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#1
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Electricity under water
I built a lake home for some clients and later installed an
underground drop to a pedestal with a 240 volt disconnect (exactly like an AC disconnect). From there, the people who built the dock tied into the disconnect to run wire out to the dock. Then the rains came. The lake rose almost 35 feet in a matter of weeks. More rain. The lake rose to flood stage and submerged the pedestal. Yet power remained to the dock. The pedestal was under about 15' of water, yet did not trip the breaker at the main service. The owner called me and asked if this was dangerous and I said yes, turn off the breaker at the breaker box, which he did. My question is: why did the breaker not trip when the disconnect was submerged? It is not waterproof by any means. -- Robert Allison Rimshot, Inc. Georgetown, TX |
#2
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Electricity under water
Robert Allison wrote:
OOPS! meant to post this to alt.home.repair! If any of you have the answer, though, let me know. -- Robert Allison Rimshot, Inc. Georgetown, TX |
#3
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Electricity under water
On Aug 16, 10:46 am, Robert Allison wrote:
Robert Allison wrote: OOPS! meant to post this to alt.home.repair! If any of you have the answer, though, let me know. -- Robert Allison Rimshot, Inc. Georgetown, TX Water doesn't conduct well. In fact, one method of measuring water's purity, is by measuring how badly it conducts electrical impulses. One of the reasons the human body conducts reasonably well, is the saline content in our bodily fluids, Mandrake. (Obscure reference intended) r |
#4
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Electricity under water
"Robert Allison" wrote in message news:7rZwi.10205$Ns6.3760@trnddc01... Robert Allison wrote: OOPS! meant to post this to alt.home.repair! If any of you have the answer, though, let me know. -- Robert Allison Rimshot, Inc. Georgetown, TX My bet is it was shorting through the water, but not enough to trip the breaker. It would have been interesting to check the amp draw on the circuit. I few years ago I was helping a friend do some construction. We had a couple extension cords run and it rained. The one cord ended up with the end laying in a water puddle. When I noticed it in the water, the water was bubbling at the cord end, but it did not trip the 20 amp breaker on the circuit. So it was definitely drawing some power. Greg |
#5
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Electricity under water
"Robert Allison" wrote in message news:joZwi.10203$Ns6.10019@trnddc01... I built a lake home for some clients and later installed an underground drop to a pedestal with a 240 volt disconnect (exactly like an AC disconnect). From there, the people who built the dock tied into the disconnect to run wire out to the dock. Then the rains came. The lake rose almost 35 feet in a matter of weeks. More rain. The lake rose to flood stage and submerged the pedestal. Yet power remained to the dock. The pedestal was under about 15' of water, yet did not trip the breaker at the main service. The owner called me and asked if this was dangerous and I said yes, turn off the breaker at the breaker box, which he did. My question is: why did the breaker not trip when the disconnect was submerged? It is not waterproof by any means. Mythbusters did a segment on tossing a toaster in the bathtub and see if you could be electrocuted. They found some current between the toaster and the drain, when the drain was metal and grounded; otherwise nothing. I am surprised there was even that; the toaster neutral is a rather better ground than anything else; why would current go through a person instead? Oh, to answer your question; without dissolved salt; water does not conduct electricity. All the rain was distilled water. |
#6
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Electricity under water
In article , "Toller" wrote:
Oh, to answer your question; without dissolved salt; water does not conduct electricity. That's not true. *Pure* water is a very poor conductor of electricity -- but having *anything* dissolved in it (not just salt) makes it conductive. All the rain was distilled water. What, you think all the water in the lake got there directly as rainfall? None of it was runoff? And nothing ever dissolved in it afterward? -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again. |
#7
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Electricity under water
Doug Miller wrote:
