Just electrocuted myself - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: nukie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 09:06:57 am
content: I was trying to dissect a 12v wall adapter, assumed that bleed resistor has done its job. Removed the board from the butchered plastic welded casing and instantly zap myself. It was quite painful and shocking from a pair of little 10uF 400v mains cap.Unfortunately the circuit wasn't exposed so I didn't discharge the caps. Next time I'll wear gloves and definitely not look down on little caps!! Repaired many LCD and smps and yet still get zap. Please be safe when making repairs or dissection.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 09:12:14 am
content: You weren't electrocuted, unless your ghost made that post.

author: nukie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 09:16:49 am
content: Near death experience

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 09:25:55 am
content: not exactly out of body but certainly lucid...Quote from: nukie on December 03, 2015, 09:06:57 amoh that! 10uF is nothing compared to ceiling fan condenser cap. and ceiling fan condenser cap is nothing compared to The Real Mains.

author: lukaq
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 10:15:49 am
content: I don't know, which one I hate more, DC or AC... I guess the one, where I had the least resistance/capacitance against at that moment, they both suck

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 10:49:41 am
content: Quote from: amyk on December 03, 2015, 09:12:14 amHe was electrocuted it can be used to describe fatal and non fatal injuries. Perhaps you are thinking of electrocution.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 10:58:50 am
content: Less than a 0.6 joule shock, with a peak current of tens of mA, probably entirely within your hand. The biggest risk would be physical trauma if your hand hit anything jerking away.Small SMPSUs usually don't even have a bleed resistor. What they do have is a startup resistor that supplies the initial startup current to the controller toll the feedback winding takes over. As the startup resistors are often badly under-specified, they commonly fail open circuit ==> any failed SMPSU that doesn't have a blackened fuse or other signs of catastrophic failure is highly likely to have fully charged reservoir caps.OTOH older SMPSUs that could be switched (or were auto-switching) between 110-120V and 220-240V, commonly had two 200V capacitors in series when in 240V mode, and they did have resistors shunting them that acted as bleeders, but were actually for balancing the cap voltages.Quote from: lukaq on December 03, 2015, 10:15:49 amDon't work with high energy RF then. Just about any random length of metal that's isolated or only has a single point ground can become 'hot' due to resonant coupling to the local EM field, and RF burns are particularly nasty and frequently cause deep tissue damage.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 11:07:03 am
content: Quote from: Shock on December 03, 2015, 10:49:41 amElectrocution is the act of killing through electricity. Electrocuted is the past tense of that. When a criminal is electrocuted they don't just make them tingle a bit. Its kinda permanent.

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 11:16:54 am
content: Welcome to the world of the living dead.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 11:16:57 am
content: yepelectrocuted = medically dead due to electric shockeg"John received an electric shock and was electrocuted""Sam also received an electric shock but thankfully did not get electrocuted"You can be electrocuted and live, but it requires a defibrillator to restart your heart.

author: jeroen74
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 11:32:44 am
content: Many years ago I accidentally touched a 330uF (flash) capacitor charged up to a couple of hundred volts; my whole arm was painful for a week.

author: alexanderbrevig
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 11:32:53 am
content: sorry to be off topic but a defibrillator does not start hearts, they try to reestablish the contraction rhythm. After a flatline you need the brain and the electrolytes on your side.EDIT: Glad you survived the shock. It's scary when it happens

author: Srbel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 11:41:54 am
content: Happened to me 2 times. But not from a capacitor. Directly from the mains (220V).One time, it was mains hot on my right hand and mains earth on my left hand. So it went through the hart. It was not a strong shock at all, and not really painful. It lasted about 1-2 seconds, until I realised what is happening and released the screwdriver. It felt exactly like a shock from those prank toys that zap you if you pull the chewing gum or similar. I suppose that it was because it was not hot and neutral, but hot and ground.Second time, it was through my fingers on right hand. Thumb and the next figure. I was repairing small SPMS. This time, I was not able to release the grip, but was able to move the arm back until I dropped the SMPS.

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 12:11:45 pm
content: Quote from: Srbel on December 03, 2015, 11:41:54 am1-2 seconds before you realised?! Not painful?I suspect you were dead before you touched the beans!

author: GNU_Ninja
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 12:19:26 pm
content: Shit HappensAlways assumeeverythingin any electrical device or installation is trying to kill you

author: flolic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 12:49:18 pm
content: When I work on any kind of high voltage SMPS (power supply, camera flash...) first thing that I always do is to check voltage and discharge caps if needed. I don't have to say that I learned that hard (painful) wayWhen poking around mains powered device or machinery, left hand is always on my back

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 01:37:26 pm
content: Nil points, your still posting therefore alive.

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 01:45:48 pm
content: Whilst we're being nice and pedantic, a defibrillator doesn't start the heart, it actually stops it. It's down to nature to get it going again.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 02:13:07 pm
content: Quote from: Delta on December 03, 2015, 01:45:48 pmCloser - stuns would be a better word.Fibrillation is lots of uncoordinated electrical activity in the heart - each little muscle unit doing its own thing - however that does not pump blood, so you might say that the heart is already "stopped".The defibrillator depolarises the whole heart at the same time so (hopefully) everything recovers in sync and the normal, co-ordinated, electrical (and mechanical) activity of the heart can restart.You cannot defibrillate a "flatline" heart by the way - one thing which frequently annoys me about TV/Movie depictions of resuscitation attempts.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 02:30:51 pm
content: Quote from: jeroen74 on December 03, 2015, 11:32:44 amwhen human muscle havent made a tense contraction for a long period of time and suddenly subjected to a very tense contraction (whether an order from the brain or the mains), the muscle (by the order of the brain) will adapt and regrow what it has lost, thats the painfull effect for a week.Quote from: Srbel on December 03, 2015, 11:41:54 amplease retry with wet hands direct to the exposed copper of the hot, not through a screwdriver, and make sure the gnd wire is really grounded before doing so. i should not be held responsible for making this instruction... i'm anticipating will be less reply in this thread.Quote from: Delta on December 03, 2015, 01:45:48 pmuncorrected thanks to me..

author: mikerj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 02:42:09 pm
content: How many people have been bitten by the anode on the back of an old colour TV CRT? That hurts.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 02:52:46 pm
content: Quote from: mikerj on December 03, 2015, 02:42:09 pmOnce many centuries ago when the damned screwdriver I was using to Discharge it came unstuck from the croc clip conn'ed to ground ...NEVER again.

author: cncjerry
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 04:24:29 pm
content: ya thought you were an engineer and here you are only a conductor!

author: vodka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2015, 07:31:29 pm
content: My first electroshock was when i had 5 years and i touched a teardown hair dryer that my dad was fixed. Before touching it , i saw that the dryer was unplugged then i put it the finger insideThe second electroshock and the more strongest until the moment ,i was when i tried to fix a computer power supply ,but for a bad decision i killed the power supply . Then i turned off extension cord and i unplugged the wire of the power supply , when i went to catch for the transformeri stayed hooked for 5 seconds until i achieved to unhooked.And the last i too was tried to fix an other power supply (notebook), i was searched a possible burned component but the component were buried in silicone, i had unburied it .While i did it , sometimes the right hand tried to close unwittingly and i considered these symptoms as fatigue. Until i touched the right elbow versus the walland great electroshock. The funniest was that the power supply gave me electroshock without noticing

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2015, 04:56:48 am
content: "electrocuted" is a contemporary word, just like it used to mean death by electric chair then death by electric shock, it now can mean either a fatal or non fatal shock, look up a few dictionaries for evidence of this.Sentences like this "Joe was electrically shocked" are just as ambiguous so you need context and context is clear when you say you were just electrocuted (it was bad and you're obviously still here).This quote from stack exchange sums it up the best:"While the term electrocute was originally coined in 1889¹ to mean execution by electric shock, its meaning has evolved over time: first to also include accidental death by electric shock and later to include electrical injury,² generally serious in nature. So your use of the word does not fit the 19?? century coined meaning, but is perfectly in line with the broader meaning of the word as it is understood today."

