How many times have you been electric shocked? and do you remember the voltage? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Shannon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 05:57:32 am
content: If you want to listen the stories I have been shocked, I think one day is not enough.Let's start from the first time in my mind.I'm not pretty sure my age at that time, I think it's about 6 years old.At that time, I had a PP3 battery, and I can't remember where I got it, it's my precious, because all of the battery, I had seen, was a cylinder, but this one was a cuboid, it's so different, nobody had a cuboid battery except me in my mind, I took it with me everyday.One day, during the break time after class, I was sitting in my seat beside the desktop,and I was lost in thought,I was thinking about what's the taste of this strange battery, because I have tasted each of the poles of cylinder battery, and I found there was no difference, and there was no doubt that, I couldn't enjoy the two poles at the same time, I was just a little boy.And then I sticked out my tongue, I put the PP3 battery two poles on my tongue.The Magic thing was happenned, I had a special feeling that I have never met,it's totally different, even though it's not a good feeling makes me enjoy it.But I really found a new land, that's amazing.Pandora's box had been opened, I lost myself in the magic world!So I have been shocked many many time, and my first enjoying taste when I'm 6 years old, and it's a 9V battery on my tongue

author: dave_k
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 10:18:42 am
content: I've been blatted by 240V twice ... which is three times more than necessary. I will never forget the feeling through my arms and across my chest.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 10:35:13 am
content: In my whole life I've had a 240v shock maybe 10 times. However most of them where contact with phase only, so were limited a by high resistance return path.Some of them were shocks that didn't even trip the RCD, so current can't have been that high.Probably only 3 of them were phase to neutral shocks And I don't think any were between two arms. I think they were all across a few fingers on one hand or something similar.From memory, it was mainly things like- Reaching into something or around something that had live parts exposed while believing it was unplugged.- Working on and debugging a project that cannot be tested without active mains power.You end up in a cycle of.. test, unpower, solder circuit, power on, test, repeat... and it's easy to forgot a step when you are repeating it 100's of times.

author: srb1954
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 11:09:22 am
content: Never had a shock off the 230V mains but had a couple of contacts with the HT in some valve equipment, probably around 250-350VOnce when repairing an old valve radio I pushed aside the mains transformer leads to allow probe access to a bit of circuitry. Unfortunately the lead out wire insulation was all perished and it crumbled away leaving my finger in direct contact with the HV secondary of the transformer.On another occasion I was adjusting a 100W SSB linear amplifier. I had a bench current meter in the HT line and shifted the meter to better view it. In the process my finger brushed against a strand of wire that wasn't properly secured under the meter terminal connecting me directly to the linear amplifier HT. It was not a pleasant experience and that was the last piece of valve based equipment I have ever worked on.

author: nfmax
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 11:13:33 am
content: Just 10 days ago, while undergoing a nerve conduction test for possible carpal tunnel syndrome, I was hit (repeatedly!) with 400V pulses along my fingers. Made me jump, but to my surprise, and that of the neurophysiologist, after 5 fingers had been done, I came over faint. Heart palpitations, dizziness, and severe shortage of breath (all I could do not to rip off my surgical mask). Never had that before, on the odd occasions, many years ago, when I hit a finger with 240V. I have low blood pressure for my age, but I guess it got a bit too low.That's made me cautious: fortunately I don't do any high-voltage work, except maybe for repairing power supplies. I think I'm going to give that up though, and buy new replacements in future - but there's always something they don't make any more, or charge a fortune for...P.S. No sign of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!

author: jmh
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 11:18:19 am
content: Several 240VAC shocks as a kid when being stupid. Most were just brushing against something live but one was memorable in that I grabbed both legs (live and neutral) of a plug with no top round the back of a radio, fortunately being thrown off it and involuntarily danced across the workshop.