In article , "Toller" wrote: Oh, to answer your question; without dissolved salt; water does not conduct electricity. That's not true. *Pure* water is a very poor conductor of electricity -- but having *anything* dissolved in it (not just salt) makes it conductive. All the rain was distilled water. What, you think all the water in the lake got there directly as rainfall? None of it was runoff? And nothing ever dissolved in it afterward? Way back when, long before now, hopefully long enough ago for the statutes of limitations to expire, we used to do what we called "telephoning fish". We did this using the generator from the old crank telephones. Drop a weighted wire to the bottom and another wire that we just stuck in the top of the pond, stream, creek, etc. Crank on the handle, and fish would float up. This was fresh water. It seemed to conduct the current well enough to stun the fish. -- Robert Allison Rimshot, Inc. Georgetown, TX |
#8
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Electricity under water
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#10
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Electricity under water
You can also use the same thing for gathering worms for fishing. Just
wet two spots in the soil, stick two large nails into the soil and hook the magneto to the nails. Crank like hell. Dave N Doug Miller wrote: In article Sl0xi.68065$SV4.62923@trnddc08, wrote: Doug Miller wrote: In article , "Toller" wrote: Oh, to answer your question; without dissolved salt; water does not conduct electricity. That's not true. *Pure* water is a very poor conductor of electricity -- but having *anything* dissolved in it (not just salt) makes it conductive. All the rain was distilled water. What, you think all the water in the lake got there directly as rainfall? None of it was runoff? And nothing ever dissolved in it afterward? Way back when, long before now, hopefully long enough ago for the statutes of limitations to expire, we used to do what we called "telephoning fish". We did this using the generator from the old crank telephones. Drop a weighted wire to the bottom and another wire that we just stuck in the top of the pond, stream, creek, etc. Crank on the handle, and fish would float up. This was fresh water. It seemed to conduct the current well enough to stun the fish. Cool! I've heard of that before, but never saw it done. How big a fish can you stun this way? And how far away from the apparatus? |
#11
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Electricity under water
Oh, to answer your question; without dissolved salt; water does not conduct electricity. That's not true. *Pure* water is a very poor conductor of electricity -- but having *anything* dissolved in it (not just salt) makes it conductive. All the rain was distilled water. What, you think all the water in the lake got there directly as rainfall? None of it was runoff? And nothing ever dissolved in it afterward? Way back when, long before now, hopefully long enough ago for the statutes of limitations to expire, we used to do what we called "telephoning fish". We did this using the generator from the old crank telephones. Drop a weighted wire to the bottom and another wire that we just stuck in the top of the pond, stream, creek, etc. Crank on the handle, and fish would float up. This was fresh water. It seemed to conduct the current well enough to stun the fish. The same type of system is used by fisheries to stun fish so they can count them. |
#12
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Electricity under water
Doug Miller wrote:
All the rain was distilled water. What, you think all the water in the lake got there directly as rainfall? None of it was runoff? And nothing ever dissolved in it afterward? Very little is dissolved in rainwater run-off. There may be a huge amount of dirt and stuff in suspension, but dirt in suspension is no different from a log floating by. The only thing that COULD dissolve in the run-off was stuff put down since the last rain. |
#13
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Electricity under water
In article , "HeyBub" wrote:
Doug Miller wrote: All the rain was distilled water. What, you think all the water in the lake got there directly as rainfall? None of it was runoff? And nothing ever dissolved in it afterward? Very little is dissolved in rainwater run-off. There may be a huge amount of dirt and stuff in suspension, but dirt in suspension is no different from a log floating by. The only thing that COULD dissolve in the run-off was stuff put down since the last rain. Hmmmm.... So you think that there isn't much dissolved in lake water, eh? Try an experiment: dip a quart jar full from your nearest lake, then measure the electrical resistance. -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again. |
#14
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Electricity under water
HeyBub wrote:
Doug Miller wrote: All the rain was distilled water. What, you think all the water in the lake got there directly as rainfall? None of it was runoff? And nothing ever dissolved in it afterward? Very little is dissolved in rainwater run-off. There may be a huge amount of dirt and stuff in suspension, ... So none of the Ca/Mg/Mn/K/etc. salts in some of that dirt and stuff manages to dissolve at all, huh? Interesting hypothesis... -- |
#15
