Anyone seen this stupidity before?

[eveares]

I do not endorse or support what is shown in this video for obvious reasons , but just wondering have any on here seen this video before.


The fact that the electric shock is deliberate and at mains voltage (Yes main AC at 241v), plus the worrying fact that the device/resistors could fail inside and thus pass a substantially large current is just an accident waiting to happen IMO.

Video (See 12 minutes in for the dangerous demo):

Oh,

 

[ericmark]

It is certainly interesting that the maximum volts he could stand was around 50 but as you say testing on a live person is not really the way to do it. Also interesting that 8 mA not 30 mA was the maximum he could stand. But the Heath Robinson construction was rather worrying and also no one shown as being present to intervene should the experiment go wrong. Would be interesting to see the risk assessment for making that video.

 

[bernardgreen]

He does provide a provide a lot of good advice amd information and does make the point very clearly how dangerous the experiment was. Interesting that he was losing control od muscles at 6 milli Amp yet the trip current for an RCD is nominal 30 milli Amp. ( unless it is for body connected medical equipment when it is ( more sensibly ) a 10 milli Amp trip. )

He does highlight things like the semi-skilled maintenance man holding the earthed door of the control cabinet while probing around in the electrics in the cabinet.

 

[deadshort]

I would not say it was stupidity? The guy clearly knows what he's talking about and perhaps this forum is a good place to demonstrate what you are dealing with when you dabble with electricity and how little a current will actually cause pain.

Regards,

DS

 

[JohnW2]

Interesting that he was losing control od muscles at 6 milli Amp yet the trip current for an RCD is nominal 30 milli Amp.

That's far from surprising - it only takes a small handful of μA to activate a muscle (or nerve) fibre, so very small currents through the body as a whole have the potential to have effects on muscles (and nerves) close to the points of contact with electricity.

Kind Regards, John

 

[flameport]

I have seen that video before, and it's not stupidity.
It's someone conducting an experiment where they know exactly what the dangers and risks are.

testing on a live person is not really the way to do it.

If you are intending to demonstrate the effects of electricity on a live person, then there is no other way.

 

[mattylad]

And..... as it's a video and the wires dip out of shot and back - we have no way of knowing with 100% certainty that they were actually connected enough to pass current through him.

 

[eveares]

I have seen that video before, and it's not stupidity.
It's someone conducting an experiment where they know exactly what the dangers and risks are.

Yes, but I just hope that those current limiting resistors inside do not fail and go to 0Ω's or that anyone tries and build their own "tingle machine" and uses the wrong value resistors by mistake. Ok, the video or what he is doing may not be stupid, but the crudeness of the rig and the possibility of what I mentioned above is a tiny bit dumb; especially with the three 4700Ω that could fail and go down in resistance.

 

[JohnW2]

...especially with the three 4700Ω that could fail and go down in resistance.

I would imagine that's precisely why he used three 4.7kΩ resistors, rather than, say, one 15kΩ one. The chances of more than one failing simultaneously is vanishingly small (and for any resistor to fail S/C is very unusual, anyway), but even if one were to fail S/C (as I said, very unlikley), the current would still be limited to about 24mA, even if his pot was turned right down to 0Ω.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Jackrae]

I actually found the video quite instructive, but that doesn't mean I'd be daft enough to "give it a go"

 

[333rocky333]

Im sure he mentions taking the original model to work and all his mates tried it too !

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The internet, particularly YouTube, proves that there is no shortage of people deficient in why chromosomes.

 

[JohnW2]

I actually found the video quite instructive, but that doesn't mean I'd be daft enough to "give it a go"

Quite so. One has to remember that, although improbable, in some circumstances and/or given bad luck, currents well under 10mA can be fatal.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ericmark]

I remember as an apprentice thinking getting some one to hold the test leads of a wind up mega was fun. However I was sent to another maintenance depot. I saw the impulse mag under the bench with a wire leading to the vice and was ready when some one came to talk to me. I saw his hand go towards the crank handle and I placed my hand on his neck. I knew I would get a shock but thought it was worth it to teach him a lesson.

However the result was not what I expected. He jumps then fell to the floor he was having convulsions and I thought I had killed him. His mates carried him to rest room and ambulance was called. He recovered and was given a week off work with no pay for installing the impulse mag. I claimed I had not seen it and it was an accident but for a week or two I was on tender hooks wondering if I would be given the sack and thought at one point that I had killed him.

Never again did I ever try to give anyone a shock. Until that point connecting an electric fence to the normal fence I thought was good fun. Specially if the farmer relived himself on it. But at around 19 years of age I realised the error of my ways. It was some 40 odd years ago but I have never forgotten it.