author: Shannon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 11:27:23 am
content: Quote from: Psi on January 31, 2021, 10:35:13 amI have the same experience as you, most of the shocked is I my finger touching line wire, and current flow through by arm and body, and go back to Ground, which crossed a high resistance path.It's not easy to touch both line and neutral wire by two arms or legsI remember, I put my palm on television PCB board, where is the power on switch, when I learn how to repair CRT television, and my master told me it's safety without plugging out the power line.and then my palm was shocked by 220Vrms.Strongly agree the debugging cycle is dangerous, I have tried to build a soldering iron with a power control switch,when I pick up the soldering iron, all of the devices are power off, and when I put soldering iron back, all of the devices are power on agian, the power off and power on cycle is controlled by the soldering ironI think this function is easy to implement, and makes debugging work much more convinient and safety(for the engineer and components).

author: Shannon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 11:52:02 am
content: Quote from: srb1954 on January 31, 2021, 11:09:22 amOMG, 100W SSB linear amplifier!when you power on this device, does those electical equipement, which surround your attena such as computer, mobilephone etc. could work as usual as normal,and could you feel hot or faint?

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 11:59:07 am
content: Dozens of times, probably the first was the 9V battery like the OP but working as a repair tech on brown goods including valve TVs and then moving on to PC/ monitors, industrial gear and all sorts of stuff tends to deliver the occasional shock, I've been zapped with EHT from a final anode cap around 30KV and all the way down to the 9V I mentioned.

author: Shannon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 12:06:14 pm
content: Quote from: nfmax on January 31, 2021, 11:13:33 amTake care morden guys.To be honest, your special experience makes me think about purchasing a Ergonomic MouseNobody want to be shocked by 400V pulse, and a doctor, with smile face, tell you before every shock,"Take this shock agian. It's good for you!"

author: fcb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 12:09:32 pm
content: Multiple 240VAC shocks as a kid building amplifiers and fixing old metal bodied drills, 500V Megger insulation tester, 20kV a few times when developing planar magnetic EHT supplies in the 90's. 40kV fault-finding a laser PSU. Most recently got bitten by an unplugged home-made LISN (and now fit relay triggered resistors to drain the capacitors) - this was probably the worst I can remember as it had been unplugged for sometime and I was putting it back on the shelf when I touched the 13A plug - my arm ached for the rest of the day.Never had a two handed 'across the chest' type shock though, as a kid I was taught always to approach anything that could cause a shock with my right hand only and keep my left hand in my pocket or well away. Even putting the dishwasher on at home I only ever use by right-hand.Another trick is the 'light-brush' - if you think there is the slightest remote possibility of a zap, then check the wire/object by touching it with a moving right hand, so that if you get a belt off it can only be momentary due to the motion. I do this even if I've checked mains wiring is off with a multimeter.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 12:21:22 pm
content: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/sharing-some-electric-shock-experiences/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/electric-shock-experiences-for-those-still-alive/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/tell-us-about-a-time-you-got-electrocuted/

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 03:33:39 pm
content: I've heard DC is worse than AC.I got zapped pretty hard by my Tek 547 scope, I was being absurd and trying to power an external circuit with the scopes's 225V DC rail.Of course I accidentally brushed against an exposed contact and WHAM! my arm went flying and it took a while to get control back ....It was the combination of the emotional shock of "how dumb am I" and the time it took to get back to normal that was noteworthy.There is a fun warning sign inside that scope. "potentially" hee hee, nice one Mr Tek .... (this is just some random image, not the one in my 547)

author: MarkF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 04:50:50 pm
content: I have been shocked several times by 120VAC @ 60Hz.The first when I was a child of around 10 years trying to pull a broken prong out of a receptacle plug.However my most memorable is when my hand touched 120VAC @ 400Hz.400Hz power reaches out with a nice BITE. My whole arm hurt the rest of the day.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 07:27:56 pm
content: being stupid240VAC shock as a kid, took a chunk out of my fingerunderside of a hoover twin tub washing machine.other shocks came fromcattle electric fences 1 or 2 kv as less then lethal currents

author: andy3055
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 07:31:49 pm
content: Quite a few times on 240 volts. Those were when I was much younger. Once, many years back, from a Sony color TV which threw me across the room. Most recently had 10kV from the scope while configuring the new tripler. Just forgot that I had turned it turned off a minute before!

author: M4trix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 08:10:54 pm
content: Quote from: Shannon on January 31, 2021, 12:06:14 pmReminded me....

