Shocking Flexwatt development!

i am friends with a high power lineman that got put into the hospital and suffered 3rd deg. burns and was in therapy for months when a tree( wooden) branch hit and crossed lines. his version of wood conducting will suffice for me. i also test live electrical circuits daily 24,120,240,480 single and 3 ph. some how his rack is "tingling" him.



ps. he was working on 19/9 lines these do differ from house wiring.

vaughn

I'm just very confused. Ive taped EVERYTHING that could be remotely considered conductive...

I have the cheapie voltmeter thingy i picked one up today... will go play with it ;-/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kavmon

i am friends with a high power lineman that got put into the hospital and suffered 3rd deg. burns and was in therapy for months when a tree( wooden) branch hit and crossed lines. his version of wood conducting will suffice for me. i also test live electrical circuits daily 24,120,240,480 single and 3 ph. some how his rack is "tingling" him.



ps. he was working on 19/9 lines these do differ from house wiring.

vaughn

---

He said that it's tingling when he touches the foil tape, not the rack.

As far as trees go, it's the sap and leaves that were conducting. But dry wood doesn't conduct. I've been in a couple electrical shops that keep wooden walking canes around (with the varnish stripped off) to pull people off live circuits if somebody hapens to get lit up.

Some types of paint can conduct electricity, even if the wood doesn't. I don't think the shelf is conducting though, or you would get a tingle when touching that too. I would think there is some spot on the conducting strip that is exposed, but on 10 of 11 pieces? Start with the ohmmeter and check resistance between the tape and each prong in the plug, like TraconSnake said. I would check multiple spots along the tape on each strip.

I mentioned this in passing, but I want to underline that you should never use an ohm-meter on a circuit wich has voltage present. Everything must be unplugged lest you fry your ohm-meter. (The way an Ohm Meter works is it introduces a very small voltage to the circuit and measures how much comes back in order to calculate circuit resistance. If power is applied, the meter will get back much more than it bargained for!)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TraconSnake

I mentioned this in passing, but I want to underline that you should never use an ohm-meter on a circuit wich has voltage present. Everything must be unplugged lest you fry your ohm-meter. (The way an Ohm Meter works is it introduces a very small voltage to the circuit and measures how much comes back in order to calculate circuit resistance. If power is applied, the meter will get back much more than it bargained for!)

---

I like you!!!!:) Want a Job..lol

1. Everything is taped up with black electrical tape (3m).

2. There are NO exposed pieces of metal touch the rack, the foil tape, or even the air...

3. I tested the foil tape with a multimeter, and it reads a spike of 3-9 volts when i first touch + and - to the two piece of foil tape running lengtwise down the heat tape. After that initial surge, it levels out at .1-.3 volts

4. I used the ohmeter and tested.... no circuit, no reading, from either prong of the cord, to either side of the foil tape (and remember, im only feeling the tingle when i touch both sides)

Is my foil tape somehow gaining a charge and acting as a capacitor through a slow trickle of ??inductive?? energy from running 4' down the length of a piece of 3" heat tape.

*confused* even more.

Was the meter set to read DCV or ACV? Sounds like it was set to read DCV if it was giving that sort of reading. Stick one end into the ground of the outlet and one end to the foil and see what that yields.

When you say you only feel a tingle, that's what I only felt when I was working on a computer with a hot chassis. (ground problem with the power supply) When I put a meter from the chassis to ground, I got 110VAC.

If there is 110 from the foil to ground, time to see if it's a dead short or not. What's the maximum amperage your multimeter will read? If it will read up to 20 amps, then put one end on ground, momentarily touch the other end to the foil. If it sparks, it's a dead short. (this may also trip the circuit breaker) If it doesn't, hold the lead to the foil and see how many amps you're getting. A dead short would read full current. If you're only getting something like a couple amps, then there is probably a portion of the flexwatt tape wich is exposed to the foil, wich would be a manufacturing defect in the tape.

I'm going to draw up a schematic. As soon as I'm done I'll post it. Let me know if it's accurate to how this setup is wired. Once we get a schematic established we'll better be able to troubleshoot the problem.

Okay, here's the schematic which I will revise as I get more information.

REV A
http://www.realmsoftracon.com/snake/rack1.jpg

Now, I know this is not accurate, so I need more information.

First, does each shelf have a strip of FlexWatt for each tub (as shown in the schematic) or one strip per shelf?

Second, does each shelf have an independant thermostat control, or is there just one main thermostat control for the whole thing?

Does each shelf have one long strip of foil tape (as shown) Actually, looks like in the picture there are two strips per shelf going the entire length. Is that correct?

Aything else on this schematic which needs to be corrected?

Once this schematic is correct, we can start getting some readings and both be on the same page.

-Dan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TraconSnake

Once this schematic is correct, we can start getting some readings and both be on the same page.

-Dan

---

It's true ... Dan really is "the man" ... sorry, couldn't resist. :colbert2:

triple E or work in the trade?

-adam