) but NOT an electrician. Other 'terms' may apply here as well...such as 'objectionable current', 'stray-voltage' etc.