When I started college, the whole class got "meggered" in a slightly homoerotic initiation within the first week of college, it involved a lead attatched to a metal table, some fresh-faced, straight-from-school 16 year olds holding hands and someone at one end of the chain holding the other probe from the meter while the chap down the other end had to touch the bench.
How many of you have had 240v shocks before?
- Thread starter Gigagator
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Off 240 I've had two, I am a cable jointer and my electrical gloves developed a hole, touched the exposed live core and got a poke. Worse one was off the house electrics, changing the sockets in an upstairs bedroom for metal faceplate ones, isolated the upstairs socket curcuit and started changing them, got a couple done moved on to the next one. Unscrewed the terminals and pulled the socket off, grab hold of the LIVE and NEUTRAL at the SAME TIME only to find out the hard way that it it still live and is the only socket upstairs that is fed from the downstairs circuit! Loads of swear words later and after isolating the entire consumer unit to be pedantic, socket was done. Only time I didn't flipping prove dead too! Left me with singed fingertips and luckily nothing else.
Ouch!
I think most of us who are electricians have had shocks and most of the time it's a case of really should know better, my last one was when I was changing two external emergency lights I isolated the circuit and my mate told me when the charging light went out unfortunatly they were on different circuits, and you can guess the rest
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I grabbed hold of the live in a similar situation - I tested for live before working on the first socket, and the second ... but not the third.
Was kneeling on a dry carpeted floor wondering "why am I vibrating gently at 50 Hz"
Also wondered why the music was buzzing as I was changing capacitors on a mains powered valve radio. Then realised I was listening to the radio I was working on. That was a bit stoopid.
Telephone magneto generators are what really makes the heart go ker-thunk-y.
A friend was the victim of the most un-expected shock.
The detached house being gutted and the supply had been disconnected at the meter. He was ripping out the electrics when he got a shock. One socket was connected to the house next door via an underground cable. The owners of the two houses at the time had no knowledge of the cable. He survived but was very badly shaken
I have had quite a few tingles but nothing severe that I can remember.
The detached house being gutted and the supply had been disconnected at the meter. He was ripping out the electrics when he got a shock. One socket was connected to the house next door via an underground cable. The owners of the two houses at the time had no knowledge of the cable. He survived but was very badly shaken
I have had quite a few tingles but nothing severe that I can remember.
Had a few...
Shock 1) Stuck a fork onto a 1KW fire bar...10 years old
Shock 2) Stuck a TV neon lamp into a lead for a radio cassette, I touched the wires going to the neon which were insulated but still got a shock...14 years old
Shock 3) touched the frame of a washing machine motor when it was running...apparently not earthed...18 years old
Shock 4) 1500V shock from an industrial flash tester for motor windings...21 years old
Shock 5) All in all I am lucky to be alive...now 42 years old and haven't had another shock since I was 21.
Have you ever tested your skin resisitance by holding a meter lead in each hand with the meter on ohms?
I can get it down to a few hundred thousand ohms and less.
Surprised that with such a low skin resisitance I survived.
Shock 1) Stuck a fork onto a 1KW fire bar...10 years old
Shock 2) Stuck a TV neon lamp into a lead for a radio cassette, I touched the wires going to the neon which were insulated but still got a shock...14 years old
Shock 3) touched the frame of a washing machine motor when it was running...apparently not earthed...18 years old
Shock 4) 1500V shock from an industrial flash tester for motor windings...21 years old
Shock 5) All in all I am lucky to be alive...now 42 years old and haven't had another shock since I was 21.
Have you ever tested your skin resisitance by holding a meter lead in each hand with the meter on ohms?
I can get it down to a few hundred thousand ohms and less.
Surprised that with such a low skin resisitance I survived.
Electrocution is the stopping of life (determined by a stopped heart) by any type of electric shock.yes i have electrocuted my self foolishly btw, not proud about it, infact makes you feel foolish and like a tw@)
Oh dear, have we still not understood yet?
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If I were you, I wouldn't get my definitions from Wikipedia.
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Yes I have had shocks and some my own fault. However some were not and those are the worrying.
One foreman locked off circuit issued a permit to work to two electricians and the one gave the other shocks as he tried to mega the circuits. Sizewell Power station and two electricians were unaware of the other working on same circuit.
Removing old cables in a batching plant covered in concrete and the cable went into a concrete encrusted JB with no lid again permit to work cable identified by resident engineer and proved dead. After cutting with hack saw and dropping on steel floor sparks started to come from cable end.
