# how conductive is rain water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202 "2011-08-18T18:23:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/1 "2011-08-18T18:23:44Z")
I remember demonstrations from high school science classes showing that pure water, devoid of any dissolved ionic material (e.g. salt), is very non-conductive. So what’s the deal with rain water? If I have the fuse box on a motorcycle exposed to rain, would one expect the rain to cause short-circuits? ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/2 "2011-08-18T18:35:32Z")
Yes. It takes very little amounts of dissolved solids to make water conductive. The CO2 that is in the air also will produce a mild acidic solution. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/3 "2011-08-18T18:36:04Z")
rain if it is not pure water might be conductive, depends on what is in it and how much. an object may have dry salts on it, these might be dissolved by pure water and provide a conductive path for electricity. so pure water could cause a short. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/4 "2011-08-18T18:37:44Z")
It doesn’t matter how pure the rain water is. Your fuse box is dirty and the water will be contaminated once it hits the fusebox. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/5 "2011-08-18T18:39:42Z")
Duct tape! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/6 "2011-08-18T18:59:14Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > It doesn’t matter how pure the rain water is. Your fuse box is dirty and the water will be contaminated once it hits the fusebox. Pretty much this. Rain water is not completely pure to begin with so is conductive. Even pure water is conductive enough to short between the fuse terminals. Even it it wasn’t pure water is corrosive and would absorb enough off the fuse terminals to make it so almost immediately. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/7 "2011-08-18T19:17:51Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Even pure water is conductive enough to short between the fuse terminals. Considering that in the context of the OP, “pure water” means deionized, this isn’t at all true - the conductivity is somewhere around 0.1 µS/cm or better. That’s negligible for a wet fuse box. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/8 "2011-08-18T19:24:54Z")
Lightning seems to conduct pretty well in rain. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/9 "2011-08-18T19:38:44Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Lightning seems to conduct pretty well in rain. Lightning ionizes the atmosphere itself; it’s not reliant on rainwater to form a conductive path to the earth. Thanks to everyone for clearing up the details. The science experiments were of course done with deionized water poured from a sealed vessel into a clean beaker, whereas in my OP we’re talking about rain droplets that have been exposed to atmosphere for quite some time with a favorable surface-area-to-volume ratio (and so might be slightly acidic due to ambient CO2) and then likely also contain dissolved solids from whatever crud happens to reside in the fuse box. Makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/10 "2011-08-19T00:30:15Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Lightning seems to conduct pretty well in rain. Lightning conducts pretty well in the absence of rain as well. What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/11 "2011-08-19T00:37:31Z")
hold it a second… water, whether pure or holding chemicals in solution, is conductive. you just have a change in resistivity (i prefer to think of it that way.) more dissolved ions lowers resistivity. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/12 "2011-08-19T00:39:46Z")
Motorcycle circuits are 12 V these days, aren’t they? The amount of current that could flow through rainwater at 12 V should be negligible. It could be acid rain, however. You should dry out the fusebox to prevent corrosion. Back in the days of points and distributor caps (15,000 V and up running through mechanical contacts), water in the ignition system could be conductive enough to cause some real problems. Remember, amps = volts divided by ohms (resistance). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/13 "2011-08-19T01:16:48Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > Lightning conducts pretty well in the absence of rain as well. What’s your point? Well, I could ask you where in the world you could find air without water vapor. But mostly I’d ask you if you’ve never heard of humor. If you don’t know what it is, post #8 has an example. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/14 "2011-08-19T04:31:47Z")
I don’t know about motorcycle fuseboxes, but you can put a snorkel on the air intake of a Jeep and drive it [underwater](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EgFTeRRP5w) (youtube link). The fuseboxes aren’t sealed, they actually have holes in the side. The main concern is that they tend to float, making it hard to drive out. If you’ve ever seen those tests where someone drops a car in a lake and tries to get out of it, the electric windows usually work for a couple of minutes under water as well. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Simple\_Mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Mind)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/15 "2011-08-19T12:26:30Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Motorcycle circuits are 12 V these days, aren’t they? The amount of current that could flow through rainwater at 12 V should be negligible. It could be acid rain, however. You should dry out the fusebox to prevent corrosion. Back in the days of points and distributor caps (15,000 V and up running through mechanical contacts), water in the ignition system could be conductive enough to cause some real problems. Remember, amps = volts divided by ohms (resistance). I should think that water in the fuse box should not be a problem as long as there is a good connection on the terminals, the current will flow where there is the lowest resistance but if exposed for a long time you will risk corrosion. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/16 "2011-08-19T16:11:22Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > hold it a second… water, whether pure or holding chemicals in solution, is conductive. No, pure water has \*very \*high bulk resistivity. The point everyone is making is that pure water almost never exists in natural settings; it is almost always contaminated with _something_. And if you took laboratory-grade pure water (quadruple distilled or whatever), and poured it on something, it would likely become contaminated (and thus conductive to a lesser or greater extent) in less than a second. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/17 "2011-08-19T16:47:39Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > No, pure water has \*very \*high bulk resistivity. The point everyone is making is that pure water almost never exists in natural settings; it is almost always contaminated with _something_. And if you took laboratory-grade pure water (quadruple distilled or whatever), and poured it on something, it would likely become contaminated (and thus conductive to a lesser or greater extent) in less than a second. Pure water is electrically conductive to some degree, just due to the natural occurrence of H+ and OH- ions within it. The conductivity is fairly poor though since the concentration of ions is so low. This is starting to get into a battle of semantics, but it doesn’t bother me if someone says pure water is conductive, especially if they qualify it by stating that it gets much more conductive when you add impurities to it. I don’t know that there is actually an argument here. The two of you seem to be saying the same thing using different words. > [@Simple\_Mind](#): > > I should think that water in the fuse box should not be a problem as long as there is a good connection on the terminals, the current will flow where there is the lowest resistance but if exposed for a long time you will risk corrosion. Current doesn’t just follow the path of least resistance. Current follows ALL paths. It’s just that much more current will flow over the path of least resistance. In the case of the OP, it depends on what else is in these circuits. Even impure water doesn’t conduct electricity anywhere near as well as say a hunk of copper, so while you may get some current flowing, it may or may not be enough current to make anything weird happen. A headlight for example takes a lot of current to make it light, so you won’t get any noticeable glow from it even though there may be a tiny amount of current flowing through it. On the other hand, devices that require a very low amount of current might switch on and do weird things. And I also believe that corrosion would most definitely be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/18 "2011-08-19T17:19:36Z")
For fuses that haven’t burned out, both contacts will be at the same potential. I’d expect all the fuses in a fuse box to either be at ground, or at 12 Volts, not a mix of voltages. So I’d expect pouring even salt water into the fuse box wouldn’t have any effect on the motorcycle’s operation, until corrosion set in. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/19 "2011-08-19T21:10:28Z")
How does the conductivity of pure water compare to the conductivity of air? ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202/20 "2011-08-19T21:37:29Z")
Off the top of my head I know the resistance of pure water is 18 megaOhm per cm (if my lab’s water system reads lower resistance, it’s time to replace filters…). Wiki and a bit of mental conversion tells me that the resistance of air is around 2x10^12 megaOhm per cm. So air is roughly 11 orders of magnitude more resistive/less conductive. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-conductive-is-rain-water/593202.md?page=2)