Ours is an in-ground, ~9,000 gal gunite pool. It was built in 1994. We purchased the house early last summer and enjoyed the pool all season (and were thrilled to discover TFP when we were trying to learn about balancing the water!). This year, we began swimming again in late March. All was well until about 1 week ago.
At the end of April, we hosted the kids' scouting swim tests at our place. In the course of about 1.5 hrs, we had probably 20+ people in and out of the pool. I was one of the last to swim test, and as I was exiting the pool and grabbed the handrail, I felt a definite "tingle," very similar in intensity to a static shock. I called the lifeguard over, and he felt it, too. We decided the tingle could be felt if one was grasping the handrail but also in the water a few inches to either side of the rail. At first, the pool pump had been running, but we cut it off immediately, and the tingle was still there. A few minutes later, it simply went away. Although we also have a second pump and pool light, neither of those was turned on at this time. We asked everyone who had already been in the pool, and all denied feeling anything.
Over the course of last weekend, I did my darndest to "shock" myself on that rail again, but I couldn't. On Monday, I called an electrician in. He pointed out that the heater pump is not properly bonded but couldn't find anything else with the pool-related electrical. He suggested that the "tingle" was simply static from so many people in the pool and said not to worry about it unless it happens again when there are only a few bodies in the water. We made plans to bond the heater pump (it's a passive solar heater; the pump simply moves water through the tubing on the shed roof), and he said that in the meanwhile, just kill power to everything before getting into the water. The next time we used the pool was this past Wed. Our two children were swimming when our daughter started climbing out of the pool and said, "Uh, Mom. It's zapping me again." Shoot! Sure enough, I was able to feel a very slight zap (less strong than the first time it happened) at the pool rail and in the water immediately surrounding it. Again, the pumps were turned off, as was the pool light.
I've read that others have experienced this before and that essentially two things need to be going on in order to feel a "zap" from the rail: 1) There has to be a problem with the pool bonding. (Does the un-bonded pump count since we're not getting a tingle near there? The rail is on the opposite end of the pool and is the ONLY place we've felt the tingle.) I also read that 2) There must be a stray current somewhere nearby. We had our electric company out last night. They checked all their connections at the pole and declared everything good there. The said we could have a corroded direct-buried wire servicing either the house or pool house but, of course, that's on us. They did stick a voltmeter on the rail, and it registered 1V, although this was during a time when we couldn't feel the shock.
The electrician is supposed to be back out tonight. He's a good guy but admits he doesn't work on pools much. This ring a bell for anyone? Any ideas what we should be checking? If the "tingle" were always there, it would be easy enough to start flipping breakers and see if anything in particular makes it go away, but the tingle seems pretty intermittent, and aside from tossing a few people into the pool for a swim, I can't figure out how to induce the sensation. Simply standing in the water and touching the rail doesn't do it, and it's currently raining, so everything is pretty wet, but again, no tingle! What on Earth...?
At the end of April, we hosted the kids' scouting swim tests at our place. In the course of about 1.5 hrs, we had probably 20+ people in and out of the pool. I was one of the last to swim test, and as I was exiting the pool and grabbed the handrail, I felt a definite "tingle," very similar in intensity to a static shock. I called the lifeguard over, and he felt it, too. We decided the tingle could be felt if one was grasping the handrail but also in the water a few inches to either side of the rail. At first, the pool pump had been running, but we cut it off immediately, and the tingle was still there. A few minutes later, it simply went away. Although we also have a second pump and pool light, neither of those was turned on at this time. We asked everyone who had already been in the pool, and all denied feeling anything.
Over the course of last weekend, I did my darndest to "shock" myself on that rail again, but I couldn't. On Monday, I called an electrician in. He pointed out that the heater pump is not properly bonded but couldn't find anything else with the pool-related electrical. He suggested that the "tingle" was simply static from so many people in the pool and said not to worry about it unless it happens again when there are only a few bodies in the water. We made plans to bond the heater pump (it's a passive solar heater; the pump simply moves water through the tubing on the shed roof), and he said that in the meanwhile, just kill power to everything before getting into the water. The next time we used the pool was this past Wed. Our two children were swimming when our daughter started climbing out of the pool and said, "Uh, Mom. It's zapping me again." Shoot! Sure enough, I was able to feel a very slight zap (less strong than the first time it happened) at the pool rail and in the water immediately surrounding it. Again, the pumps were turned off, as was the pool light.
I've read that others have experienced this before and that essentially two things need to be going on in order to feel a "zap" from the rail: 1) There has to be a problem with the pool bonding. (Does the un-bonded pump count since we're not getting a tingle near there? The rail is on the opposite end of the pool and is the ONLY place we've felt the tingle.) I also read that 2) There must be a stray current somewhere nearby. We had our electric company out last night. They checked all their connections at the pole and declared everything good there. The said we could have a corroded direct-buried wire servicing either the house or pool house but, of course, that's on us. They did stick a voltmeter on the rail, and it registered 1V, although this was during a time when we couldn't feel the shock.
The electrician is supposed to be back out tonight. He's a good guy but admits he doesn't work on pools much. This ring a bell for anyone? Any ideas what we should be checking? If the "tingle" were always there, it would be easy enough to start flipping breakers and see if anything in particular makes it go away, but the tingle seems pretty intermittent, and aside from tossing a few people into the pool for a swim, I can't figure out how to induce the sensation. Simply standing in the water and touching the rail doesn't do it, and it's currently raining, so everything is pretty wet, but again, no tingle! What on Earth...?
ale:
