It isn't properly grounded. Have the electrician come back ASAP.

Thanks - he is coming back this afternoon. I just don't want to have him say something to get out of this and leave me stranded with a shocking stove

He would be shocked at the reaction of the AHJ relative to future electrical permits if an inspection revealed that the hot side of a circuit was wired to a chassis that evidently is not bonded to the grounding system.

kas

somethings still not right, that wire should have either blown yours house's circuit breaker, or a circuit board or fuse on the stove (if it had any for the light). Why?
Because the stove is supposed to go to earth ground, and a hot wire touching the stove (from any source) would have caused what I described above. Since the stove is obviously not "Earth grounded", the hot wire did nuttin cept fry you!

Check your installation manual on the stove, I'm sure it should be grounded, at any rate, get "sparky" back and find out why the stove is Not Grounded!

Gary

Stoves typically don't use GFCI breakers, and thus current that should go to neutral or the other split phase isn't detected when it goes to ground instead. I imagine that the light filament and maybe circuit components were in series with the phase and limited the current to much less than the breaker's threshold. (The lamp, after all, was dim.)

However, this doesn't explain why the OP got shocked. The ground of the stove should be at the same potential as that of the microwave. I agree that there is still a problem. A meter should be used to check continuity between the two appliance frames, as well as from each frame to some other grounds that are believed functional. More than half an ohm between the stove chassis and the ground bar at the breaker box would be a hazard at the current level the stove breaker could allow.

kas

Ya Right Kas!

Gary

Thanks so much for the additional information. I emailed the electrician earlier today and asked how I would know that the stove is grounded properly. Haven't heard back from him yet.

He did say that GFI's aren't required for the stove and microwave. I wish I had thought about it a bit more and asked why the breaker didn't trip when we got shocked. He replaced all of the outlets in the kitchen with GFI outlets during our project. He also checked the level of electricity on the stove and MW and said that they were neutral.

Ugh, this is hard! Way over this accountant's head!

You would not be here chattin with us if you had enough current going thru you to trip the breaker, and Electrician is correct about GFI for those appliances, Fridges as well, as they can inadvertently trip GFI's.

What should have protected you was the Earth ground on the stove or Microwave. Any electricity that was fed to the chassis of either appliance should have been routed to ground and not to you, IE, the ground is what protects you.

Most any appliance today, has 3 prongs, the rounded one is Earth ground (In the US). Look at the plug on your washer, your dryer, etc etc etc, The theory is if all the voltage goes to ground, in case of a mishap like on your range, then there is nothing left to harm you, (In "Accountant terms") it is like "Bankrupcy", there's nuttin left (to get ya)!(4 wire connections like on a range are of course different), but still one of the wires is earth ground (US).

Good luck with "Sparky"

Gary

ok - so I pulled out the manual for the range. The electrician was supposed to install a 3 prong plug (4 prongs are only for new construction per the manual).

I can see where a cord would come through a strain relief bracket and should be attached to a terminal block. The middle wire gets attached to the neutral terminal. Below that should be a ground plate with a screw in it. There's also a ground strap but I can't tell exactly what that is.

If the electrician came out and showed me that these all looked like the manual, should I know that the range is properly grounded? Is there a way he could test the ground and show me that it was properly grounded?

Also, because we were shocked when when we touched the microwave, is there an issue with the microwave being properly installed? It came with a 3 prong plug and is plugged in the cabinet above the microwave in a new outlet.

rslmt,I was going to suggest you post this in the Electrical Wiring forum, but visiting there, I found you have already done so.

Should be a lot of good info over there, and it appears they all tend to agree with my posts, that your range is not properly grounded, Hopefully your electrician will take care of it!!----He's taking quite a chance in the fact you got shocked, There are some folks that would already have contacted a "Mouthpiece" by this time, so He is very fortunate you are not one of those.

He best get over there ASAP and get things properly grounded, If He doesn't, find another electrician and tell him "I'm gonna send you the invoice for that Electrician".

You and your familie's safety should be his #1 priority, right now!

Good luck and keep us posted on the "Final Outcome".

Gary

"so I pulled out the manual for the range. The electrician was supposed to install a 3 prong plug (4 prongs are only for new construction per the manual). "

You can use a 3-wire circuit if you do not make any changes to the circuit, then you MUST switch to 4-wire.

It is up to the AHJ what constitutes 'changes' that would require new branch circuit wiring.

Moving the outlet often requires an upgrade.