I have this sewing maching that only has a two prong cord. I had steam cleaned my carpets earlier that day. I sat the sewing machine on a table that had some glasses on it along with a small amount of liquid from the glasses. (drinking glasses) I plugged it in and both bare feet were on the ground. I went to pull this lever to adjust the neddle, and was shocked. The cord was not hot, the breaker did not throw in my apartment, and I am affraid to touch the machine again. I unplugged it after. The only thing I can think of is that the plug does not have a ground.
But I would like to know for sure, and how I can ensure that this will not happen again.

 

the 2 prong cord imples no earthing...which means no safety against leakage of currents onto the body of the sewing machine....there is a gud chance ur wire is broken at a certain place and some is in contact with the body of the sewing machine..best thing 2 do wud be to relace the cord .... putting an earthing connection wud be an added bonus

 

Hi bkeaty...

The thing you have to know is how to hook up the third wire inside the machine if you decide to change the cord over to grounded three conductor. Find a good bolt holding the casing together and use a lug on the end of the wire, don't just twist or even tin the wire into a loop to go around the bolt, it'll squeeze out as your tighteneng the bolt and you won't get the full benefit of the wire guage to carry a short. A short could actually cause the wire to pop right off of the bold under high enough current. And do it by the code, please, White is HOT, Black is COMMON, and Green is GROUND or the "third prong". And make sure that the wiring in the apartment is wired and grounded properly or all your work won't help you a bit if it happens again. Another safety device to install would be a ground-fault in your line, usually a little breaker right in the outlet housing that will save a life in case of another short.

But most importantly, NO bare feet on WET floors touching electrical/electronic equipment! Bad, VERY bad. I hope you weren't hurt too badly. Good luck, and find out where that short is before you just give it a better wire to electrocute yourself with. We'd like you to stick around for a while, okay?

(been shocked before)
Martin

Oooh, I forgot to mention, locate the short and fix it. It might just be where the power cord comes into the case or hooks up to the power switch but it could be a little more devious than that, like a bad piece of wire elsewhere or a bracket touching the contacts on a switch.

 

I hate to say it, but this could be a better solution:

REPLACE THE MACHINE!

I don't think you're supposed to get shocked like that, and while you CAN modify
it, I don't think electricity should be flowing through it the way it is... That in my opinion would be a sign to replace it or have some qualified person look at it. Call the manufacturer up and ask as well. Getting any amount of electricity like that means something is not right.