Body Grounding Confused Please Help !

[BangkokKen]

I recently bought a multimeter and I am a bit confused regarding the reading I have.

Measuring my body voltage, withe meter connected on one end to a grounding rod in the garden and the other end to me; I was around 0.1V -0.15V.

What confused me is that if I touched the grounding rod or the wire connecting it; my body voltage got multiplied by 4 or 5 and the reading was 0.45V

How is that possible?

If I am connected to the ground; I should get nearer to zero volts; right?

Thank you for your enlightment

K

[Crossy]

Capacitive pickup (probably), if the rod is connected to your house power system then there could be small diverted neutral currents flowing, battery effects (rod / soil) maybe, it's not something that I've ever been tempted to measure.

Meter set to AC or DC ? Range in use?

0.1 - 0.15V is pretty close to zero in my book, particularly if the meter is a low cost unit with an accuracy of say 2% +- 5 digits.

Either way it's not something to worry about, and you won't be able to run your radio from it.

[BangkokKen]

The rod is connected to my bed by duct tape underneath my sheet.

I am tying to groung myself while asleep; why is the meter showing more voltage when I touch the rod?

[Crossy]

Exactly how are you connecting the meter? What range are you using? AC / DC ?

Trying to measure what is effectively a floating voltage (you) is very difficult to do, what do the websites on body-grounding have to say?

[bankruatsteve]

Yah. What's the point in measuring your body voltage/ohms? If you suspect your ground rod is not what it should be, there are other ways. If you are just playing around with your DMM, then have fun but be careful of settings if you measure at live potential.

[BangkokKen]

Here is my meter

Edited February 3, 2016 by BangkokKen

[Crossy]

Please answer our previous questions if you want sensible responses.

Whilst I don't subscribe to the theory myself, the body-grounding sites I've looked at all suggest that you need a direct connection from yourself to ground (a copper electrode in a sock seems popular). So connecting the bed (it is a metal bed isn't it?) to ground isn't going to have much effect.

EDIT If you are using the meter set as on your photo I suspect an electrolytic (battery) effect between your body moisture, the meter probe in one hand and the copper earth rod in the other being responsible for the apparent increase in voltage when you touch the rod.

The majority of electricity in our environment is mains pickup which is AC at 50Hz, you'll likely get bigger readings on the AC range.

[BangkokKen]

The rod has a metal wire attached to it.

I put one probe on the metal wire or even on the rod and the other in my hand, and the meter says I am around 0.1 V.

But if I touch the wire or the probe, then the reading is multiplied by 4, ie 0.45V

I will try the DC range

Thanks

Edited February 4, 2016 by BangkokKen

[BangkokKen]

With DC range and the cursor on 9 Volts or also tried on 1.5 Volt ( on the bottom right) the meter does not react and stays at 0.00

Is my meter faulty?

Edited February 4, 2016 by BangkokKen

[JAS21]

Looks like you sussed it then. Body grounding, whilst sleeping sounds interesting.

I would like to try that, do you think that you would need to wake up and disconnect in a lightening storm.

Think I need to google more before I try it.

[BangkokKen]

Well not really

I haven't been able to get a coherent reading and I am still not sure if it is because I am clueless about meters and electricity or because the meter is faulty.

Sorry I prefer not to go onto details about grounding, because I am only discovering it myself and also don't want to get into a 20 pages debate about its benefits.

My problem is to get to use this bleeding meter.

Edited February 4, 2016 by BangkokKen

[Crossy]

Well not really

I haven't been able to get a coherent reading and I am still not sure if it is because I am clueless about meters and electricity or because the meter is faulty.

Sorry I prefer not to go onto details about grounding, because I am only discovering it myself and also don't want to get into a 20 pages debate about its benefits.

My problem is to get to use this bleeding meter.

The meter is unlikely to be faulty.

More likely you are using the wrong type of meter to measure the parameter you are attempting to measure (which is unclear).

Is it:-.

1. Static.
2. Electromagnetic pickup from Wi-Fi, mobiles etc.
3. Electromagnetic pickup from the mains.
4. Electrolytic action from your body mosture.
5. Something else?

An electrostatic voltmeter may be more appropriate, but we don't know what you are trying to measure.

[Crossy]

AN IMPORTANT WORD OF WARNING for anyone considering trying body grounding.

Do NOT that's NOT connect yourself directly to your domestic electrical earth. In the event of a fault the earth wire can rise well above ground potential and has the potential (sorry) to kill.

If you must use the mains earth, connect via two resistors in series of at least 100kohm each (1Mohm is better), better would be to obtain a purpose made anti-static grounding plug which has the requisite resistor built in.

[sunnyjim5]

"Body Grounding" is Quackery indulged in by those who believe and subscribe to "alternative" means of staying well or "curing" illness.

As far as I am aware there is no evidence published in any reputable Scientific Journal which supports BG as being efficacious.

Crossy''s WARNING (above) should be noted by those who wish to "ground" themselves.

[Crossy]

This may be of interest http://www.groundology.com/userguides/multimeter.pdf or not as the case may be.

