When I was in college, I worked for a construction company. I was stripping a peice of wire (that wasn't supposed to be hot). My hands slid up the strippers, past the insulation and I was firmly gripping the grounded sheild on a BX cable. I took 277V through the chest for a few seconds. I couldn't let go; I couldn't do anything but grunt. I fell back and fortunately the wire was short enough to be ripped from my hands before I hit the ground. (good thing this was before lunch...or else I would have soiled myself) My knuckles also touched each other while I was hung up and burned the flesh inside. I thought for sure I would loose my fingers, but they healed with only minor scarring.
I always think about what I'm doing nd what I'm about to do before I energize anything now (20 years later) and don't put my fingers where they don't belong.
I always think about what I'm doing nd what I'm about to do before I energize anything now (20 years later) and don't put my fingers where they don't belong.
It's not just the shock either,
I remember reading that a high percentage of "electrocution" accidents are from the persons reflexes,the 'secondary injury'..that is; The little shock scares you,and makes you jerk your arm away sudenly,knocking the hot coffee into your lap,and burning your 'family jewels'.
I know it's happened to me many times.. Get a little tingle,and it makes me jerk my arm away,and bang my elbow on the corner of the desk or whatever.. the shock didn't hurt too bad,but now my elbow is throbbing!
The thing I hate the most -when those little Solid-state 'fuses' blow up in your face.
I'll be picking silicon out of my face for a week!
I remember reading that a high percentage of "electrocution" accidents are from the persons reflexes,the 'secondary injury'..that is; The little shock scares you,and makes you jerk your arm away sudenly,knocking the hot coffee into your lap,and burning your 'family jewels'.
I know it's happened to me many times.. Get a little tingle,and it makes me jerk my arm away,and bang my elbow on the corner of the desk or whatever.. the shock didn't hurt too bad,but now my elbow is throbbing!
The thing I hate the most -when those little Solid-state 'fuses' blow up in your face.
I'll be picking silicon out of my face for a week!
In high school physics, we used to play electric chicken. There were 4 people to a table. We would each hold hands and make a circle with the 2 people closest to the 300V power supply would hold it instead. The object was to not be the person to break the chain.
Pretty dumb aye? I never lost, even when it was eliminated down to 2 people.
Pretty dumb aye? I never lost, even when it was eliminated down to 2 people.
We used to do the same thing in High School electronics class, only we used a variac. I think I described some of the other unsafe things we did elsewhere. I knew 3 people that lost their lives in that High School. One traffic accident, 2 drug related stupid deaths. No one was ever electrocuted. There are real risks when you play with electricity, there are greater risks when you drive to work (at least in South Florida).
**Sorry if this has already been posted, but I haven't found it yet!**
As far as voltages go, remember that static electricity is well into the kilovolt range. As has been harped on, the amperage at a given voltage is what can induce damage.
On a different note, some research groups in my department build ionization sources for mass spectrometers that utilize some very high voltage power supplies. All of these labs have the "right hand rule": keep your left hand in your pocket at all times while working on high voltage sources so that if you do get shocked, the jolt will be as far away from your heart as possible. I know this is not new to the thread, but it seems that this is a pretty universal suggestion for dealing with HV.
As far as voltages go, remember that static electricity is well into the kilovolt range. As has been harped on, the amperage at a given voltage is what can induce damage.
On a different note, some research groups in my department build ionization sources for mass spectrometers that utilize some very high voltage power supplies. All of these labs have the "right hand rule": keep your left hand in your pocket at all times while working on high voltage sources so that if you do get shocked, the jolt will be as far away from your heart as possible. I know this is not new to the thread, but it seems that this is a pretty universal suggestion for dealing with HV.
The "electrric chicken" post made me remember something a friend and I used to do during breaks in class..
There was a carpeted area,and we'd go scuff our feet around and build up a static charge and shock eachother....harmless fun..
Well,one day I got the idea to "gather" the static that was left on the classroom's TV screen (it was turned off)..
So I stuck my hand on it and wiped it around to gather the static on the face of it and scuffed my feet around a bit..
When we went to zap eachother there was a huge purple arc ~3 inches long? and both of us yipped and jumped back a couple feet..
My arm was numb/sore all day.
That's how I learned CRT's can make nice capacitors.
There was a carpeted area,and we'd go scuff our feet around and build up a static charge and shock eachother....harmless fun..
Well,one day I got the idea to "gather" the static that was left on the classroom's TV screen (it was turned off)..
So I stuck my hand on it and wiped it around to gather the static on the face of it and scuffed my feet around a bit..
When we went to zap eachother there was a huge purple arc ~3 inches long? and both of us yipped and jumped back a couple feet..
My arm was numb/sore all day.
That's how I learned CRT's can make nice capacitors.
A few months ago I asked an experienced electrician -must have had 30years on the job- to do some work in my home including changing an outlet(127v).When he started working on it while still powered I asked if he didn´t prefer to close the main breaker.He only shrugged while playing with both bare L and N wires with his fingers and invited me to try it- maintaining that the shock was only slightly unpleasant!!!
Basically if you have to ask then you definately shouldn't service any of your equipment or attempt to build anything. As others have already stated, given the right circumstances 5-6 Volts is sufficient to kill. IIRC, The last reliable info I read said there is a good chance that an adult could be killed by as little as 12mA although typically it is about double that. In this part of the world, the official policy is that end users are not legally permitted to build or service any equipment that involves or might involve coming into contact with voltages equal to or in excess of 12 Volts AC or 30 Volts DC. That's certainly not to say that damage can't be done by those voltages. I have scars from electrical burns I got a few years back and that was only about 30 Volts DC from a battery pack. If you hold onto the terminals of a 12 volt battery, one in each hand, for a couple of days, even that is sufficient to cause a (potentially) permanent electrical abnormality with your heart. It's all relative.
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