Quoted from calla76759:...Bottom line is that the machine is designed to function with the ground wire correctly connected. The ground wire exists to dissipate stray currents, and it’s now functioning properly. So it’s sort of an academic (and potentially dangerous) exercise to chase down a stray current that’s probably a nominal aspect of the machine’s design.
Twice, I actually started to type up the very same response as you (not worded as well as yours tho ), but both times I ended up being a little skittish and never posted. As you stated (and I did too in an earlier post), not having a ground itself is a fault, that needed fixed first and foremost. As an electrical engineer (and obliviously not an electrician), I have to remind myself what I understand can be misconstrued by someone else who doesn't have the same background. So I chickened out and played it safe. I even worry when I tell someone to replace a plug, thinking they might accidently swap the hot and neutral.
Short story: While pursuing my degree, I worked as a troubleshooter at a defense contractor. I noticed I would get a shock between some test equipment and an environmental chamber. The problem? A bad ground connection, and an electrician was called in to fixed it. End of story, and I was back to working.
If the O/P wants to really know if this would have been a problem, he would have to unhook ground again and measure the current between the lock down bar and ground. If I'm not mistaken, I think it's in the 60mA range that's fatal. But I agree with your comment - leave it alone, especially if you don't know what you are doing. If I had a concern, first thing I would look at is the EMI filter (as you mentioned) for a leaky cap. Or maybe the filter caps are a value that results in some minor current flow to ground at 60Hz.