If you touch just one phase..

[Andy1845c]

TCMs story reminds me of this video. Maybe some of you have seen it. Its a testament to the danger of powerlines.

YouTube - Crane hits power line

 

[Mr RB]

I think some of the difference is due to the difference between 110v ac and 240v ac. I've had numerous shocks from both (and even once from 415v ac which HURTS) and 110v barely rates a mention in pain terms. I forget most of you guys only get the chance to be zapped with 110v, you miss all the fun.

240v will give a nasty tingle even when you are insulated, especially if you have extra capacitance elsewhere on your body like a sweaty work shirt etc.

 

[Pommie]

My experience was in the UK and 230V phase to neutral - 440 phase to phase. I have had many shocks at 240V as I am sure most (older) UK posters here have. I have never experiences 440V as that requires contacting two phases. I did, unfortunately, have a Friend that did experience contact with two phases and I attended his funeral with his wife and daughter. He was in a lift motor room when an apprentice turned the power back on - I'm guessing that apprentice will never make that mistake again. For anyone curious, this was 11 years ago.

Mike.

 

[Hero999]

Did the apprentice get manslaughter?

 

[whiz115]

if you need to close circuit with the earth so you can get electrocuted then why when you accidentaly touch the live in the mains you get a nasty shock?!

 

[KMoffett]

You won't...unless some other part of your body/clothes(sweaty) is providing a resistive or large capacitive path to ground.

Ken

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

My experience was in the UK and 230V phase to neutral - 440 phase to phase. I have had many shocks at 240V as I am sure most (older) UK posters here have.

The UK mains is still 240V - it's only nominally 230V - it was 'standardised' a number of years back to 230V for all the EU. However, nothing changed - except the design of appliances, the UK is still 240V, the rest of Europe 220V, but both are nominally 230V, and appliances are designed to work on 230V +/- a certain percentage, which covers both 240V and 220V.

 

[whiz115]

You won't...unless some other part of your body/clothes(sweaty) is providing a resistive or large capacitive path to ground.

Ken

i've seen people electrocuted just putting their finger somewhere they shouldn't... in fact they were standing up and touching nothing else also whearing athletic shoes...which have rubber.

btw how stun guns work?

 

[KMoffett]

i've seen people electrocuted just putting their finger somewhere they shouldn't... in fact they were standing up and touching nothing else also whearing athletic shoes...which have rubber.

btw how stun guns work?

Can you describe the details of "putting their finger somewhere they shouldn't"? If their finger touches a active conductor and another part of their finger/hand touches a neutral conductor/grounded surface they can get a shock. This is describing low frequency power (i.e. 50/60Hz). If it were a high frequency power source like inside a CRT HV circuit, the conductive path to ground/common can be capacitive...and does not to make a direct contact to the other conductor.

Stun guns/tazers have two conductors in/on you. Well I think the high frequency arc in a stun gun can actually arc to you, through an ionized air path, without actually making contact.

ken

 

[Hero999]

I doubt they were just holding the live wire, probably live and neutral or live and an earth or an earthed object.

When you mean electrocuted do you mean killed or just a bad shock?

I've seen people being shocked but never electrocuted.

 

[Pommie]

Did the apprentice get manslaughter?

No, he followed the rules. He came upon a situation where the lift wasn't working. My Friend was old school, he had placed his jacket over the isolator - current rules state he should have locked it off. The system he was working on had no way to lock it. The apprentice simply turned it back on - if anyone was working on it then it would be locked off.

Now, if you follow the rules, you would not work on it until it was capable of being locked off. I'll bet it still happens everyday.

Mike

 

[whiz115]

I
When you mean electrocuted do you mean killed or just a bad shock?

ok wrong expression... i mean they got a shock


@KMoffett so concerning HV you don't need to touch something grounded?!
about stun guns indeed they got two contact probes.. i didn't remembered that.


hmmm but still i don't get it... how about the screwdrivers that thest the mains? how do they work?! they don't need you touch a ground!

 

[KMoffett]

I've taken two good hits, 20 years apart, hand to hand. One from a 400CTVAC secondary in an o-scope supply that got shorted to the case. The other was a prototype piece of medical equipment that a salesman sneaked into our OR, without a safety check, to demo. Set off the LIM alarms. When I got it to the shop I started to plug it into the leakage analyzer. One hand on the device's case and as I plugged it in, my other hand touched the analyzer's case. Whoever wired the device swapped the hot and ground. The case was hot to the tune of 120VAC. Both times I was knocked across a room, gasping, trying to breathe.

One hand in your pocket!...one hand in your pocket!...one hand in your pocket!...and lest you have forgotten...ONE HAND IN YOUR POCKET!...

ken

 

[KMoffett]

how about the screwdrivers that thest the mains? how do they work?! they don't need you touch a ground!

I have not used one...but I suspect that they are using a neon lamp (like a NE2), and a safety current-limiting resistor. These require >90 volts to fire, but only a current in the µA range to remain lit. At line frequencies, the even the small capacitive coupling of your insulated body to the grounded electrical environment near you is enough to pass this much current. This level of current is undetectable (by you) and considered safe, even a direct patient contact medical environment.

Ken

 

[Hero999]

One from a 400CTVAC secondary in an o-scope supply that got shorted to the case.

That's why you should never remove the earth on an oscilloscope.

 

[KMoffett]

That was in the days of the low-end, ungrounded power-cord scopes...Heathkit...Eico.... But that scope was one I actually was building from scratch. Since I didn't have another suitable transformer, I decided to buy a scope kit. :0

Ken

 

[tcmtech]

It must depend on your personal resistance and tolerance to shock.
I have taken a direct hits off of 5 - 12 KV 30 Ma neon sign transformers (2.5 - 6 KV from CT to output) to many times to care to mention.

480 volt hurts but rarely anything under that doesn't seem to cause me much lingering discomfort.

Automotive and farm equipment ignitions and antique magnetos also have given me to many shocks to count.

My Tesla coils and static generators put out voltages into the high 10's of KV to low 100's Of KV. I have no problem getting shocked by them either.

 

[Hero999]

30mA is quite nasty but unlikely to kill, especially if it's a high frequency converter.

Tesla coils won't normally kill you but can give nasty RF burns. You can get killed from a Tesla coil, if the spark can connects you to the low-voltage high-current driver.