Seemed it feed a motor that transferred concrete to another plant it was one cable from old plant still used. That stopped whole job as only safe way was to remove cables when plant not running and it ran 24/7.
Accidents do happen and all we can do is try to reduce them. I remember going to collect permit to work then going over to job only to see the active flag on the Halon gas auto fire extinguisher. I returned to permit office and queried this. The engineer returned with me isolated then opened door to find room full of electricians working. All were instant dismissed or at least passes removed which amounted to the same thing. But had it said FE36 gas maybe I would have also been caught out as so hard to keep up with new technology.
In the end it was using an electricians isolating lock instead of my own isolation lock that caught me out. It was removed by another electrician and machine turned back on and my hand recycled in a concrete recycling machine. Then people ask me why I am against recycling?
One foreman locked off circuit issued a permit to work to two electricians and the one gave the other shocks as he tried to mega the circuits. Sizewell Power station and two electricians were unaware of the other working on same circuit.
Removing old cables in a batching plant covered in concrete and the cable went into a concrete encrusted JB with no lid again permit to work cable identified by resident engineer and proved dead. After cutting with hack saw and dropping on steel floor sparks started to come from cable end.
Seemed it feed a motor that transferred concrete to another plant it was one cable from old plant still used. That stopped whole job as only safe way was to remove cables when plant not running and it ran 24/7.
Accidents do happen and all we can do is try to reduce them. I remember going to collect permit to work then going over to job only to see the active flag on the Halon gas auto fire extinguisher. I returned to permit office and queried this. The engineer returned with me isolated then opened door to find room full of electricians working. All were instant dismissed or at least passes removed which amounted to the same thing. But had it said FE36 gas maybe I would have also been caught out as so hard to keep up with new technology.
In the end it was using an electricians isolating lock instead of my own isolation lock that caught me out. It was removed by another electrician and machine turned back on and my hand recycled in a concrete recycling machine. Then people ask me why I am against recycling?
I have had a couple of small minor shocks in the past, never had the thrown across the room stuff like others talk about though, but am usually a very safe worker, it is easy though to take your mind off the ball especially when doing bench repair work
I must admit a peverse attraction to those cattle fences when out walking in the country, I can't resist a good belt from one occasionally, it's nice to feel the force of the stuff we all work with occasionally
I must admit a peverse attraction to those cattle fences when out walking in the country, I can't resist a good belt from one occasionally, it's nice to feel the force of the stuff we all work with occasionally
When helping dad move the cattle strip feeding electric tape, i would walk along with dad unhooking the tape and him looping it over my sholder. Younger brother took great delight in turning the fence on and off for a couple of seconds
9 or10 years old my tape deck batteries expired so i wired AC connector direct into the wall aocket and switched it on. No idea what i was doing or what i did, prob live to earth or l/n back to front i guess. I just remember the entire wall turning white and sparks everywhere. Pcb in deck scorched. No shock but shooken alright.
I was in the bath with my laptop....
Sorry
Seriously
I sat on an open JB concealed in the insulation material in a loft. The trouble is that we turn off the circuit we are working on, but if there are other trades working it is tempting to leave the other circuits live. I now have decided until I have had a good reckky that I will shut off the whole lot.
Sitting on a live JB was effin painful.
Others I haver had were once due to a crack in a test lead.
Sorry
Seriously
I sat on an open JB concealed in the insulation material in a loft. The trouble is that we turn off the circuit we are working on, but if there are other trades working it is tempting to leave the other circuits live. I now have decided until I have had a good reckky that I will shut off the whole lot.
Sitting on a live JB was effin painful.
Others I haver had were once due to a crack in a test lead.
I've had a few, enough to avoid them.
My most recent (non) shock was when I was taking some sockets off for redecoration, had turned off the first floor RFC and tested for dead. I was doing one of the sockets and I heard a faint tick and the lights went out. On examination, I discovered that just one first-floor socket was served by the ground-floor RFC.
Luckily there was a whole-house RCD at the time.
My most recent (non) shock was when I was taking some sockets off for redecoration, had turned off the first floor RFC and tested for dead. I was doing one of the sockets and I heard a faint tick and the lights went out. On examination, I discovered that just one first-floor socket was served by the ground-floor RFC.
Luckily there was a whole-house RCD at the time.
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