Weird Clarity Static Charge Issue

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rogadanar
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Rogadanar

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Hey everyone, I've been a member of the forums since we bought our Clarity in January, but I've been lurking a while. I love the feedback you guys typically have, which is why I wanted to bring this issue up, as I haven't seen anyone mention it.

This weekend I had to remove our child seat from the back passenger side seat. While taking the clip out of the anchor point behind the head rest, I felt a significant charge in my arm. It startled me, to the point where I thought I must have jabbed myself. I noticed that when my arm was touching both the top corner of the door-jam, and the metal anchor point for the car seat, I would get this static electric feeling in my arm where it was touching in the door jam. And not something light. It concerned me somewhat, so I stopped touching it like that.

Anyone else experience this? I was planning on having the dealer take a look next time I'm in, as I really don't want some type of electrical grounding issue.
 
Was the car "running" at the time? I just checked both AC and DC from the unpainted part of the anchor point to the unpainted part of the door latch and didn't measure anything. I would try t find someone with a DVM (Digital Volt Meter) to check on your specific vehicle.

Since it sounds like a continuous thing rather than a quick snap (like a static discharge) you could have a wiring problem and it could be dangerous under the right circumstances.

geo
 
The car wasn't running, but it was being charged. I use a regular 110v charger, and I just realized that the outlet it's plugged into may not be grounded. That's something I'll need to check tonight.
 
Rogadanar said:
The car wasn't running, but it was being charged. I use a regular 110v charger, and I just realized that the outlet it's plugged into may not be grounded. That's something I'll need to check tonight.
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Be careful - no bare feet on wet garage floors until you get it straightened out.

All joking aside, it could be dangerous.

geo
 
The EVSE should not allow the car to charge on an ungrounded outlet. You would probably see the error light if that's the case.

AC electricity feels kind of like a buzzing or pulsing due to the 60hz cycle. The charger circuitry in the car should be fully isolated so it would be very odd for you to get zapped. Also, the EVSE would likely fault out at the earliest sense of any type of ground fault as that's what they're made to do.

DC feels more like a pinch, jab or zap. But then, so does a pulled muscle. I tested for continuity between the seat mount and the door frame (used the unpainted latch section) and expected both to be pretty well bonded to the ground plane. I was a little surprised to find some small amount resistance, but that's probably because the hook is painted and I didn't really want to scratch off a bunch of paint to try to get a better bond.

Anyway, try measuring for current as mentioned above. Let us know if you find anything.
 
Fabric or leather seats? In my cars with fabric seats I get charged up a lot especially in low humidity. I have to discharge by touching the door edge. Not sure if that is related to what you see, but at least you can know that makes a difference.
 
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