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Electricity under water
dpb wrote:
HeyBub wrote: Doug Miller wrote: All the rain was distilled water. What, you think all the water in the lake got there directly as rainfall? None of it was runoff? And nothing ever dissolved in it afterward? Very little is dissolved in rainwater run-off. There may be a huge amount of dirt and stuff in suspension, ... So none of the Ca/Mg/Mn/K/etc. salts in some of that dirt and stuff manages to dissolve at all, huh? Interesting hypothesis... Right. It all dissolved in last week's rain. Freshly applied fertilizer, however, is a different matter. |
#16
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Electricity under water
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:21:23 GMT, "Toller" wrote:
"Robert Allison" wrote in message news:joZwi.10203$Ns6.10019@trnddc01... I built a lake home for some clients and later installed an underground drop to a pedestal with a 240 volt disconnect (exactly like an AC disconnect). From there, the people who built the dock tied into the disconnect to run wire out to the dock. Then the rains came. The lake rose almost 35 feet in a matter of weeks. More rain. The lake rose to flood stage and submerged the pedestal. Yet power remained to the dock. The pedestal was under about 15' of water, yet did not trip the breaker at the main service. The owner called me and asked if this was dangerous and I said yes, turn off the breaker at the breaker box, which he did. My question is: why did the breaker not trip when the disconnect was submerged? It is not waterproof by any means. Mythbusters did a segment on tossing a toaster in the bathtub and see if you could be electrocuted. They found some current between the toaster and the drain, when the drain was metal and grounded; otherwise nothing. I am surprised there was even that; the toaster neutral is a rather better ground than anything else; why would current go through a person instead? Oh, to answer your question; without dissolved salt; water does not conduct electricity. All the rain was distilled water. Water apparently conducts enough to allow for electrolisys (sp?) to occur in rivers and lakes. That is why outboard motors and I/O outdrives (as well as the boats themselves on inboards) have anodes attached. These are made from a metal more subject to being eaten up than the metal on the boat or motor. I believe that for fresh water the anodes are made from magnisium. These anodes are eaten away from fairly natural electric charges in water, but get eaten much faster near commercail docks with electric service. That is usually due to some doofus having his boat connected to the electric service with some type of power leak somewhere on the boat that allows a little charge to find its way to the water. That reminds me, I need to check the ones on my boat which are probably due to be replaced soon ;-). Dave Hall |
#17
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Electricity under water
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:43:27 GMT, Robert Allison
wrote: I built a lake home for some clients and later installed an underground drop to a pedestal with a 240 volt disconnect (exactly like an AC disconnect). From there, the people who built the dock tied into the disconnect to run wire out to the dock. Then the rains came. The lake rose almost 35 feet in a matter of weeks. More rain. The lake rose to flood stage and submerged the pedestal. Yet power remained to the dock. The pedestal was under about 15' of water, yet did not trip the breaker at the main service. The owner called me and asked if this was dangerous and I said yes, turn off the breaker at the breaker box, which he did. My question is: why did the breaker not trip when the disconnect was submerged? It is not waterproof by any means. You have a nice pure lake there. "Reference Data for Radio Engineers" classifies distilled water as an insulator, although as insulators go, it's a very poor one. 10^6 ohm-cm Ionized ("impure") water is more highly conductive, but how much so is difficult to predict. Rest assured that some conduction was going on, it was just less than the trip point of the breaker. At least the load was water-cooled. :-) |
#18
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Electricity under water
"Robert Allison" wrote in message
I built a lake home for some clients and later installed an underground drop to a pedestal with a 240 volt disconnect (exactly like an AC disconnect). From there, the people who built the dock tied into the disconnect to run wire out to the dock. Then the rains came. The lake rose almost 35 feet in a matter of weeks. More rain. The lake rose to flood stage and submerged the pedestal. Yet power remained to the dock. The pedestal was under about 15' of water, yet did not trip the breaker at the main service. The owner called me and asked if this was dangerous and I said yes, turn off the breaker at the breaker box, which he did. My question is: why did the breaker not trip when the disconnect was submerged? It is not waterproof by any means. Not unusual ... when my own house flooded in 2001, and before I could turn the service off, all receptacles under water were still hot and the only ones that tripped were the GFCI in the garage ... which brings up the point that your circuit above ideally should be GFCI breaker protected, for the outdoor purpose stated. As the builder you might want to consider springing for one after the fact, while you still can. -- www.e-woodshop.net Last update: 6/1/07 KarlC@ (the obvious) |
