Yeah, I seem to remember some adventures when I was younger and newly qualified a as TV/radio guy - I'm sure some of you understand, do your time as a trainee, then you think you know all the stuff! Down here in NZ, popular model of TV that had line AC (240, neutral tied to ground at distribution board), both sides of AC line present on pcb, same one that did tuning and channel change etc. Yes, take hold of board from underneath to lift it out, line across spread fingers, never forgot that one! Should have checked to see if plugged in to wall. Lesson: don't assume ANYTHING if you did not check it yourself. I'm still here, just...
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Best I've seen (although not technically a boot) was an apprentice hooking up the PSU for an emergency exit light that had a 240 to 12v transformer.
Tradesman says: "You sure you connected that around the right way?"
Preppy says :"Yep" and throws switch.
Blue green flash of light, apprentice on swivel chair rockets across room as circuit board traces are peeled away from the fibreglass with 4.8KV applied to them...
Tradesman says: "You sure you connected that around the right way?"
Preppy says :"Yep" and throws switch.
Blue green flash of light, apprentice on swivel chair rockets across room as circuit board traces are peeled away from the fibreglass with 4.8KV applied to them...
A few weeks ago, in my office (Neurologist) I saw a young man who was working on a power transformer and stuck his wrench in the wrong place. He is alive, but lost his arm to the elbow, blew out the bridge of his nose and caught on fire.
If it can take off the tip of a metal screwdriver, it can take off body parts. Be careful.
If it can take off the tip of a metal screwdriver, it can take off body parts. Be careful.
240 VAC contact is almost always deadly. You were lucky, 3 times. Buy a lottery ticket.
Not to take away from the significant safety issues here but this does not seem to be the case. There are lots of reports here (and in other threads) of people surviving 240v shocks and higher, myself included. I copped a 240v shock when I was about 10 years old and playing around with a washing machine motor. It was an experience I will never forget.
I have done a quick search and cannot find any readily accessible data on the lethality of 240v shocks. Obviously it is going to vary significantly from case to case but does anyone have an overall ballpark figure?
There is an Australian standard AS 60479.1:2002 that seems to cover the potential for lethality of electrical shocks in humans and animals but I cannot get a copy of it on the net.
I am not suggesting any laxity of safety - once was enough for me - 240v has the high potential for lethality but the stories here made me wonder what the actual overall risk is. I would also imagine that the potential for a lethal shock is much lower now than it was in the past due to the introduction of Earth Leakage Core Balances on household switchboards. Drew, did you have have a 'safety' switch and if so, maybe it was this that limited your shock?
Rob (not advocating lowering of vigilance and safe practice)
Yes, the power cct's in our house are on earth leakage or safety switches.
...however...
I'd already gone to the mains board and shut down every single power cct in the house (and the power cct's are the only one's with earth leakage). What bit me was a power socket outlet that was not connected to one of the power breakers.
The power socket must have been fed from one of the other circuits (air conditioning, oven or lighting). A bad idea for obvious Drew scorching reasons.
Can't count the number of times I've been nailed for various reasons. I don't assume anything in this house (built in the 40s), with its lovely cotton-wrapped, natural rubber wires that crumble when touched. Many of the outlets were already replaced with grounded ones, but a bunch were reversed and the wires mangled. The whole second story was connected to one 15A breaker.
I replaced the main box shortly after moving in and every chance I get I run new conduit and pull new wires for as many circuits as I can reach. That partially explains why simple home renovations take me so long.
I replaced the main box shortly after moving in and every chance I get I run new conduit and pull new wires for as many circuits as I can reach. That partially explains why simple home renovations take me so long.
Can't count the number of times I've been nailed for various reasons. I don't assume anything in this house (built in the 40s), with its lovely cotton-wrapped, natural rubber wires that crumble when touched. Many of the outlets were already replaced with grounded ones, but a bunch were reversed and the wires mangled. The whole second story was connected to one 15A breaker.
I replaced the main box shortly after moving in and every chance I get I run new conduit and pull new wires for as many circuits as I can reach. That partially explains why simple home renovations take me so long.
Yeah, count me on the been zapped by many different voltages list. Lost a couple of screw driver tips. Been a while though. I am much more chicken now.
Used to work with this old geezer that would check if a circuit was 240 or 110 by wetting his finger and stroking it. I tried that once, then carried my little neon light. He teased me about the light. I told him I thought it was pretty.
In my neck of the woods, pulling conduit through walls is often illegal. Some mumble mumble about a fire path...
LOL, here it is the opposite. All new construction must be 100% conduit and renovations only allow so many linear feet of BX to be used. No Romex. Two counties over and everything is Romex. I prefer conduit mainly because I can pull another circuit through for a future renovation.
Fire path through 1/2" EMT? Can't quite follow that one. A lot of these codes have more to do with union lobbyists and politics than safety. Just look at our plumbing codes. At one point we weren't allowed to use PVC for drains. It all had to be copper.
Hey that's a bummer Drew. We recently renovated our place and every circuit has an ELCB - Aircon, oven, the lot. The main circuit breaker is also an ELCB. I forgot to mention that a colleague of mine was killed a couple of years ago by drilling into a wall and hitting the mains. Old house, no safety switches. He did have a dodgy heart as well and I am sure that this did not help.
Rob
220-240volt
As an Electrician in South Africa ,220-240 volt ac is the norm , every installation has to be protected by an earth leakage device and then circuit breakers for the various plugs etc , 220 volt has the ability to grab you and hold onto you this is what makes it lethal , youre earth leakage device must trip at a specified ma leakage or 50 volt to earth from neutral , leakage , our supply originates from 380 volt ac 3 phase with each phase to neutral ( an earth supplied by the power utility ) giving a voltage of 220-240 volt and 380 across phases is 380volt, common in lots of houses .Live phase is protected via circuit breakers , fuses are illegal .I have had many full blown shocks , burnt hair on arms , eyebrows gone and severe arc eyes from the spark from doing something stupid ( like shoving a screwdriver into a contactor ) ( to reset the device and inadvertantly touching a neutral .hey but you know what you live and learn , thats why testers ( multimeters rule the world ).
Test first , then retest , then do the quick finger touch test , and live to have that Coke later .Im rated to inspect up to 11000 volts and certify .
You dont play with electricity , get someone to do it for you , its a silent killer.
As an Electrician in South Africa ,220-240 volt ac is the norm , every installation has to be protected by an earth leakage device and then circuit breakers for the various plugs etc , 220 volt has the ability to grab you and hold onto you this is what makes it lethal , youre earth leakage device must trip at a specified ma leakage or 50 volt to earth from neutral , leakage , our supply originates from 380 volt ac 3 phase with each phase to neutral ( an earth supplied by the power utility ) giving a voltage of 220-240 volt and 380 across phases is 380volt, common in lots of houses .Live phase is protected via circuit breakers , fuses are illegal .I have had many full blown shocks , burnt hair on arms , eyebrows gone and severe arc eyes from the spark from doing something stupid ( like shoving a screwdriver into a contactor ) ( to reset the device and inadvertantly touching a neutral .hey but you know what you live and learn , thats why testers ( multimeters rule the world ).
Test first , then retest , then do the quick finger touch test , and live to have that Coke later .Im rated to inspect up to 11000 volts and certify .
You dont play with electricity , get someone to do it for you , its a silent killer.
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