Sorry if this is not the area to ask such questions but you have to start somewhere.
I got a DAB radio for Christmas and decided the place to put was the kitchen. I plugged it into the mains via the supplied double insulated mains adapter and while positioning the aerial I felt a mild tingle. I measured the voltage with my cheap home DVM and got about 90Vac between the aerial and mains ground and also the sink top. I took it into work and asked one of the technicians to verify the reading. He managed to get 95Vac between the aerial and the mains ground on his work bench.
I return the radio to the supplier and got a different more expensive make/model.
Thinking this would be OK I set the radio up in the kitchen and this time got a mild electric shock when I checked the aerial with the back of my hand.
Took the radio to work and this time the reading between the aerial and mains earth was 99Vac with a current flow of about 1.5mA ac.
OK the shock obtained for these radios would not normally cause to much of a physical problem but I wondered about our patients; they are not always in top physical condition and not always fully "awake" .
Also what would happen if a component failed and the current flow to earth from the aerial increased to over 20 or 30 mA ac.
Hence the questions
Is it normal for equipment powered via these plug in mains adaptors to "float" at such a high voltage?
Is this a danger? If not why not?
Regards
Patrick
