If you mean more than just a single shock like when you scuff your shoes on the rug and touch something metal (i.e., soemthing that persists as long as you are in contact with the unit)...Please go down and turn off the breaker to the cooktop. You have a serious installation error here or defect in the unit (or both). The exposed metal should be bonded to ground which will both keep you from getting a shock but also trip the breaker when something energizes the unit like this.

Have a qualified person come in and check it out.

Oh ya - its like a shock Ive never felt before. I think it has something to do with the metal edging - not the cooktop at all.

You're not experiencing a shock when you touch the cooking surface because the cooking surface is glass which is an electrical insulator. As Ron said, turn off the breaker IMMEDIATELY and DO NOT use the unit until it has been inspected by a qualified person.

This post was edited by mike_kaiser on Thu, Dec 27, 12 at 12:12

THIS THING IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!! DO NOT USE!!!

The cooktop is definitely something to worry about, but when you get a licensed electrician in to fix it have him or her check out all that is going on in the backsplash. Before you turn the breaker for the cooktop blank out that receptacle and forget about it.

Eh? It's a dumb place to put it, but I can guess that it's a required receptacle because they didn't place sufficient ones to the left and right of the cooktop.
The scary thing is what is that cord heading vertically from the receptacle?

210.52(C)(1)Exception makes it not required. As pictured in the top of this thread it is a dangerous but attractive nuisance.

You can't say that without knowing if there are other receptacles covering the required areas *OTHER THAN THE WHERE THE COOKTOP IS*. Your suggestion to just cover that one up is ILLEGAL unless the countertops to the right and left meet the requirements of 210.52.

What I can say is this: I am a professional firefighter with over 30 years of experience in a medium sized department. We are not particularly busy, but we generally arrive at an address within 5 minutes of an alarm notification. I have been to two separate fatal fires in daylight hours where an adult female occupant was the sole victim and the cause was clothing ignited by the top of a stove. I'm not sure about the source of power in one of the incidents but the other involved an electric range. Property damage in both cases was limited to smoke and water so it's not like they were trapped in something that turned into an inferno. There was no alcohol or drug involvement and no physical or mental deficiency or disability.

So, that still doesn't justifying making one unsafe situation into another unsafe situation. The electrical codes exist for fire safety as well (they are authored by the National Fire Protection Association). You can not just cap off those receptacles unless there are sufficient other receptacles. The argument is that people will run extension cords to make the appliances work on the areas no longer served. Having an extension cord running across the back of the cooktop doesn't make your idea a whole lot safer.

The plug & cords on the back wall have nothing to do with the cooktop. The cooktop is all wired underneath, I do have an electrician coming out soon. Seems that only water (wet hands or a dish rag) cause a shock and only when in contact with the metal edging.

We're not arguing that. It was silly to put the outlet there, but it may have to stay. The scary thing is what is that wire running UP the wall from the receptacle behind the cooktop.

Water or not, coming in contact with exposed metal on an appliance shouldn't cause a shock. My guess is that this doesn't have a proper ground (legal in certain groundfather places) and the groundED conductor has some issue with it but anything is possible.

That cord is the plug for the range/hood, it plugs into that receptical.

The outlet for a range/hood should be up behind said range/hood, not down on the backsplash.