How many electrical shocks can one take?

I gotta ask, because today I took yet another 350 VDC shock through the hand. I was tightening tube sockets in what I thought was a discharged Fender Vibrochamp. One hand on the chassis, one finger on a mini-screwdriver shaft. I flew back pretty far, I can't imagine what would have happened if it were plugged in. I think I'm OK, but I had to lay down for a while to let my heart and breathing catch up.

I read that skin resistance goes anywhere from 1K to 10K. So I took it from a 40uF / 450 V cap. I checked it afterwards, cap still had 300 V left after me :grin:

Wikipedia has some info on the differences between AC and DC shocks, but I want some actual DIY'ers stories... go ahead and shock me :idea:

A former co-worker of mine got hit with 6KV straight from a local transformer-station, when a fool turned the power on whitout making damn sure everyone was done working.
He flew 6m into the air and was in a coma for about 8 month.
Luckily he's doing well and is back working as an electrician again :shock:

I had the misfortune of getting hit with 480VAC phase to phase. I was not grounded, and apparently not really paying attention. I could taste every filling in my mouth for hours afterwards. I've only really gotten hit by B+ once, somewhere in the neighborhood of 350VDC. It was nothing in comparison.

to answer your question
how many electrical shocks can one take? The answer is simple you can take enough shocks until you die from one.

It's usually not voltages that kills you but amperage. High amps and low volts is more deadly then high volts low amps. It only takes a few milivolts to stop a human heart.

The safety guidelines are indeed in terms of current and obviously the path matters. Skin resistance varies with perspiration and grip pressure but obviously the more voltage the higher the risk.

JR

I got a B+ from tip of finger on plate to my wrist on the chassis.

The finger was numb for a good 20 minutes.

:thumb:

If I knew stuff like this, I might not have gotten shocked in the first place.

Gustav

C'mon!
Anyone fixing tube gear, especially guitar amps, needs a pair of chopsticks. You wanna live, so you can fry the amp again!

both wired with a copper tip connected to a clip lead, one through a 220R, and the other through a 10 pF 500V cap. The R goes through and zaps the caps, and the C is a stage-shorter that isolates bum components. I use the C-stick more than the R-stick with bench work.

and no shocks since the ham radio daze, thankfully!
Mike

There are a lot of people who would like to have contributed to this thread ....... unfortunately they couldn't be with us tonight ...... Now 120v AC is a strange number ....... anyone know why they picked 120v for line transmission?

this may or may not shed some light on the 120V AC

from the title it looks like it could have info

http://www.eei.org/industry_issues/industry_overview_and_statistics/history/index.htm

High Voltage Bill sez: " It's the Current, not the Voltage, Kids!"

I think my least favorite shocks have been from a Leslie 122 amp - twice. I can't seem to remember that the 6 pin male connector has B+ voltage on it for DAYS after you unplug it from the organ. It's a very tempting handle to take the amp out of the leslie cabinet.

I like the chopstick idea.

How about wiring in a bleeder resistor?

Peace,
Paul

Depends on the path. I've taken 1000VDC across a hand, and actually lived after 240VAC across the heart... both were shakey, but that same 1000VDC from arm to arm would've probably been lights-out...

So the nature of the queston /poll is flawed and over-simpistic IMHO.

Keith

i agree - people read stuff like this on the internet take it as gospel and get themselves hurt or killed. this thread is ill conceived and i would recommend deleting it for liability or safety reasons.

a 9v battery can kill you under the right conditions!

[quote author="SSLtech"]So the nature of the queston /poll is flawed and over-simpistic IMHO.

Keith[/quote]
And most static shocks from walking across the carpet in the winter are in the 10KV range if I recall correctly. So I would add to High Voltage Bill's slogan that it's the coulombs kids...

I've been getting shocked a lot lately from the Milty Zerostat III. I don't use it on my vinyl records, but rather on 1x10 cm polyester substrates that I weigh at work. I need 0.1mg resolution, and a little static charge will change my weights by up to 20%. When you get the transducer too close to your skin, you get what feels like a static shock x10. It's most unpleasant. It also goes right through latex gloves, easily surpassing their dielectric breakdown voltage.

-Chris

A recent post to a related thread in another forum offered that 25 ma at 60Hz will stop the heart if appled directly. This is worse than suggested shock risk from OSHA website, which is presumeably a more general (external) exposure.

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/construction/electrical_incidents/eleccurrent.html

1 mA Perception level. Slight tingling sensation. Still dangerous under certain conditions.

5 mA Slight shock felt; not painful but disturbing. Average individual can let go. However, strong involuntary reactions to shocks in this range may lead to injuries.

6-30 mA Painful shock, muscular control is lost. This is called the freezing current or "let-go" range.

50-150 mA Extreme pain, respiratory arrest, severe muscular contractions. Individual cannot let go. Death is possible.

1000-4300 mA Ventricular fibrillation (the rhythmic pumping action of the heart ceases.) Muscular contraction and nerve damage occur. Death is most likely.

10,000 mA Cardiac arrest, severe burns and probable death.

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Apparently the heart is very sensitive to AC at mains frequency, but people do still get killed by lightning too.

JR

I was given the death number of 20mA across the heart from an engineer who worked on electrographic printing for Ricoh. We had built a toner transfer jig together which worked on a 5KV power supply. I counted my blessings every day I didn't take a jolt.

-Chris