author: srb1954
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2021, 09:47:38 pm
content: Quote from: Shannon on January 31, 2021, 11:52:02 amThe linear amplifier was connected to a shielded dummy load so there wasn't much radiation to affect other equipment.Besides, this all took place 45 years ago so we didn't even have computers, cellphones or similar to be affected by the transmitter!

author: sibeen
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2021, 02:13:34 am
content: Quite a few times with 240 volts. Back in the late 80s and the 90s I was a commissioning engineer for large UPS systems so mains voltages were ubiquitous throughout the equipment and sometimes, even when you thought you were careful, shit happened. The systems also used DC voltages at around 500 volts, with some units with voltages up at around 900 volts but with those I always tread very, very carefully and thankfully never got a belt from that.My worst experience was getting 415 volts from forearm to forearm. Completely my fault. I'd come in on a Saturday morning at a client's site to do some work on a 400 kVA UPS. I'd transferred the site load across to maintenance bypass, shut down the UPS, and then switched off the supply to the UPS. Or at least I thought I had. I wasn't thinking, I was a bit hungover, and failed to realise that even though the screen on the UPS was dead that this unit was dual fed and I'd only turned off one of the incoming supplies. I reached around some three phase busbars and managed to contact the outside two bars with my forearms. I was thrown a few metres back and was stopped by a wall. The site manager was looking at me ashen faced but I told him I was OK, went outside and sat down for ten or so minutes - or two smokes worth - and then went back inside and continued to work. The stupidity of youth.

author: wn1fju
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2021, 12:33:30 pm
content: I still remember my first. Back in 1965, I was a 13-year old newly minted ham radio operator with my first transmitter, an Eico 723 60 watt crystal controlled CW unit. The final amplifier, 6DQ6B, needed to be neutralized. I didn't have much in the way of tools back then, so my only choice for a thin blade screwdriver was an all steel butter knife out of the kitchen drawer. Well, the knife slipped as I was adjusting the capacitor and went right onto the plate of the tube (while the transmit key was down).Gave me such a zap, that my hand jerked backwards, I let go of the knife, and it sailed across the room and stuck into the wall. A one-in-a-million shot! Probably about400 volts @ 150 ma on the tube.Many more shocks since then, but like sex, you always remember your first.

author: lisarose9
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 01, 2021, 01:02:00 pm
content: More times than I can rememberbut it was never more than 200V

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 01, 2021, 02:16:57 pm
content: Too many times to count. Largest voltage was about 25kV from CRT TV, not that bad actually. The worst was around 1kV form 10uF film cap, quite painful. Also 3 phase AC certainly felt worse than single phase.

author: Shannon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2021, 04:24:33 pm
content: Quote from: sibeen on February 01, 2021, 02:13:34 amSalute!

author: Zeyneb
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2021, 06:39:13 pm
content: I think just one time:As a kid one day it was my duty to vacuum the car. But my dad was a cheapskate so we didn’t have a proper extension lead that reach 25 meter or so. Instead we had to put together many sections of just 1.5 m of extensions to reach the car from the house. When you are a kid you don’t know any better and think this is kind of normal. The extensions were of inferior quality. I think it were leftovers from my dad as a student. One section had exposed live metal. As I had used this many times I didn’t pay much attention to it. I was watching a discussion between my mom and my dad over my shoulder when I shocked myself on these exposed metal parts. That was painful and I had a big burn on one of my fingers.It was 230V.My mom got very angry with my dad and he was forced to agree on buying a proper extension lead.

author: duckduck
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2021, 08:14:14 pm
content: Only once that I remember. It was from a "chirping bird" Christmas tree ornament that ran off of 120V mains. I still remember the brown and green through-hole components on that PCB. I was young, maybe seven years old. I removed the case and tried to pick it up while it was still plugged in. BZZZZZZap! across part of my right hand. I clearly remember that extremely un-natural 60 Hz buzz. I think that vivid early memory has kept me from being lazy with electrical safety.EDIT: Attached a picture of one from the internets.

author: Shannon
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 05, 2021, 02:17:28 pm
content: Quote from: duckduck on February 01, 2021, 08:14:14 pmIs it made in China?