Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 19, 2000 02:57am | #8

   *
   Has anyone been zapped by their new deck? Today my partner described the bright flash and major shock he experienced while working on the deck and casually touching the metal handrail. Something like shuffling your feet across a carpet and touching a metal doorknob (or another person) but greatly magnified. The product is plastic decking by CAREFREE, a U.S.Plastic Lumber product. We joked about it but this is a major sized deck and will be used not only by the owners to watch the sunrise but for party guests too. We can only imagine what the response would be when someone comes out of the pool dripping wet, walks across this deck and leans on the rail while sipping a cocktail. Maybe vodka rocks flambe?

   Any thoughts on grounding this power grid?

   Also, he was soaking wet (sweat) and wearing sneakers. (Waiting for a reply from the manufacturer).

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 15, 2000 03:27pm | #1

   *I'll stick my neck out for a theory..Your partner was wet with sweat, but his sneakers were probably dry on the bottom. If the deck material is getting wet from wet shoes or feet, no static electricity will build up, as there will be no friction. There is no way to ground plastic unless the blend of plastic is conductive ( like those plastic bags sensitive electronic devices are packed in). You just have to warn all guests to wear wet shoes for the party...Frank

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 15, 2000 03:52pm | #2

   *Kinda sucks to have to take precautionary measures against injury every time you use your brand new deck...Think I'd be considering a letter to the manufacturer of the materials, and/or the place where you bought the materials, commenting on the diminished capacity to enjoy your new deck and asking why you weren't informed of the possiblity before you used their materials.Maybe Include a suggestion that they help you to aleviate the problem since you bought their materials in good faith. The product is sold specificaly for this use, no ?As for grounding it, maybe you could router a couple grooves in the top of each plank and run copper wire in those grooves. The groove would have to be shallow enough, and/or the wire thick enough, that peoples' feet would make contact with the wire yet not cause a trip hazard.Maybe staple the wire down into the grooves with a good staple gun. Connect all the wires and run to a 10' piece of rebar driven into the ground all but 6".I can see it now. People everywhere will be routing intricate patterns into their plastic decks, with through holes, and weaving copper wire through the designs. When they do, you can say you heard it from Luka first...

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 15, 2000 08:35pm | #3

   *Back in the early days of microcomputing there was available a static control spray that we used on carpets in areas where there was static electricty build up. I haven't seen it for a while (it used to be available at electronics supply houses) and I don't know that this stuff would last very long when exposed to the elements. Perhaps you could paint it with a conductive metallic paint - how about a nice aluminum color for the deck...

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 16, 2000 05:26am | #4

   *The rubber rubbing the plastic and being dry is clearly the issue - so make the deck barefoot only.-Rob

2. 
   John_Kemmett | Jun 17, 2000 06:38pm | #5

   *is the metal rail grounded to the pool ground. if not , maybe you should. anything metal within I think ten feet should be. if everything is at the same potential a shock is unlikely

3. 
   Guest_ | Jun 17, 2000 07:31pm | #6

   *Since you say this is stronger than the normal static electricity jolt I would suspect you have some leakage from a nearby electrical circuit. This would fit the symptoms very closely. This could even be a buried wire. In some places underground wiring combined with damp soil create quite a ground gradient.So I'd first kill circuits starting at the main pool or house service to see if that makes any difference. Then isolate down to the individual circuit. Bet that solves the problem.

4. 
   Guest_ | Jun 18, 2000 08:35am | #7

   *Hey I like a little shock every now and thenDavidddddddddddd

5. 
   Guest_ | Jun 19, 2000 02:57am | #9

   *I think FredB right. Have you checked all the circuits for an open ground? I don't see how static could give as great a shock as what you're saying.A builder friend called me in one time to do some trouble shooting. A lady was watering her roses close to the inground pool and her husband clear across the deck--35'--was getting a strong tingle. When my friend and I repeated this we found it not be a tingle at all, it was much stronger. Scratching our heads for days, we finally figured out it was the garbage disposal, of all things. Two years before, the owners had the pool put in and a small bath house. The detatched bath house was energized off the circuit which previously had only the disposal (?). The buried romex--no pvc conduit--went right under where the lady chose to plant her roses. The 20A circuit never popped because it didn't have a GFCI and only supplied two 60 watt fixtures and the disposal.