Shocked by high voltage! whats your volts?

[Souper man]

Ok, this thread is for what is the highest voltage youve been shocked by ever. My highest is 120 volts AC

 

[bananasiong]

Ok, this thread is for what is the highest voltage youve been shocked by ever. My highest is 120 volts AC

Are you sure? And you are still alive!
I have the chance of getting shocked by higher voltage than you, it's 230 Vac over here . But I don't think I'm going to try it

 

[HarveyH42]

120? Who hasn't felt the bite... I brushed up against 220 remodeling a kitchen once, bare wires hanging out of a hole in the wall.
Don't think this really counts, but had 250,000 volts arc over and get me a few times. It was from a tesla coil, high frequency/low current. It travels on the surface of the skin, so not really a shock, but feels like thousands of bugs crawling on your skin.
Lawn mower spark plug, don't know the voltage (little brother laughed his ass off for that one, until I caught hold of him).

 

[Hero999]

I've had a 15kV shock from a piexo ignitor!

This is a silly thread in my opinion. We all know that it isn't about voltage but current and energy. A 120V shock can do a lot more harm than a 30kV static shock you might get when touching the car on a hot day.

 

[Souper man]

I know, but still just want to know...

Also, I forgot how i did it, but somehow I shorted 120vac on a project, and it melted the wires! it was exacly 17 amps at 117 vac.

 

[j.p.bill]

Something on the order of 30 KV off a damper diode. It left a 2 inch burn under the skin of my palm.

 

[Sceadwian]

300, I brushed against the cap leads of a charged flash circuit. Got my attention that's for sure, no burns though.

 

[things]

15 kv from a jacobs ladder circuit

 

[things]

i also forgot. i have been shocked by 240 volts out of the wall plug

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Are we talking in an entire lifetime, or just the last week?

There's a LOT of rubbish written about electrical shocks, the UK 240V (nominally 230V) mains is very unlikely to kill you - unless you work REALLY hard at it.

As often said, it's the current that kills - but you need a high voltage for enough current to flow - tesla coils, with their VERY low current don't really count!.

But I fairly frequently get 240V AC shocks and 340V DC shocks, occasionally 8KV DC shocks, and VERY occasionally 24/30KV DC shocks. The KV shocks though are only of very low current capability though.

What I've NEVER had is a shock off a microwave oven transformer - THIS WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY BE FATAL!! - don't mess with micro-wave ovens.

 

[Gayan Soyza]

What about talking in SAFETY PRECAUTIONS and how to avoid them by a HIGH voltage! if Souper man is not get angry

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/safety.htm

**broken link removed**

 

[Optikon]

480V, 60Hz 3 phase motor system.. my hand brushed across poorly wired terminal blocks. I think I had a 3-way, hand shorted across 2 of the 3 phases and to earth. It felt alot worse than 120. One hand in pocket probably saved me. Doh! Don't wear wedding rings either. I've heard of cases where the ring heats up rapidly and will take your skin off!

 

[Gaston]

i was pruning some limbs out of my tree that were hitting the power line . i was on top of a six foot wooden ladder,and had my boots on with neoprine souls. the branch was about six feet up to the wire. when i grabbed it, it got my attention. i thing the wires are about 18k volts with all the current you could want. needless to say i don't monkey around power lines anymore

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I've heard of cases where the ring heats up rapidly and will take your skin off!

Or metal strap watches! - for that matter any metal watch!.

Strapping anything nice and conductive to your skin is going to make the path so much easier for current to enter your body

 

[RadioRon]

I think it was about 5KV from an old television set. I was thrown to the floor and there was a bit of a noise, but I don't recall any signficant burn on my hand.

 

[CheapSlider]

! Don't wear wedding rings either. I've heard of cases where the ring heats up rapidly and will take your skin off!

This applies especially when working with car electrics. A car battery can produce a lot of amps, enough to melt a ring or a watch strap.


I couldn't begin to count the number of 240V shocks I've had.
I used to repair SMPS which were very generous with 340v DC shocks.
I also remember dealing with cascode valve amplifiers which used higher HV supplies (500V)

 

[3iMaJ]

Something interesting that I always wondered..from the old quote "Voltage doesnt kill its the current." Etc.. But if voltage and current are related through ohms law does it come down to a current sourcing probelem?


Let me give an example: When one says "very high voltage but very low current" it seems to me that statement is meaningless because current is dependant on load. So 10KV is potentially very deadly with the appropriate load. However, a 1.5v battery is likely not deadly regardless of load because a battery cannot simply source the current long enough.

So it seems to me that the statement of "high voltage but low current" is ambiguous. A high voltage is deadly assuming it can source the required current, but 10000V at 1mAH probably cant hurt you.

Correct?

 

[Hank Fletcher]

From Wiki on "Electric Chair":

The head and legs of the condemned person are shaved and the prisoner is strapped into the chair. A moist sponge is placed on the head to aid conductivity. One electrode is attached to the head and a second attached to the leg to provide a closed circuit. At least two jolts of an electrical current are applied with the time and current depending on the physical state of the condemned person. Typically an initial voltage of around 2,000 volts is applied for up to 15 seconds to attempt both to induce unconsciousness and to stop the heart. The voltage is then lowered to reduce current flow to approximately 8 amps. The body of the person may heat up to approximately 138°F (59°C), and the electric current will generally cause severe damage to internal organs.

In theory, unconsciousness occurs in a fraction of a second. However, there are multiple reports of things going wrong during the process. There have been incidents of a person's head on fire; of burning transformers, and of a chair breaking down after the initial jolt and letting the condemned wait in pain on the floor of the execution room while the chair was fixed. In 1946, the electric chair failed to execute Willie Francis, who reportedly shrieked "Stop it! Let me breathe!" as he was being executed. It turned out that the portable electric chair had been improperly set up by an intoxicated trustee. A case was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court (Francis v. Resweber),[4] with lawyers for the condemned arguing that although Francis did not die, he had, in fact, been executed. The argument was rejected on the basis that re-execution did not violate the double jeopardy clause of the 5th Amendment of the US Constitution, and Francis was returned to the electric chair and successfully executed the following year.

Regardless of how the execution is performed, cleaning up afterwards is described as unpleasant. Skin is inevitably burned and prison workers have to separate the burnt skin from the electrodes. The initial flow of electric current may cause the person to lose control over many bodily functions, including muscle movement, urination and defecation. To mitigate this, alterations to modern electric chairs include padding and an inertia style retractable seat belt.

Barbaric. Poor Willie - can you imagine going up a second time? Only in America.

 

[mechie]

To Die For ?

So it seems to me that the statement of "high voltage but low current" is ambiguous. A high voltage is deadly assuming it can source the required current, but 10000V at 1mA probably cant hurt you.

Correct?

Absolutely ! that's how electric fence energisers are designed, they can give 9 or 10kV with no load, but hang a cow on it and it drops to more like 50 to 100v, depending on ground conductivity, earth stake efficiency, skin resistance ...

Anybody that survives a mains shock (110 or 240v) should count themselves lucky - OK, I know it's rather short of 100% kill but GROW UP guys
Ever heard of 'once bitten, twice shy' ?

I think what may be saving lives here is circuit resistance AND path, a shock accross one hand will be safer than accross your chest.

https://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~p616/safety/fatal_current.html

 

[mechie]

Frying tonight !

From Wiki on "Electric Chair"
voltage is then lowered to reduce current flow to approximately 8 amps

Above 200 milliamps, the muscular contractions are so severe that the heart is forcibly clamped during the shock. This clamping protects the heart from going into ventricular fibrillation, and the victim's chances for survival are good.

Nuff said !