How I solved an electrical fault in my house: You will not believe what was wrong

Disclaimer: I’m not a certified electrician, and I’m not giving any professional advice in this post. Every suggestion is just that, a suggestion. I’m simply sharing my personal experience. The only advice I will give is that you should always call in a certified electrical technician to check out your electrical faults, if you are not one yourself. I do hold a degree in Physics, I’m an uncertified computer technician, and also a DIY enthusiast, so I generally know what I’m doing when I get involved in things like these.

What was the electrical fault?

At some point I started experiencing mild electric shocks from some parts of my desktop computer where the paint had been scratched off. I also encountered these shocks from my laptop computer and printer whenever I accidentally touched any of their metal parts. This obviously signaled a problem, since this was not supposed to be happening. The desktop computer was connected to one extension cord (Let’s call that extension cord A), while the laptop computer and the printer were connected to a different extension cord (Let’s call that extension cord B), but both were connected to the same double-socket wall outlet.

Initial diagnosis of the electrical fault

Armed with my tester, I checked the earth outlets of extension cord B and found that they were powered. This shouldn’t be so. Extension cord A was sealed up by design, and therefore, couldn’t be opened up for inspection, so I put all my focus on extension cord B. I opened up extension cord B and inspected the connections for any short circuit between the earth wire and the live or the neutral wire but found none. I checked all the connections but found no anomaly. I disconnected extension cord B from the wall socket and tested the earth outlet of the wall socket and found that it was not powered. At this point I concluded that the problem was either with the extension cords or improper grounding of the whole house’s electrical system.

The big boys (electrical technicians) are called in

At this point, I called in an electrical technician to take a look. The technician also concluded that the problem was not with the house wiring. Therefore, the problem must be with the extension sockets. Even though the technician couldn’t solve the problem, he did make a discovery that would eventually help me to solve the problem by myself. He discovered that the earth outlets of the extension cord only came alive when a load was connected, even a load as simple as a power cable or a mobile phone charger.

Second attack on the electrical fault

I left the problem to fend for itself while I went about business as usual (a bad idea, I know. Fortunately for me no disaster occurred during this period). One day a desire to revisit the problem suddenly flared up in me. I gathered my tools and set off to tackle this stubborn problem once again. I opened up extension cord B again and checked for anything abnormal. This time I found that several connections were broken, so I carefully soldered them back in place. I inspected all connections again until I was satisfied that there were no problems. I put it back together and checked the earth outlet and found no power in it. Then I plugged in a power cable and was disappointed to find that the earth outlet was powered once again. At this point, a light suddenly flooded my mind. Why not test some other extension cord I had at home (Let’s call that extension cord C). I fished out (well, I didn’t really have to fish out because it wasn’t lying far from me :)) extension cord C and plugged it into the wall socket. What an excited shock when I tested with a load and there wasn’t any power in its earth outlet!

Have I found the cause of the electrical fault yet?

I opened up extension cord C and inspected it for any difference in wiring from extension cord B. I did find a difference: the live wire was connected to the neutral line and vice versa. Even though I knew this was wrong, I decided to switch the connections of extension cord B (I knew the possible consequences of this wrong connection but I also knew how to handle it), after all, I have seen weirder things (check out how a simple SIM swap unexpectedly solved my internet problem). After reversing the connections in extension cord B, I was disappointed to find that the problem didn’t go away. Upon further reflection, I came to the conclusion that the earth wire might have broken inside. To test this, I run a continuity test on the earth wire of extension cord B and it failed. Then I run the same test on extension cord C and it passed. Even though extension cord A was sealed up, the point at which the cable was connected to the socket was accessible, so I opened it up to do a continuity test, only to find that it didn’t even have a provision for earth connection. Pheeewww! I have finally, found the cause of the fault, I thought: a break in the earth wire for extension cord B and no earth connection point for extension cord A. What a relieve. I decided to change extension cord A because it didn’t have provision for earth connection. I would normally have changed only the cable for extension cord B, but it was already very old and quite heavily mended, so I decided to replace it altogether.

Did I really find the cause of the electrical fault?

The last act ended late in the night, so I had to wait until the next day to get my new replacement extension cords. Early the next morning, I went out even before some electrical shops opened, and bought two brand new extension cords (Lets call them extension cords D and E). I came home and plugged in extension cord B and tested for power in the earth socket. To my dismay, there was power. I tested extension cord E and got the same result. “Whaaat! Even the new extension cords have the same problem?!” I exclaimed. I run continuity tests on the earth wires of both new extension cords and they both failed.

At this point, I thought I was at my wits end. It couldn’t be that even the new extension cords have broken earth wires, and only the earth wires were broken. But all of a sudden, another light flooded my mind. “What is the difference between all these other extension cords and extension cord C that passed the continuity test?” I asked. Upon examining all four extension cords, I noticed that it was only extension cord C that had its original plug top replaced. Though I had no reason to think that there was something weird going on in those original plug tops, I couldn’t stop suspecting that it was where the problem lay. Were the earth wires not connected inside them? Unfortunately, there was no way to tell since they were all sealed up.

Here is the cause of the electrical fault and the solution

Figure 1: Severed original plug tops

I decided to change the plug tops of both extension cords D and E, so off I went to the electrical shop to get me some plug tops. At the electrical shop, I asked them to test the earth line of one of the extension cords they were selling for continuity. Their continuity test failed, just like my extension cords. I took my plug tops home and replaced the originals with them. The extension cords stopped misbehaving: the earth sockets were no longer powered under load.

Figure 2: Replacement plug head

Even though I can’t confirm that the earth wires are not connected with the plug tops of the new extension cords, I can’t find any other explanation for why their groundings were not functioning. Maybe one day I’ll find time and tear one apart to find out. However, it sounds weird that companies would manufacture new extension sockets with 3-pin plug tops and 3-wire cables, connect the earth cable inside the socket but fail to connect it inside the plug top. Maybe if my dear reader is an electrical expert, you may be able to throw light on this in the comments.

My suggestion based on the experience

I’m not sure what is happening elsewhere, but since I live in Ghana, I believe a lot of (if not all) extension cords sold here have the same problem. My suggestion to Ghanaians, therefore, is to have their newly-purchased extension cords tested by a certified electrical technician for power in the earth socket under load. If the earth socket is found to be powered, they should have the plug tops replaced immediately before they are used. This is an important safety measure that should be taken seriously.

Thanks for reading to the end. May God protect you from any electrical disaster in your home, your work place or your place of worship as you take steps to ensure safety.