Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Cursitor Doom Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design Subject: Re: electrical deaths Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2024 20:22:34 -0000 (UTC) Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 54 Message-ID: References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2024 21:22:34 +0100 (CET) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="512f1f874c6f76ab12c812444ce48c1c"; logging-data="731871"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+7ia+yql42O3Gk2okjjsXNlReDoFfyNto=" User-Agent: Pan/0.149 (Bellevue; 4c157ba) Cancel-Lock: sha1:qckwpCWZ/PttEZkx7vGvnRl72rg= Bytes: 3697 On Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:24:29 +0000, Jeff Layman wrote: > On 27/11/2024 17:17, Cursitor Doom wrote: >> On Tue, 26 Nov 2024 22:14:56 -0500, Edward Rawde wrote: >> >>> "john larkin" wrote in message >>> news:iv1dkj1d8qa5cvm4r5b7mbehcot0lnd057@4ax.com... >>>> https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Age-adjusted-mortality-rates- from- >> electrical-injuries-per-1-million-population-European_fig1_221916189 >>>> >>>> The US (0.63 PPM) is probably low partly because we have mostly 120 >>>> volt gadgets. I usually wire boxes hot, and get tickled now and then, >>>> no big deal. >>>> >>>> Some countries are astounding. >>>> >>>> >>> 240V AC never did me any harm. >>> >>> I first remember it when I moved a lamp in the loft (attic) which my >>> father had left there with the base off with live contacts exposed. >>> It was unpleasant but not harmful. I only just manage to avoid putting >>> my foot through the ceiling. >>> >>> Later I was moving out of a flat (apartment) and we couldn't find the >>> keys to turn the power off. >>> The removal guys refused to disconnect the cooker (stove) live so I >>> did it for them. >> >> Same here. Having dry skin helps a lot. There are still two real >> dangers though: wetness in whatever form and accidentally poking your >> finger into a socket where there's a live strand sticking out which >> punctures your skin. That's when you can *really* get a belt! > > It can also get nasty when muscle goes into spasm and contracts a hand > or even just a finger round the conductor, so you can't get free easily. > > My first unpleasant experience was with a 350V DC supply in a valve > radio which I was trying to fix. I was holding the DC+ wire ready to > resolder it to the smoothing capacitor. I had removed the capacitor from > its mount, but it was still connected to the rectifier on the negative > side. It wasn't in quite the right position for soldering, so I just > went to pick it up to move it. I had completely forgotten that the case > was connected to the -ve side, and got a hell of a belt from it. My hand > contracted around the capacitor, and I wouldn't have been able to let go > but my arm muscles also contracted and I involuntarily threw the > capacitor 15 feet across the room. That broke the connection, but to > this day I don't know why I hadn't turned off the power to the radio > before resoldering. It could have been a lot worse. I find DC shocks are much worse than AC. With AC I sense the tingle increasing over several seconds (at 240V) which gives me plenty of time to react, but with DC it's an *instant* ZAP!