How did earth not short out line and neutral?

[Flyback]

Hi,
Howcome these horses sadly died of electric shock?............surely earth should short out line and neutral between their front and back legs.?

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[Diver300]

The resistance of ground is not very low.

This page talks about earth impedances of 100 to 1000 Ohms:- https://professional-electrician.com/technical/earth-electrode-testing/

I guess that something in the ground connected to a live wire. Maybe the steel wire armouring of some cable. The current would flow away from the live item but there could still be a big difference in voltage between points a couple of metres apart.

Horses will be far more susceptible than people. Horses often have steel shoes, and they have feet on the ground much further apart than people do so if there is a voltage gradient, a horse will subjected to a bigger voltage.

Also most shoes and boots will be quite effective at insulating someone from voltages in the ground.

 

[MaxHeadRoom78]

When we used to check the ground resistance from service back to the supply transformer grounded neutral it usually conformed to the required value, often not more than 20 ohms.
I would assume they contacted a live conductor, either that or there was no grounded neutral present.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Have you never heard the rule about not sheltering under a tree during a thunderstorm?
The reason is that if the tree gets stuck, the current through the earth below it can mean possibly thousands of volts between your two feet a short disance apart, and you getting electrocuted.

"Earth" is a pretty good distributed conductor, as there is a lot of it - but in a small area it can be quite high resistance, especially near the surface.

 

[Flyback]

Thanks, on a few occasions, i have received line to neutral 240vac shocks from right hand to left hand. Even sometimes getting a vibrating feeling in my pectoral muscles.
(on one particular occasion i was probing between line and neutral on some corroded terminals...........i had to press hard due to the corrosion.....and slipped...getting line and neutral 240vac from right to left hand for what seemed to be a second or two.....but other than the vibrating feeling in the pectoral muscles...no problem....how is this?)
Why did i not go down like those horses.?


I also used to work for a boss who used to grab line and neutral (240VAC) in right and left hands for a "bit of a joke" at work.......i never forget it...it made him come out in a low gurgling scream as he tried to hold on....but then he would let go, and start laughing. !!! (to this day i wonder whether he had pre-smothered conductive grease under his clothing kind of up his arms and across his back.)

 

[Pommie]

I vaguely remember that horses are more susceptible to electric shock. I think (long time ago) there were specific wiring requirements for stables due to this. Can anyone confirm?

Mike.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

getting line and neutral 240vac from right to left hand for what seemed to be a second or two.....but other than the vibrating feeling in the pectoral muscles...no problem....how is this?)

You have to work fairly hard to kill yourself with only 240V, but hand to hand isn't a good idea.