#19
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Electricity under water
Swingman wrote:
"Robert Allison" wrote in message I built a lake home for some clients and later installed an underground drop to a pedestal with a 240 volt disconnect (exactly like an AC disconnect). From there, the people who built the dock tied into the disconnect to run wire out to the dock. Then the rains came. The lake rose almost 35 feet in a matter of weeks. More rain. The lake rose to flood stage and submerged the pedestal. Yet power remained to the dock. The pedestal was under about 15' of water, yet did not trip the breaker at the main service. The owner called me and asked if this was dangerous and I said yes, turn off the breaker at the breaker box, which he did. My question is: why did the breaker not trip when the disconnect was submerged? It is not waterproof by any means. Not unusual ... when my own house flooded in 2001, and before I could turn the service off, all receptacles under water were still hot and the only ones that tripped were the GFCI in the garage ... which brings up the point that your circuit above ideally should be GFCI breaker protected, for the outdoor purpose stated. As the builder you might want to consider springing for one after the fact, while you still can. We originally installed a GFCI. The owners got real tired of walking the 600 feet to reset the breaker. It tripped about every 10 minutes. Replaced it with a different GFCI. Tripped about every 15 minutes. Replaced with standard. Won't even trip when underwater. My electrician checked the drop and found no problems. He said that on that long of a run, a GFCI is not a good solution due to constant tripping of the breaker. I have found that to be true with several other applications, also. The way it is set up, there is a 50 amp breaker protecting the line to the pedestal, then to the dock. On the dock is a subpanel with breakers protecting everything else. -- Robert Allison Rimshot, Inc. Georgetown, TX |
#21
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Electricity under water
On Aug 16, 7:06 pm, Peter Huebner wrote:
I expect a certain amount of hydrogen and oxygen would have been bubbling up from that outlet. Electrolysis from an AC source? I'll have to give that some thought. Every bubble from either conductor would alternate between hydrogen and oxygen. Good one, Peter, now I'll be thinking about that... you know.. a bitf like a song that won't go away...a whistled tune...like Andy Griffith's Mayberry RFD |
#22
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Electricity under water
"Robatoy" wrote: Electrolysis from an AC source? Absolutely. Just check any boat at the yacht club that has a shore power system grounded to the water instead of back to the service entrance. Those installations EAT anodes. Ever hear of "ground loops"? Lew Lew |
#23
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Electricity under water
On Aug 16, 9:23 pm, "Lew Hodgett" wrote:
"Robatoy" wrote: Electrolysis from an AC source? Absolutely. Just check any boat at the yacht club that has a shore power system grounded to the water instead of back to the service entrance. Those installations EAT anodes. Ever hear of "ground loops"? Yes of course. But how does the rectfication occur so that you're left with an anode/oxygen only bubbles? Are you talking about cathodic protection of propellor/shafts and even a steel hull? The good ol' galvanic sacrifice? Just trying to learn something here..... |
#24
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Electricity under water
"Robatoy" wrote: Yes of course. But how does the rectfication occur so that you're left with an anode/oxygen only bubbles? Are you talking about cathodic protection of propellor/shafts and even a steel hull? The good ol' galvanic sacrifice? Rectification? That is exactly what I'm talking about. It is the basic reason you NEVER want to go swimming in a marina. Most marinas that provide shore power will have stray currents in the water and they can kill you. Lew |
#25
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Electricity under water
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:14:00 -0700, Robatoy