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2015, 06:45:45 am
content: Just because a lot of people decided to use the word wrong doesnt mean i have to accept it

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2015, 06:48:47 am
content: Quote from: Shock on December 04, 2015, 04:56:48 amWhen did the ramblings on stack exchange become a measure of correct English? People there rarely get in the ballpark of a useful technical answer, let alone a linguistic one.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2015, 07:04:47 am
content: Quote from: coppice on December 04, 2015, 06:48:47 amGood point but it doesn't make it any less true, the English language is still accepting new words and new meanings for words last time I checked.Case in point, "crutch" is now acceptable as the same word as "crotch", so many people messed this one up whole nations probably said the wrong word.When people say "she fell on her fanny" I gois that even possible?

author: station240
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 04, 2015, 08:50:46 am
content: I got a shock from a 100uF 400V cap, two things that caused this:1. The two circuits have a common ground, the negative of the 400V cap goes through to the LV output.2. I miswired the output of the capacitor, so the positive went to the negative of the second circuit.I had alligator clips on the LV side of the second circuit, to measure the voltages. Copped a belt from the negative when I tried to change the connections to measure another rail.Still nothing compared to the time I bridged active to earth when my finger found it was into the back of a 240V switch.

author: nukie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2015, 11:16:21 am
content: Quote from: Psi on December 04, 2015, 06:45:45 amNow how do I edit the title again??

author: dom0
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2015, 04:39:21 pm
content: Quote from: nukie on December 03, 2015, 09:06:57 am"Assumption is the MOTHER of all fuck ups!"(I actually like the German translation better: "Der Anfang jeder Katastrophe ist eine beschissene Vermutung.", it doesn't sound so offensive and makes a better everyday quote)

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2015, 04:39:34 pm
content: Quote from: Shock on December 04, 2015, 04:56:48 ami think sheet literally means ones dropping but people used everywhere in any cases... people said... talk out of your arse... well, how's that even possible? a ticket is a pass to cinema or concert, but why it is used for something you have to pay? it should be an invoice. for example... the traffic police officer gave me an invoice because i drip and drive.

author: cncjerry
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 04, 2015, 06:14:01 pm
content: Normally it's not the shock that hurts you but the extraction.I moved into a new apartment and it was hot as hell. I took a shower and turned on the A/C that wasn't working. I thought it was the capacitor on the motor. So while dripping wet, I reached into the fan box to give it a spin while holding onto the frame. I got a big, big, shock as the 220v motor was shorted. While pulling my arm out of the fan box I got my arm against the cutout and got a nasty cut. I bounced all over that little space from the shock. I think I was out for a minute or two. Pretty close one. Put that on the list of things to not do in the future.Jerry

author: eugenenine
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2015, 12:58:36 am
content: Quote from: lukaq on December 03, 2015, 10:15:49 amA slow 30Hz AC from a (telephone) ring generator is the worst. It just doesn't shock you and kick you away, it pulses slowly so it shocks you over and over again.

author: UPI
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 07, 2015, 02:14:01 pm
content: Quote from: mikerj on December 03, 2015, 02:42:09 pmDid that about 30 years ago. Worst shock of my life. I quickly sat down on the floor to prevent a fall.

author: lm3baker
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 01:28:29 am
content: Quote from: nukie on December 03, 2015, 09:06:57 amI'm very wary of those things, once unplugged one and placed it down on a bench, the two plug prongs hit a metal object and "crack" - the prongs were quite live after being unplugged. That particular power supply failed about a month later. Another time was pulling one out of the socket and the lousy thing came apart in my hands, fortunately the switch at the outlet was off, but 430V DC hurts. Needless to say that wall-wart was disposed of immediately, although failure analysis was that the self-tapping screw holding the housing together was undersized, leaving a single solder joint to do the job.

author: voltz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 01:53:47 am
content: Easy to say now, but we all have to be careful! Get that test meter out and always check caps before touching anything! Always assume a cap is charged. 50v is the safety max, get it below that, the lower the better.. It becomes a habbit, second nature. Glad you're ok!

