bellbox circuitry

[ross94]

Hi there, hope this is not a silly question it was a friend who asked not me but I wasn't sure of the answer "can the piezo circuit on the bellbox give you an electric shock?" lol,
well I did tell him that the strobe certainly will fatal in some cases. but what about the piezo driving circuit?.

like I said it was a friend who asked but now I am interested to know. Don't worry I am not planning to find out,

cheers

 

[secureiam]

where ever an electric current flows you risk getting an electric shock.

the effects of the electric shock will depend on whether it is ac or dc and the voltage and current, and the route the electric takes.

Always assume it is dangerous and potentially lethal, if you don't know whats going on should you be doing the work at all?

 

[ross94]

like I said it was a friend who asked. I am not doing any work so don't know where you got that from. I just fit and wire up bellboxes, I am aware of the dangers inside the bellboxes when activated such as the strobe, I've had a few belts off the strobe before not nice (nearly thrown off ladder once) when I was younger of course and a bit limited with experience.

I know the piezo driving circuit uses a transformer that connects to the piezos. just wondering if you could get shocked from them as well.

 

[secureiam]

the strobe is quite shocking, and most units carry a warning about the strobe these days, it isn't pleasant had it once because I wasn't paying attention, never had one from anywhere else on a bell box but I don't take things for granted.

electricity can be dangerous and getting a shock when up a ladder. if the shock doesn't kill you the fall might, I didn't mean you as in you doing the work but as in anyone doing the work shouldn't do it if they don't know the risks or treat it with respect.

if an electric current flows through something then you can get a shock whilst dealing with it in the live state.

The strobe is the most likely place for a shock as the electric is stored up and then dumped to get the sudden flash, hence why they give a warning for x minutes after the strobe has stopped before dealing with it.

had a trapped nerve in my arm and to determine the nerve damage and what needed to be done I was subjected to a series of electric shocks, with him cranking up the power until I felt the shock, wasn't pleasant, but the wife found it funny.

What a great job, subjecting someone to electric shocks and seeing them suffer and getting paid for it.

 

[ross94]

no worries man and thanks for the advice. same here for me I was just not paying attention and inexperience. lol. with regards to the piezo circuit I will mention to my friend there is a possibility of electric shock. thanks again

 

[secureiam]

Put another way touch the strobe its pretty much guaranteed you'll get a nasty shock, the piezo is unlikely to give you a nasty but power does run through it and whos to say there isn't something a miss with the unit that could make it worse than it should be.

 

[EightyTwo]

The piezo is SELV - Safe Extra Low Voltage. The strobe (if it's a xenon strobe) will be a couple of hundred volts, triggered by a few thousand! That's why the strobe hurts - it's got enough volts to push electricity through you and a bl00dy great capacitor to provide the current ( a painful combination!). Some bells (like the Pyronix Deltabell) use LEDs for the strobe - these are perfectly safe and use less power.

 

[ross94]

in fact looking back now I remember fitting a bellbox think it was either a flashsuard xtra or oddysey 2 can't quite remember, but I stupidly touched the strobe capacitor and got wild sensation through my body and fell on my arse. luckily it wasn't high up just on a garage. my mate just laughed and thinking what a tool. looking back now it was pretty funny. but it could of been a lot worse.

wonder how many people and or engineers have been killed installing a bellbox? like one of you mentioned if its not the shock that kills you the fall will.

 

[sparkymarka]

And how did you do that ? Both of the above bell boxes have a plastic cover over the electronics !