Can you check the resistance of water

[K8MHZ]

We had an ESD a few years ago in the county just to the south of me. IIRC, the victim was an off duty cop trying to help a person he thought was in distress. That's what got my interest (Michigan has 69,000 lakes) and that's how I found the info that led to me stumbling across the site.

I have seen boat lifts fed with nasty NMS with damaged jackets. People just don't think sometimes.

 

[ritelec]

http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/kritz.asp

 

[realolman]

From what I understand it's more common for the source to be an on board 120 volt generator, but power to lifts, etc., can also pose a danger.

how does an onboard generator create a path through the water?

 

[K8MHZ]

how does an onboard generator create a path through the water?

In one incident I read about the on board genny was on a house boat and the boat had a ladder for climbing out of the water. A fault created potential between the aluminum ladder and the metal of the boat. The ladder was not bonded to the metal of the boat. The potential was enough to be fatal.

I don't know the bonding scheme of the houseboat, but if it were bonded in some way to the metal hull, that would act like an electrode for the water.

 

[ggunn]

I'm not getting why putting the apparatus he demonstrated in a bathtub full of water would cause the person in the bathtub to be electrocuted.

While distilled water is a pretty good insulator, it doesn't take much in the way of dissolved electrolytes (salts) to make it conduct pretty well. Normal tap water has enough electrolytes to make it a fairly good conductor. A bathtub normally has a metal drain and plumbing attached, which provides a grounding contact. Drop a plugged in hairdryer into a bathtub full of tap water and plenty of current will flow. If you are in the tub at the time, enough will flow through you to cause you some possibly fatal discomfort.