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 02:04:19 am
content: really on the cheap? no need meter... just a 1Kohm bleed resistor connected for a few seconds...

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 02:14:47 am
content: As a hobbyist, I didn't end up working on too many TV's and when I did, I looked at everything inside as wanting to kill me. Reading the Serviceman column in EA gave me a lot of good information - especially of the things that could go wrong ... and the one hand in the pocket rule.There was, however, one time when I was building the Playmaster 132 project out of EA. My father worked in the office of an engineering business that had all the metal fabrication gear you could wish for, so I was able to get the chassis made up as a 'foreign order'. I was also able to get a front panel cut (made from food grade stainless steel) to which I added Letraset, giving a fantastic result.During the final stages of the build, I had the unit plugged in and picked it up by the chassis to turn it over when I felt this sharp pain in my fingertip that felt (as I might imagine) like a huge spider had dug its fangs into me. There was no other discomfort. I quickly put the chassis down and inspected my fingertip to see two little black marks. Yep - they were burns. So I unplugged the unit and sat back for a few minutes contemplating what had happened and wondering how, until I gained the confidence to approach the unit again.The answer was very obvious when I check the AC power switch. When I had wrapped my hand around the chassis, the affected fingertip had gone underneath and made contact with theexposedswitch contacts. The 240v then travelled less than 1 cm to the chassis which was securely earthed, saving me from a worse fate.Ever since then, I have had a healthy respect for one fundamental construction technique - when you have your mains wiring secured, tested and ready to rock - WRAP IT UP.

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 03:21:59 am
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on December 08, 2015, 02:04:19 amYerp, just hold the two pigtails against the device to be discharged... (NOT!! )

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 10:33:58 am
content: Quote from: SL4P on December 08, 2015, 03:21:59 ami didnt say use your hand on the metal leads, i did say however... use your brain, didnt i?

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 11:05:05 am
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on December 08, 2015, 10:33:58 amI werz jowking- if ennywun thort that eyedea wuz furreal... well

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 11:15:13 am
content: no fear... i'm a robot. an emotion is a very weird concept...

author: mikerj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 05:37:54 pm
content: I had an unpleasant experience many years back working on my brothers car (classic mini). It had an ignition problem and I'd removed the king lead from the ignition coil, and then pulled off one of the primary (aka 'low tension') connections. Unfortunately I didn't realise the ignition was switched on, and pulling off the primary connection caused a large spark to leap out of the coil and ground through my hand. The muscle contraction then forced me to touch the primary connection back onto the coil, another spark, another muscle contraction.... After about ten shocks I managed to break the cycle by collapsing onto the ground.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 09:04:39 pm
content: Ah yes, the joys of stopping a lawnmower or outboard by shorting the HT with your hand!

author: SpidersWeb
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 08, 2015, 09:47:48 pm
content: With caps on mains stuff these days I actually do a quick measurement with a multimeter - not because of fear/danger but more because I don't like surprises.First time I got the mains I was a teenager and learned that some manufacturers think it's hilarious to put the power switch on neutral and not the phase. Now I remember to unplug and checkHaven't had a proper shock in 10 years.

author: nukie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2015, 11:07:45 am
content: Finally have time to continue with the taser wannabe wall adapter. I can confirm the 1/4w 1.5Mohm bleed resistor has gone open circuit. There's no indication whatsoever the part looks fine but ohmmeter tells another story.Moral of the story never rely on bleed resistor. Wait a day or two for the caps to discharge if there is no means of discharging them.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2015, 05:38:59 pm
content: or dont open it at all... "certified personnel only". if you dont know how to bleed, you are not certified...

author: nukie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 04:32:16 am
content: How do you bleed a circuit without direct access to the pcb?!

author: NilByMouth
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 10:16:55 am
content: My last electric shock was back in the 80's when I grabbed an adapter connected to a 1KV DC calibrator (which had little to no current limit) that had been left on by the last person who used it. I had a lot more respect for electricity after that. If I had grabbed it with both hands I might not be here now to post this.

