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Author Lightening Discharge through Sockets in Residential Building
Ben

2005-10-03, 4:21 pm

I live in small rented flat. Recently I found that each time there is a
thunderstorm, a bolt of static discharges through one of the sockets in
my bedroom. I've checked the building's earthing but it appears to be
ok. This problem persists. Does someone have ideas on what could be the
cause and how I might address the problem?

/Ben

chuck

2005-10-03, 9:21 pm

Hey Ben,

Hard to diagnose, but if the first lightning strike created or exploited
a low resistance path somewhere in that box, it might have carbonized
the path so that subsequent discharges now find a low-resistance path
there. Or, it could simply be a loose connection on the grounding wire
itself.

How did you establish that the earthing system seems to be ok?

The obvious course of action is to have an electrician look at the box
and give you an opinion.

Chuck

Ben wrote:
> I live in small rented flat. Recently I found that each time there is a
> thunderstorm, a bolt of static discharges through one of the sockets in
> my bedroom. I've checked the building's earthing but it appears to be
> ok. This problem persists. Does someone have ideas on what could be the
> cause and how I might address the problem?
>
> /Ben
>

Leo Yaus

2005-10-05, 12:21 pm


Hello Ben,
Where are you located? UK? USA? What kind of socket is it?
You said "one of the sockets.."; may we infer that is just occuring on a
specific socket and not others?
How are you aware of the discharge? Did you see it? Hear it?
Does the discharge occur with or without an appliance or other device
plugged into the socket?

There can't be conclusion based on the information you have supplied, but it
is likely the socket requires replacement.

The relationship to the thunderstorm likely indicates this is not a static
discharge. It is rather likely that there is a surge on the mains. This is
why there is a market for surge protectors.

How did you know to post your question here?
Regards, Leo

"Ben" <BVILabe@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1128366573.447575.164790@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> I live in small rented flat. Recently I found that each time there is a
> thunderstorm, a bolt of static discharges through one of the sockets in
> my bedroom. I've checked the building's earthing but it appears to be
> ok. This problem persists. Does someone have ideas on what could be the
> cause and how I might address the problem?
>
> /Ben
>



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