Zapped

[PATZPW 14]

I WAS JUST WONDERING IF ANYONE HAS EVER BE ZAPPED:whoops: BY THOSE POWER LINES GOING INTO THE HOUSE? IF SO WHAT PRECAUTIONS HAVE YOU TAKEN BESIDES STAYING AWAY FROM THEM. I'VE NEVER HAS THE PLEASURE OF IT,:rolleyes: BUT I AM CAREFUL WHEN WORKING AROUND THEM.----------PAT

[RyanH 14]

Just don't spray your water directly around the area in case someone was a little careless when they routed them into the house. I grabbed a "hot" gutter once.....made my entire arm feel like it was both on fire and "asleep," the kind of "asleep" you get when you wake up at 3 in the afternoon with a hangover and realize that you've been sleeping that thing that looks like your arm since 5am.

Seriously though, in this case whoever installed the gutters put a nail through a wire while installing and for some reason nobody ever noticed. When I touched the awning overhang, it buzzed my arm. Stupid me, thinking that my arm was just stressed from holding wand high for too long, touched it again. DAMN it hurt. Same effect with the gutters. The only job I ever walked away from, but it was a neighbor so I was able to go back once he had it repaired.

Again, no direct water on them and keep the ladder and wand away.

Ryan H.

[staudend 14]

I personally tested out an electric anti-animal fence around a homeowners garden. The kind that pops. It really wasn't too bad, although the neighbors might have thought I was crazy. Nick

[CLASSICPW 14]

I usually spray around them, but sometimes I get ballsy when there is actually mold on the siding that's close. How can it be that dangerous? They get soaked when it rains.

[PressurePros 249]

Thats what I was thinking, Classicpw

[LJ LONG 14]

Just some thoughts,allow me to give a brief,overly simplified look at how electricty works. First lets imagine electrical energy as a entity, when electrical power is generated it has a sole purpose for being, that is to find it's way back to ground . In a home ground and nuetral are the same thing. So the electrical entity will do whatever it must to return home(finding ground) this is how we make electrical energy work for us, we provide a path home but we make it work for us along the way.The important thing to remember is that electricity is also very lazy and will always take the easiest path to get back home. So if the only path provided is say through some light bulbs or whatever it will go that way but if at the same time you give it an easier path rest assured it will find it. That's called a short circuit which is most always made obvious by the loud bang and smoke.So how does all this relate to your question? Simple really, in a resedential electrical service it will consist of three wires, two insulated conductors and one bare conductor. The two insulated ones each have 120 volts of potential on them when read back to ground or 240 volts between them. Remember the bare wire is the ground that power is searching for so if you were to blast the tape or insulation off one of them chances are you may have just given it that easy way out I was refering to. But if the lazy electricity see's an easy way to ground thru your wand,your hand,arm ,body ,leg ,foot rest assured it will take that way and you will be having a bad day! To summerize ,obviously you will want to be careful around this stuff but typically you dont have to worry about getting things wet, the biggest thing would be just don't go blasting with high pressure and you will be ok, all electrical equipment mounted outdoors is rated for raintite but that does not mean its rated for blasting under pressure .Just be careful and you will be allright.I always try to let my soap do all the work in these touchy areas then just follow up with a quick low pressure rinse. Hope my rambleing helps in some way.

[CLASSICPW 14]

Do you guys every worry about lightning. Nothing ruins my day more than being 3/4 done washing a house and hearing thunder or seeing lightning out of the corner of my eye. I either wait it out in the truck or leave my equipment there. What would really happen if lightning hit the wand. If your hands are dry you would think that it would follow the water through the hose then fry the washer, but if it's lazy, I guess that it will jump the wand to your hand.

[Aplus 525]

If lightening comes close enough to hit your wand, you will likely meet your maker. BYE-BYE.

[RyanH 14]

Insulators like plastic and rubber are not "true" insulators....they are just materials that offer very good resistance. If a charge differential is great enough, that thin plastic handle on a wand will not act as a strong enough resistor to stop the flow of current. Think all people who get struck by lightning are barefoot? Current that high will blow straight through rubber sole shoes without so much as stopping to say high.

The only real way to ensure you don't get shocked is to not complete that circuit....but if you come up with an antigravity device that allows this, I doubt you will continue in your pursuit of pressure washing perfection.

[PATZPW 14]

If Your Struck By Lightning You Have A One In Ten Chance Of Death. Not Bad Odds

[Mike Smith 14]

I have been shocked very badly by lightening. I was in my shop during a bad storm and lightening hit close by. I was working on equipment when I happened to touch my metal garage door when the strike occurred. The charge was enough to knock me to the floor. I suffered muscle spasms in all my extremities for 3 days as well as bad headaches. I personally seek cover when lightening is around.

[RyanH 14]

In "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes," lightning striking an electrical station while a guy was in the vicinity caused him to become a genius. For some reason, the task of being a genius was too arduous for him, so he opted to be struck again to lose his smarts. That's just dumb.

[PATZPW 14]

Is that a Disney Movie from 1969?

[RyanH 14]

That's the one!

[Aplus 525]

If Your Struck By Lightning You Have A One In Ten Chance Of Death. Not Bad Odds

I originally thought the odds would be the other way around, until I found this article...

According to National Weather Service statistics, the average number of

lightning fatalities in the U.S. for the last 10 years was 70. The number of

fatalities has been steadily dropping. The average in the 1940s was over 300

per year. Last year there were only 41 lightning fatalities. However a recent

study found that lightning deaths may be underreported by as much as 30 %.

About 20% of people who are struck by lightning are killed - most survive!

The chances of anyone being struck by lightning is 1 in 600,000. But Ray

"Dooms" Sullivan, a park ranger from Virginia was struck by lightning 7

different times!

[PATZPW 14]

Studies Show That People Are Living Longer These Days, Why Should This Be An Exception.

[Mike Williamson 198]

If Your Struck By Lightning You Have A One In Ten Chance Of Death. Not Bad Odds

If you avoid getting struck by lightning, you have even better odds of surviving...:rolleyes:

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I just discovered this TGS poll.

Don't forget to vote today at your local registered polling place.

Beth

[Mike Williamson 198]

How'd this poll get attached to a thread with nothing to do with the Presidential election? Or was it there the whole time and I just missed it the first time around?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

I was wondering the same thing....

[PATZPW 14]

i put it there, i was playing with different tools and options. i got stuck and that was all that i could thing of.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

That's ok. :) I think it's important to learn the features you have at your disposal. Besides, the poll was timely. ;)

Beth

[Mike Williamson 198]

Well, looks like this board is more conservative than the country in general!

4 more years!!!

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Then again, the polls opened late here online and we didn't have as much voter turnout, probably due to the long lines in our own home towns. We waited an hour and a half here in Germantown.

[Henry B. 4]

My wife and I went in at 10:30 and only had a couple people in front of us... It's that magical time between the people who got to work late so they could vote in the morning and before the people left for lunch early so they could vote.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Which school was your polling place? Ours was Kingsview. We were there from 9 till 10:30 or so. That part of the alphabet for "B" was a breeze. The section with "R" was where the bottleneck was. The alphabet was not divided well at the end.