author: highlux
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 06:31:01 pm
content: Quote from: Towger on December 03, 2015, 11:16:54 amElectrocution is death caused by electric shock, electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The word is also sometimes used to describe non-fatal injuries due to electricity. The term "electrocution," coined about the time of the first use of the electric chair in 1890, originally referred only to electrical execution (from which it is a portmanteau word), and not to accidental or suicidal electrical deaths. However, since no English word was available for non-judicial deaths due to electric shock, the word "electrocution" eventually took over as a description of all circumstances of electrical death from the new commercial electricity. The first recorded accidental electrocution (besides lightning strikes) occurred in 1879 when a stage carpenter in Lyon, France touched a 250-volt wire.

author: gore
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 08:59:30 pm
content: Even with a bleed resistor in a circuit, it's not a bad idea to assume a capacitor is holding a charge anyway. Personally I never trust a mere bleed resistor to guard my health or save my life. It's just another safety barrier, which is suppose to work, but still you measure and discharge. A bleed resistor can be faulty.

author: highlux
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2015, 09:59:24 pm
content: My first zap was at about 4. I saw my brother start the lawn mower....when done...I guess the kill switch was bad...he took the spark plug wire off to kill the engine.Well...he went inside...I started the mower...and in a hurry to kill then engine...I grabbed pliers like he did...except I grabbed the spark plug by the tip...zzzzzzzzap. That thing grabbed me an shocked the piss out of me. Then I got my ass spanked for starting the mower...which I could have easily gotten killed by. I was too curious as a kid.The worst...I did tile and stone work for 25 years. On a jobsite...we moved an island out of a kitchen to install travertine 18x18 tiles. I had the wires from an outlet in the island capped off....and the breaker shut off as well. Well last day on job...wrapping things up...installed the island. Was rewiring the outlet. I needed to strip a wire to make the last termination....no tool around that could do it...my helpers were grouting. I was like...screw it...so I was gonna do the old teeth stripper on it. POW. Right in the FACE. Felt like Mike Tyson punched me in the mouth. The customer had turned the breaker back on the evening before to run the garbage disposal that was in same circuit. 110 to the face. Never stripped a wire with my teeth again.

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 01:02:57 am
content: Just put a bloody screwdriver across anything that looks like a cap!Yeah, you might have to retire the odd screwdriver to prodding-only duties, and even destroy the odd capacitor, but you won't die.....

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 01:10:27 am
content: Seehttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/capacitor-discharge-tool-questions/B----ring up a screwdriver is better than b----ring up your heart, but there is no need to kill caps and screwdrivers if you have applied a little forethought to the problem. The only excuse for using a screwdriver is when you *DON'T* expect there to be any charge on the cap but are shorting it just in case.?

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 01:44:17 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on December 11, 2015, 01:27:52 amBuggering which is slang for anal intercourse.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 02:12:35 am
content: Its slang that in British Commonwealth English has many more meanings than the obviously obscene one. Search Wikipedia for a reasonable explanation of it.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 07:45:58 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on December 11, 2015, 02:04:06 amIn Aus and UK English it is quite mild and normally used to describe something which is broken, possibly beyond repair. As in "that's buggered mate", or "you'll bugger it if you keep doing that". Whilst it does mean anal intercourse I do not think I have ever heard it in that context in everyday spoken English.Buggery, howeverisan act of anal intercourse but its use is somewhat archaic, again I have almost never heard or used that word in everyday speech.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 07:48:48 am
content: Unless someone tells you to 'Go to buggery' ... that just means 'piss off!' Nothing sexual involved.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 08:01:22 am
content: In normal Australian colloquial conversation, you'd be pretty safe to interpret use of any of the forms of the word 'bugger' as non sexual.For example:"Go to buggery" or "Bugger off" = Piss off"Silly bugger" and similar = Silly person - often one who deserves whatever happens/happened to them"Oh bugger" or just "Bugger" = An exclamation of disappointment.... and so on.In fact, if youdidwant to use it in the sexual meaning, it's highly likely you'd have to explain it.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 10:49:38 am
content: Quote from: Brumby on December 11, 2015, 08:01:22 amAgree - none of the above would cause real offence to a Brit. We tend to use "sod off" a lot as well which is really just "go away" - perhaps fractionally stronger.However, invite a Frenchman to "va te faire enculer" and you might well get punched - it's mostly translated as "f*** off" in dictionaries but really means go and sodomise yourself and it is (AIUI, stillfarfrom fluent in French)muchstronger than the Brit/Aus usage of "bugger".Funny thing language.

