Electricity where i dont want it !

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meier

Active member
Joined
Aug 16, 2016
Messages
37
Location
Denmark / EU
:shock: was checking the wheels ...when touching the brake drum and felt a nice buzz in my finger ...very noticeable ! not painfull but enough to be uncomfortable !

https://youtu.be/2rbp2q0UmN8


What can it be ?
 
Very interesting. From the sound at the end of the clip, I take it that the car is charging? If so, there could be a weak earth ground connection somewhere. However, any leakage to ground should trip the GFCI in the EVSE.

Does the same thing show when the car is off or in READY?

My other guess would be environmental. Was there a storm approaching?
 
Try making that measurement with the meter set to AC volts, V~ --what is the reading?

i doubt you would feel DC voltage at 1 volts, but i suspect you will have a much higher AC voltage reading.

If you do, and it occurs during charging, then somehow AC voltage is leaking to chassis.
 
kiev said:
Try making that measurement with the meter set to AC volts, V~ --what is the reading?

i doubt you would feel DC voltage at 1 volts, but i suspect you will have a much higher AC voltage reading.
Without a doubt - You for sure can't feel one volt, not even a 9 volt battery (unless you stick it on your tongue, which is what I do to tell if the battery is fresh or dead) so whatever you have going on isn't DC volts - It's something else

Don
 
thx guys, did a test ....only occurs when charging... and look cray actually the voltmeter picked up a charge in the air close to the charger. Any way 100v measured on the chassis ....

https://youtu.be/WwowwtiDkBc
 
Inspect your connector terminals both on the car and on the EVSE plug for any signs of dirt, debris, moisture, cracking, black sooty marks from arcing, etc. Check the AC voltage of your EVSE plug to be sure you are getting mains power on the correct lines. What is your AC charging voltage--is it from 220VAC, 50 Hz? Is it 2 legs of a 3-phase circuit? Maybe a phase circuit breaker has tripped one leg and your power is floating, i.e. there is no return path to complete the circuit. Be careful for sure until you figure this out.

Have you had any service work done recently on the vehicle, maybe in the rear engine compartment area?

One of the phase lines from the AC voltage coming into the car has a (hopefully high resistance) short-circuit connection to chassis. When you touch the car and ground at the same time, then you complete the circuit and get a shock.

So now use your meter on AC Amps~ [you will need to move the red meter lead to the A hole in the range that you are testing] and measure between chassis and ground to see how much current will leak thru. Start on the highest scale and work your way down to get a good reading. If you take more pictures, show your charging plug and the connection to the mains all the way to the car if possible.
 
ok, so I was not sure what to measure on the wall plug or at the charger ??

In the video while im measuring, I noticed the battery fan test came on again, as if the charger dis a restart, and then for some reason died....

After the video i tried turning on off the wall outlet and charger came alive and started charging as normal....

Could it have something to do with the wall outlet.... ?? i think no or what ..☺

https://youtu.be/NxMKthjM-o4
 
ahhh sorry Kiev reading again I realise i measured amps wrong by not moving the cable on the meter, it also occurs to me that the charger delivers 220v to the car, initially i thought it delivered 300v ...but realise the inverter is in the car...

This is the correct Amp measurement

https://youtu.be/CY6Qxha5ZEs
 
What is that plug below your charger plug at the wall--see how the insulation of the wires is exposed. That plug shares the same ground as your charger and it could be causing the issue.

i'm not familiar with your style of wall outlets--is there a switch or breaker built-in at the outlet?

It could be an issue on the wall side or in the terminals of the connector ends of the wall cable. Try unplugging everything from the wall and only use the charger plug. But first disconnect and inspect the adapter connection also, looking for moisture and any place that moisture could enter.

From your voltage and current readings, 80-100V/0.2mA = 400k to 500k Ohms, indicates this is a fairly high resistance.

This could also be due to some stray capacitance in the circuit, e.g. insulation breakdown in the wiring from the wall, moisture in the connector or wiring, etc.
 
Could it also be a weak ground on the house side? What if you measure voltage from the house receptacle's ground pin to the dirt? Maybe we could at least isolate the issue to either the house or the car.
 
You should probably try measuring the same thing when charging at another location - The results of that would tell you where to start looking for a solution

Don
 
Thanks for your answers - I was initially really worried it was somthing expensive in the car - ... :-O

I will make some experiments tomorrow - charging from another plug away from the property.


Kiev "The plug under the charger was to an extension - I think with a high pressure washer - but not turned on - will disconnect every thing and try tomorrow. And There is a switch/breaker built-in/ to the left of the outlet."


Any ideas why the charger died while i was dialing the settings on the multimeter ??
 
my guess is that the meter (with the leads in the wrong position) was providing a path to ground and the charger detected this current flow as an interrrupt condition.

But have you made any measurement of AC volts and amps between a hard point on the chassis and earth--such as a bolt head on the frame? The brake disc is only connected to chassis thru grease and a small contact patch in the wheel bearings, which may be a high resistance connection. The chassis may be at a higher voltage and have potential for higher current, so be very careful.

If the chassis measures the same as the disc, then you could test this by connecting a piece of copper wire between the brake disc and the earth--it will likely trip the charger.

That outdoor wall outlet you are using--is that considered a permanent fixture wired into a circuit breaker panel at the Mains entrance somewhere, or is it just an extension cord plugged in to another wall outlet?
 
update ... Tried another outlet today....no stray current ! ... whent back home... still the same... the Intried to measure on the ground in the outlet next to one i charge from there was 100v on the ground ..... !!!!

So some wiring in the house seems to have gone wrong ... so happy it was not related to the car .
 
Glad it's not the car. A grounding issue in the house would also explain why the car stopped charging when you tried measuring amps, as the new path tripped the GFCI in the EVSE.

With the issue being in the house, any certified/licensed electrician should be able to remedy the issue.
 
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