Earthing mat is making me ill !

[pc1966]

Lucien beat me to it, but many plastics outgas potentially unpleasant precursor chemicals in their manufacturing process and if you are feeling odd due it its presence, that is FAR more likely to be the reason.

 

[sunnyod]

Lucien beat me to it, but many plastics outgas potentially unpleasant precursor chemicals in their manufacturing process and if you are feeling odd due it its presence, that is FAR more likely to be the reason.

To clarify. The unpleasant feeling is more like i've got micro shocks near where my skin is touching the mat. It's not like toxic poisoning, more electrical. I also get tension in neck muscles and headaches, so I'm assuming it's not related to chemicals etc. The mat itself is made from pure rubber with carbon infused conductive elements, afaik this shouldn't be dangerous

I personally think it could be due to electro hypersensitivity on my part more than anything and the grounding rod solution would stop any issues i have if this is the case

 

[pc1966]

If you are getting a tingling sensation, more pronounced if you brush against things, that can be a sign of a faulty earth allowing a few microamps of AC current to flow.

While that current is not dangerous in itself, the whole purpose of having earth (also called CPC here - circuit protective conductor) is to divert fault currents safely and allow the fuse or breaker to disconnect before it is a major hazard. If the CPC is faulty you are a single fault away from a fatal accident!

Having the home wiring checked by a professional is your best option to rule out that sort of thing. Generally this is referred to as EICR - electrical installation condition report. It has become popular recently following changes to landlord rules, etc, so there are a lot of poor players charging little up-front with the aim of making a profit on potentially unnecessary work later. Doing it properly depends on the size of the installation, etc, but would take from a couple of hours to full day and priced accordingly.

There may be someone on here that could quote for doing such a check properly, though expect something like £200 or so.

 

[sunnyod]

sorry this post is missing, looks like it needs mod approval so you can't see it

 

[Lucien Nunes]

If you get shocks touching the mat, and the mat is connected to the means of earthing of your installation, then you should be getting shocks from all your earthed electrical appliances like your washing machine. Regardless, it would imply that there is a fault with your electrical installation and things that should be at earth potential are not. This should be rectified promptly to avoid risk of serious shock injury.

What is the bulk resistivity and/or surface resistivity of the mat? The reason I ask is that many types of earthing mat (such as the anti-static mat on my bench that protects my equipment) are designed to maintain a significant resistance between any contacting object and the mains earth, to avoid risk of shock. Knowing the spec of your mat might narrow down possible causes.

 

[pc1966]

Do you have a recent EICR for the property?

 

[telectrix]

stick a RCD on it. it will be fine. ??

 

[Lucien Nunes]

It doesn't make sense to use shielded cable for an earth connection, because the main method by which shielding works (e.g. to stop car ignition systems causing crackling noises on your stereo) is to surround the important conductor with an earthed one. So you would be shielding an earthed wire with another earthed wire. There are lab techniques where this is necessary but it is not applicable to your earth mat.

It would be like trying to wash tap water off a surface using tap water.

 

[sunnyod]

If you are getting a tingling sensation, more pronounced if you brush against things, that can be a sign of a faulty earth allowing a few microamps of AC current to flow.

While that current is not dangerous in itself, the whole purpose of having earth (also called CPC here - circuit protective conductor) is to divert fault currents safely and allow the fuse or breaker to disconnect before it is a major hazard. If the CPC is faulty you are a single fault away from a fatal accident!

Having the home wiring checked by a professional is your best option to rule out that sort of thing. Generally this is referred to as EICR - electrical installation condition report. It has become popular recently following changes to landlord rules, etc, so there are a lot of poor players charging little up-front with the aim of making a profit on potentially unnecessary work later. Doing it properly depends on the size of the installation, etc, but would take from a couple of hours to full day and priced accordingly.

There may be someone on here that could quote for doing such a check properly, though expect something like £200 or so.

Thanks bud.

I have a multimeter. If I put the black pin on earth (like metal surface on radiator pipe?) and red pin on the mat connected to the mains, what would I see if the earthing is faulty?

 

[sunnyod]

Do you have a recent EICR for the property?

We had one done in 2015 and they found we didn't have an earthing rod and some of the sockets were misswired. They guy fitted an earth rod, fixed the sockets and put a new breaker box in. Do I need something more than this done?