Shocking Flexwatt development!

[TraconSnake]

Okay, looks like editing is disabled once there have been replies. The picture is updated, but it still says Rev A on top. It is indeed Rev B.

I did a reading from ground (wall outlet) to the foil, and got about 4-5 volts each... (I was wrong before, I was going from foil to foil)

Okay, and this is a steady 4-5V AC? Hmmm.

Re-reading the first post, you said that this is occurring on just 10 of the 11 shelves. Which shelf is not "hot" (electrically speaking) The top shelf? Bottom shelf?

Induction may be what is going on, but I want to be certain first.

Okay, so, is there anything different about the one shelf that has no voltage? Any possible path to ground? Wired backwards from the other 10? Aligned with sunspots?

With the ten that are hot, unplug all but one. Do the 9 unplugged shelves still shock? Does the one plugged in shelf still shock?

Now, on an unplugged shelf that does shock, set the ohm-meter to it's highest setting, and measure between the foil and either side of the plug. Is there any resistance at all, or is it out of range?

Here's a possible solution based on some assumptions of what I expect the outcome to be.

PROVIDED the one good shelf is somehow grounded...
PROVIDED the shelves only shock when plugged in
PROVIDED there is infinite resistance between the cords and the foil

If the above three are all true, my fix would be to solder a wire to each foil strip, and connect that wire into the ground of the outlet.

You see, if the above is true, I think you were right in venturing that the voltage was being inducted. While the AC coming out of the wall is a very low frequency of 60Hz, it is still AC. As the voltage rises and falls, there is an electromagnetic field which is expanding and collapsing 60 times each second. Whenever a magnetic field is passed through a conductor, in our case the foil strips, a current is induced. Since these foil strips are not connected to ground, there is no way for this current to go anywhere. But when you touch it, the current finds you a good path to follow. Grounding all the foil strips will effectively rid us of this unwanted voltage.

This is why I suspect that the one good shelf is somehow grounded. Or possibly, you have a short in that shelf with the neutral side of the wire. But I'm more inclined to believe that it is somehow grounded.

Let us know what you find out!

MG: I couldn't find a site for the actual company that makes FlexWatt. I think it might be a good idea to call them and ask if they have heard from others about voltages being induced in the foil tape beneath long runs of Flexwatt. As far as the job goes, looks like the commute might be a little long...

Dan