wrote: Electrolysis from an AC source? ... Don't immediately see any reason why not. During the specific half cycle between each zero crossing, the voltage/current is time varying DC. If there is no time delay between the current beginning to flow and electrolysis beginning, or if such a threshold does exist and it's less than 1/120 sec, then H2O molecules should be split into hydrogen and oxygen during each half cycle. If there is no mechanism to recombine the hydrogen generated during one half cycle with the oxygen generated during the previous and/or next half cycle, the bubbles from each electrode should contain a mix of hydrogen and oxygen. Possibly separate bubbles, possibly a gas mixture in each bubble, but in either case, not a worthwhile separation technique without calling on Maxwell's Demon to direct traffic. Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA |
#26
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Electricity under water
On Aug 16, 11:51 pm, Tom Veatch wrote:
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:14:00 -0700, Robatoy wrote: Electrolysis from an AC source? ... Don't immediately see any reason why not. During the specific half cycle between each zero crossing, the voltage/current is time varying DC. If there is no time delay between the current beginning to flow and electrolysis beginning, or if such a threshold does exist and it's less than 1/120 sec, then H2O molecules should be split into hydrogen and oxygen during each half cycle. If there is no mechanism to recombine the hydrogen generated during one half cycle with the oxygen generated during the previous and/or next half cycle, the bubbles from each electrode should contain a mix of hydrogen and oxygen. Possibly separate bubbles, possibly a gas mixture in each bubble, but in either case, not a worthwhile separation technique without calling on Maxwell's Demon to direct traffic. Yup, I'll buy that. *in my best Maxwell Smart voice* "the ol' cathode/ anode switch at 60 Hz" |
#27
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Electricity under water
Robatoy wrote:
| Yup, I'll buy that. *in my best Maxwell Smart voice* "the ol' | cathode/ anode switch at 60 Hz" Agent 99 would probably suggest that it's really the more recent "cathode/anode switch at 120 Hz" :-) -- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/ |
#28
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Electricity under water
I expect a certain amount of hydrogen and oxygen would have been bubbling up from that outlet. Electrolysis from an AC source? I'll have to give that some thought. Every bubble from either conductor would alternate between hydrogen and oxygen. Good one, Peter, now I'll be thinking about that... you know.. a bitf like a song that won't go away...a whistled tune...like Andy Griffith's Mayberry RFD The very reason you don't use AC for electrolysis. You end up with containers full of H2 and O2. Not something you want to have. |
#29
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Electricity under water
"no spam" wrote in message . net... I expect a certain amount of hydrogen and oxygen would have been bubbling up from that outlet. Electrolysis from an AC source? I'll have to give that some thought. Every bubble from either conductor would alternate between hydrogen and oxygen. Good one, Peter, now I'll be thinking about that... you know.. a bitf like a song that won't go away...a whistled tune...like Andy Griffith's Mayberry RFD The very reason you don't use AC for electrolysis. You end up with containers full of H2 and O2. Not something you want to have. H2 and O2 mixed, off each electrode. Start running. |
#30
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Electricity under water
In article , d@p says...
H2 and O2 mixed, off each electrode. Start running. but no smoking heels ;-) -- ========================================= firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com |
#31
Posted to rec.woodworking
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Electricity under water
"Robert Allison" wrote in message
news:joZwi.10203$Ns6.10019@trnddc01... I built a lake home for some clients and later installed an underground drop to a pedestal with a 240 volt disconnect (exactly like an AC disconnect). From there, the people who built the dock tied into the disconnect to run wire out to the dock. Then the rains came. The lake rose almost 35 feet in a matter of weeks. More rain. The lake rose to flood stage and submerged the pedestal. Yet power remained to the dock. The pedestal was under about 15' of water, yet did not trip the breaker at the main service. The owner called me and asked if this was dangerous and I said yes, turn off the breaker at the breaker box, which he did. My question is: why did the breaker not trip when the disconnect was submerged? It is not waterproof by any means. -- Robert Allison Rimshot, Inc. Georgetown, TX There is not enough surface area of the contacts and the water is not conductive enough to trip the breaker. Depending on how long it was under water with the power applied, i'd bet there is pretty heavy corrosion of the contacts. John |
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