author: eugenenine
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 11:17:48 pm
content: So what then do you call the green thing you pick out of your nose?

author: mackrc1
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2015, 11:23:58 pm
content: Can confirm, touching 240V mains is not nice.

author: briselec
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2015, 02:27:52 am
content: Quote from: lukaq on December 03, 2015, 10:15:49 amDefinitely DC. I've been zapped a few times by 240VDC fire alarm systems and it feels like your flesh is burning from the inside. Not pleasant.AC feels much nicer.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2015, 04:16:59 am
content: Quote from: eugenenine on December 11, 2015, 11:17:48 pmBooger, slightly different spelling. If you ever watched Harry potter movies there is a reference there as to the taste.

author: dom0
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 12, 2015, 10:16:16 am
content: Quote from: briselec on December 12, 2015, 02:27:52 amThe soft clipped AC of modern mains has this tube-sound quality to it.

author: gadget73
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2015, 09:05:37 pm
content: The last time I shocked myself was with 330vdc from an operating tube amp. This particular amplifier uses a voltage doubler, which basically uses a pair of electrolytic capacitors wired in series to make it go. Total B+ is 660vdc, so the mid point is 330vdc. I'm using Nichicon snap-in caps mounted topside where the original electrolytic cans lived. The outside can of those caps happens to be connected to the negative lead. This was not mentioned on the datasheet, and frankly I never thought to check for it. I reached across the amplifier to do something and laid my hand right on top of that capacitor. It was not pleasant. I have since insulated the cap, actually using part of the original 1964 cardboard sleeve that was there to keep the same thing from happening.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2015, 09:35:10 pm
content: Worst that ever happened to me, years ago I had an old tube AM radio that I was given, along with a box full of electronic parts. The tuning knob was broken so I was using a screwdriver. While standing on a bare cement floor. With no shoes on. My had slipped from the insulated handle of the screwdriver to the metal shank, and I was effectively paralyzed. I couldn't move, I couldn't yell for help. I could see other people outside on the patio through the windows. It seemed like it was there for many minutes, but likely it was only a few seconds, until the shaking of my hand broke contact with the tuning capacitor. That was very scary. To this day I'm not super comfortable around HV even when taking all proper precautions.

author: gadget73
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2015, 11:20:14 pm
content: A lot of those low end tube tabletop radios were hot chassis. One side of the power line went right to the chassis as B- and it developed the plate voltage with a simple half-wave rectifier off the other side of the line. They're safe enough when used in their original box but if you get in contact with the chassis it can be quite dangerous.

author: BurningTantalum
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 07:05:56 am
content: I got my first shock when I was around 10 years old- I had pulled apart an old radiogram and installed the guts in a redundant cupboard at the top of my wardrobe, with the control knobs poking out of the side. I boxed the speaker into a case and stood it on top of the cupboard. It all worked so I stood on a 3-legged stool and removed the mains wires from the temporary terminal block, then attempted to straighten the wires with my fingers. I came to on the bottom bunk bed (with my brother in it)I can honestly say that I have reached the age of 59 without another shock, having always had a job that had 'electric' or 'electronic' in the job title- I don't include belts from engine ignition systems.Six months ago a friend was moaning that her PVR had died, so I suggested that she drop it round for me to have a look at. She appeared with it a week ago so I took it into the workshop, removed the cover and was amazed by the state of nearly all of the electrolytics. I was just about to poke about with my finger and I asked how it could possibly have worked to the point of failure in this state, when I realised that the unit was warm. It turned out that it had been plugged in and ON for the last 6 months ! Everything in her house stays ON all the time, even if it is dead, apparently.Another lesson learned by Mr BT. I nearly spoiled my unblemished record.Regards, BT