Outer Limits 4x4 Board

here is a very interesting one for you guys.

suzuki sierra. i notice the other day what while i was out 4wding i got out of the car to have a look at somthing. i touch the front bar and got a little shocks so i was like ok then. tounch around the car and got shocks from everywhere including the fuel tank cap . if i hold still enough you can see the spark jump to my finger.

i didnt have shoes on and was standing on dirt. i have a winch, 2 batterys in paralell. it did it when the car was on, not shure about when its off. i dont get a shock while i was sitting in the car though.
back on the tarmac no shocks no matter what i try which is weird.

i dont know what it could be but whats the chances of the ground i was standing on was electric? there are power lines in the place i was at.

its just static, generally cars, and people and other moving objects can build up quite a charge of thousands of volts, but next to no amperage. So standing on the ground and touching the car completes the circuit. Its very unlikely to be anything wrong with the car, or the ground. Depends on the relative humidity in the air too, high humidity lets the static escape before you notice it. Low humidity, it builds up until something earths it, like your body, thats why you dont get shocked while sitting in the car. Try using your keys as a contact point, that way you wont feel the burn from the shock as its distributed over a larger contact area in your hand.

yer i though it might have been static too but i can sit there all day getting shocked and if i hold the back on my finer on my front bar i can fell it getting shocks contandtly like little needles. what is weird is only happneds at that 1 place

I had a pair of thongs that were terrible for static, once the dogs ate em it was all good again,

Perhaps its just what you were wearing on the day

didnt have any shoes on. and ive been back there and still the same

brendan_h wrote:didnt have any shoes on. and ive been back there and still the same

Don't go back?

Yes, a little strange. Most likely something to do with voltage fields from the overhead lines rather than a problem with your vehicle. What was the weather like?

possibly (although highly unlikely) a step potential may exist at that area due to the overhead powerlines and any earth return path that may be travelling in parallel with the aerial earth on the tower. step and touch potential usually only exists under fault conditions though.

yer i think its very weird. i will need to do some more testing

where was this mate? i wanna go check it out

Try taking a fluoro tube and a bottle of water out there at night. Spill the water on a patch of dirt, hold the tube vertically, push one end into the wet earth and see if the tube glows. If it does, then the air is charged to high voltage in the vicinity of the powerlines and returning to ground via the best conductor possible (ie you, via your hand touching the steel of your Zook).

Love this photo

Thats awesome!

danssurf82 wrote:where was this mate? i wanna go check it out

its at vinyard

Were you parked on an electric fence??

ausoops wrote:possibly (although highly unlikely) a step potential may exist at that area due to the overhead powerlines and any earth return path that may be travelling in parallel with the aerial earth on the tower. step and touch potential usually only exists under fault conditions though.

close to the answer. its called induction. harmless. just annoying, mainly near the big steel powerline towers. power doesn't run throught the cable it runs on the surface and dissipates outwards like the ripples in a pond and if youve got close enough to those 'ripples' then it can charge your car or anything big and conductive!

Moph wrote:Try taking a fluoro tube and a bottle of water out there at night. Spill the water on a patch of dirt, hold the tube vertically, push one end into the wet earth and see if the tube glows. If it does, then the air is charged to high voltage in the vicinity of the powerlines and returning to ground via the best conductor possible (ie you, via your hand touching the steel of your Zook).

Love this photo

+1 try this mate, seen it done before. pretty cool to see