[BangkokKen]

Reading body voltage

To read body voltage simply hold the metal tip of the red test lead between your finger and thumb. You will find that your proximity from electrical wiring and appliances will greatly affect the reading, as will the general level of EMF in your environment, and also which storey of a building you are on (higher up will generally result in higher body voltage). If the meter shows just the digit 1 on the left of the screen, this indicates the range has been exceeded so switch to the next range up: 200 V~ When you ground your body by touching some bare skin to a grounding sheet, mat, band, etc. then you should see the reading drop to very near zero.

​Thats exactly my point, my body voltage goes up instead of down

[BangkokKen]

To answer Cross i am trying to measure my body voltage.

[Crossy]

To answer Cross i am trying to measure my body voltage.

Please define "body voltage", scientific terms are fine. And don't say "the voltage on my body", the term "voltage" has no meaning with out some qualifiers as noted in my earlier post.

I expect you just have an electrifying personality.

Holding on to a meter probe and waving your arms around will result in all manner of, mostly electrostatic, pickup.

Touching the rod will turn you into a rather inefficient loop antenna which will pick up all manner of electromagnetic signals, if you're near a transformer or transmission line (or even a fluorescent light) that may result in an apparent increase in the measurement

[sunnyjim5]

To answer Cross i am trying to measure my body voltage.

Bodies do have natural voltages/currents which drive the heart, operate muscles and make the brain work.

None of these physiological "voltages" can be measured with a multi-meter !

[BangkokKen]

To answer Cross i am trying to measure my body voltage.

Bodies do have natural voltages/currents which drive the heart, operate muscles and make the brain work.

None of these physiological "voltages" can be measured with a multi-meter !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUw1u1PYmBEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUw1u1PYmBE

[bankruatsteve]

Reading body voltage

To read body voltage simply hold the metal tip of the red test lead between your finger and thumb. You will find that your proximity from electrical wiring and appliances will greatly affect the reading, as will the general level of EMF in your environment, and also which storey of a building you are on (higher up will generally result in higher body voltage). If the meter shows just the digit 1 on the left of the screen, this indicates the range has been exceeded so switch to the next range up: 200 V~ When you ground your body by touching some bare skin to a grounding sheet, mat, band, etc. then you should see the reading drop to very near zero.

​Thats exactly my point, my body voltage goes up instead of down

Obviously you have already discharged and are then charging.

[BangkokKen]

Reading body voltage

To read body voltage simply hold the metal tip of the red test lead between your finger and thumb. You will find that your proximity from electrical wiring and appliances will greatly affect the reading, as will the general level of EMF in your environment, and also which storey of a building you are on (higher up will generally result in higher body voltage). If the meter shows just the digit 1 on the left of the screen, this indicates the range has been exceeded so switch to the next range up: 200 V~ When you ground your body by touching some bare skin to a grounding sheet, mat, band, etc. then you should see the reading drop to very near zero.

​Thats exactly my point, my body voltage goes up instead of down

Obviously you have already discharged and are then charging.

Sorry what do you mean?

[BangkokKen]

this guy explains it better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUw1u1PYmBEv

[Crossy]

I get an error on the second video link.

Whatever.

There is no scientifically verified proof that grounding your body has any physiological effects whatever, however, if it makes you feel better (psychological effect) please go ahead and do it.

It almost certainly will do you no harm unless you have a lightning strike near your rod, in which case you won't feel anything, ever.

[BangkokKen]

I get an error on the second video link.

Whatever.

There is no scientifically verified proof that grounding your body has any physiological effects whatever, however, if it makes you feel better (psychological effect) please go ahead and do it.

It almost certainly will do you no harm unless you have a lightning strike near your rod, in which case you won't feel anything, ever.

Sorry the title of my topic is misleading; I need help on using a meter (yes for grounding)

whether grounding has benefits or not is irrelevant

[Crossy]

I get an error on the second video link.

Whatever.

There is no scientifically verified proof that grounding your body has any physiological effects whatever, however, if it makes you feel better (psychological effect) please go ahead and do it.

It almost certainly will do you no harm unless you have a lightning strike near your rod, in which case you won't feel anything, ever.

Sorry the title of my topic is misleading; I need help on using a meter (yes for grounding)

whether grounding has benefits or not is irrelevant

So what do you want to check?

If you want to check your ground rod you need an earth resistance tester or an earth-loop impedance tester, a multimeter will be no use whatever.

EDIT You already have reasonable scientific explanations why your "body voltage" appears to increase when you touch your ground rod. If you choose not to believe them then fine.

[BangkokKen]

Regardless if grounding has any value, if my grounding rod was efficient or my reading accurate, I should get my body voltage DOWN when touching the rod;

Numerous videos on youtube show people measuring body voltage with grounding rod, are showing that as soon as you they touch a grounding equipment, their body voltage drops to nearly zero.

Why do I have the opposite effect?.

Also the meter only reacts on AC when I should apparently use DC for body measurement

Does it mean the meter is faulty?

[Crossy]

Enough already!

You have your explanations.

The meter is NOT faulty.

Closed.