Tingling sensation while in Substation 1

[pmdykstra]

I've been working in the utility industry for the past 11 years. Up until about 3 and 1/2 years ago I was a field employee and was in or near high voltage substations almost daily. More recently, I've been in an office enviornment with occasional trips to the field. Recently (in the past year or so) I've noticed that when I'm in a 345kV yard (or 220kV) I experience tingling sensations in my arms and other parts of the body (most nocticabley arms), while someone standing right next to me feels nothing. Why the change? It's a very unsettling feeling, I am not breaking an clearance rules, I am simply talking about walking through the yard and when I get within a certain distance (haven't measured) I can definitely feel it.

 

[itsmoked]

Could be iron deposits in your extremities?

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[pmdykstra]

Doesn't seem too likely. Where would these "iron deposits" come from, and why do I have them now and not 3 years ago? Why are they only in my extremities? By the way, I've felt it in my face, ears as well. It's just the most noticeable in my arms.

 

[Skogsgurra]

Any weather type? Cold, warm, humid, dry?

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.

 

[pmdykstra]

One time it was cold with snow on the ground, but today it was close to 50 and normal humidity. I would say of the four or five times, it's been cold most of them. Only one was extremely humid.

 

[MagicSmoker]

I suspect itsmoked is referring to "hemochromatosis". I don't know if iron can accumulate in the body enough to noticeably interact with external magnetic fields, but, well... it's not the craziest thing I've heard.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001368/

 

[byrdj]

How about your shoes?
when field service, you were possibly wearing heavy sole boots with insole pads for all those hours.

 

[pmdykstra]

byrdj
I'm wearing the same shoes I had when I was in the field

 

[ghostbuster7]

Some people develop a hypersensitivity to electric and magnetic fields.
I know of several "water diviners/dowsers" (looking for underground water for well drilling etc.)that become violently sick /nausea when exposed to these fields.Don't ask me to attempt to explain this, it is simply an observation.

 

[jraef]

Gunnar (skogsgurra) had a great story a few years ago about divining the source of a "tingle" people were experiencing in a lake somewhere...

 

[MikeHalloran]

Off the wall hypothesis:
It's not the quantity of iron involved, but the velocity at which it's traveling through your capillaries.

How's your blood pressure?



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[electricpete]

I would think that when you're in a substation, the field that is extreme is the electric field (resulting from voltage differences) rather than the magnetic field (resulting from current).

Obviously high dc electric field can give tingling sensation if it induces charges that make the hair on your arms tend to stand up. I haven't heard of that for ac.

I do remember once in a hv substation, you could feel a shock when you touched the door of a compressor panel a certain way (later learned it was when you touched the seam between door and panel). Did some voltage measurements and found that the open circuit induced voltage between the door and the panel was around 1000 vac. The door was not effectively grounded and had high induced voltage. That probably doesn't have much relevance to your situation, but it came to mind because it is an illustration of human perception of the effect of high voltage present in a hv ac switchyard.

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(2B)+(2B)' ?

 

[GTstartup]

Quote:

More recently, I've been in an office enviornment...

Nuff said

 

[pmdykstra]

GTsratup
What's your point?
If you're not going to offer any actual advice, why post?

 

[rmw]

pmdykstra,

I notice that you are new to the site as of yesterday. First let me tell you welcome.

Then I would say that after you have been here a while you will see that we often take a poke at one another on a professional level that is. You will get accustomed to it and once you learn who the respected posters are, you will know that you have been poked by the best.

Your problem is unusual and as an ex-field guy, I understood the "poke" that GTstartup (his handle is spelled that way and that is my "poke") gave you. Be honored.

What else can you tell us that is different from the days when you were constantly in this environment.

Could it be that then you experienced the same thing back then but were so accustomed to it that you just didn't notice - like working in the sun constantly but then after "being in an office environment" suffer when suddenly exposed to the sun again?

rmw

 

[electricpete]

rmw - are you saying it is normal to be able to feel ac electric field?
(I didn't think it would be.)

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(2B)+(2B)' ?

 

[electricpete]

I guess I should say I have disregarded this comment: <i>"I know of several "water diviners/dowsers" (looking for underground water for well drilling etc.)that become violently sick /nausea when exposed to these fields.Don't ask me to attempt to explain this, it is simply an observation."</i>

As far as I know, people can't feel the presence of water at a distance any more than they can feel voltage difference at a distance. I'm open to being corrected if I am wrong.

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(2B)+(2B)' ?

 

[pmdykstra]

rmw,
I suppose it's possible, but I doubt it. These were some pretty distinct feelings and I think I would have noticed before. I also had someone with me who works in my office and is not in the field on an everyday basis and he felt nothing. The only thing I can think of that is different is that I am now on allopurinal due to having high uric acid levels. Maybe it's just a change in physiology due to age (I'm 33). I' just wondering if there are other health problems this may be a symptom of or could lead to. I also fear that I couldn't return to the field if I ever wanted to.

 

[pmdykstra]

electricpete
I can definitely feel the field as I get closer (horizontally not vertically obviously) I feel the inrensity increase. Feels like the hair starts standing up and arms get tingly-kind of like an intense "sleepy limb" and just overall unsettling throughout the body

 

[Jay27]

A colleague has sub-contracted a lady who can sense electric and magnetic fields on stray-voltage studies. She's a bit of a hippy nut-job but the lady is scary accurate when it comes to locating loose neutrals, etc. Perhaps you should tune your abilities.

you can't fix stupid