Electric current and panit

[Ryan]

I was pressure washing the underside of my neighbors metal awnings and gutters the other day and got some very poor results. The paint on them seemed to peel off with almost no effort (NOT the desired effect). It was kind of like paint is when you are stripping furniture (rolled up, not just flaking off). I have pressure washed many (dozens) of gutters and houses in the past and have NEVER had something like this happen. The only difference I can find between this house and the others is that the awnings and gutters are not ground properly. When you (I) touch the awning or any part of the gutter, there is a rather strong shock (almost feels like my arm is "going to sleep"). Could there be any correlation between the electric current in the gutters and the poorly-bound paint? I would greatly appreciate any help on this enigma. Many thanks, Ryan

[mark Ransley]

You get a shock ? they have a bad short somewhere which is dangerous and could be leaking $ into the earth. Ive heard of shorts leaking 200 to 400 $ a year worth of juice. Is it factory paint or a repaint. I dont see why electricity would make it fail, but i never saw an electrified house. Id think bad paint job.

[Dan Hartung]

Holy crap. Your friends need an electrician, yesterday. Random items attached to houses should not give you a shock, nor are they normally required to be "grounded" (except in the event of lightning strikes; were you doing this in the rain?).

[Ryan]

It wasn't raining, but the ground I was on as well as the underside of the awning were wet (from pressure washing).

He has had the power company (Georgia Power in our area) come out as well as a commercial electrician from the neighborhood. I'm no electrician, but I suggested that if he sees no visible sign of a wire making contact with the gutter or awning, then perhaps a screw or nail attatching one of them to the house has cut into a wire. But I'm not 30 and I don't have kids, so until then I'm just "a kid" and my opinions aren't relevant, even though I have owned my own business for the past four years, and am showing no signes of starvation :) .

[mark Ransley]

Your opinoins to the owner are rellavent , No way should juice run on the house like that. He should unplug and turn off everything, and one by one measure amp load to each circut till he finds the short. It could be alot of things , outdoor lights, garage run, Nails as you said. To loose and feel a jolt its costing him money. But another possibility your pressuse washer is shorting. Run a meter on the gutter to ground, see what you get. Is it possible you got a wire or light wet.

[Ryan]

I thought about this, but when I brought the problem up to him, he said that the gutter problem has existed for quite some time. My guess is he has just never had a reason to stick his hand on the awning. I will suggest the sources and solutions you have mentioned.

Danke!! Ryan