Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
we all know about working stuff hot, and how it's not for all
practical purposes, permitted any more.
and we all know how that gets violated. i know, not by you....
but the other guys on the forum, and elsewhere.
or maybe just by other guys who are *not* on this forum.....
i'm gonna assume, for the sake of argument, that i was the
ONLY guy on this forum still doing stuff hot.
been doing it over 30 years, excellent hand skills, yada, yada, yada.
well, rest assured, we are pure again.
i. am. not. doing. it. again.
ever.
why was i doing it hot? really? 'cause i was too lazy to go
turn off the switch in an office. no other reason. won't even
pretend there was one.
i was still tasting copper a week later. based on my knowledge
of ohm's law, there really isn't a valid reason why i'm still alive.
went in between the first and second finger of my left hand, exited
the heel of my right palm. straight across the chest, no parallel paths.
solid connection, no burning of the skin.... turned the skin very dark
for a while, as in bruised, but no charring. no arc.
it was 120 volts.... now, we all know that 50 milliamps can trigger
a heart attack... i tripped a 20 amp breaker, all by myself. no arcing
of voltage to ground. usually, the human body cannot flow enough
current to trip a 20 amp breaker on 120 VAC. you just stay on it till
you fry.
the connected load on the circuit, not including me, was about 250
watts, so i pulled the difference. something above 2,000 watts.
it knocked me out, when i came to, i was sitting on top of an 8'
stepladder. the ceiling grid kept me from falling off the ladder.
my first thought was, "the breaker tripped"... climbed down off the
ladder, and sat down on the floor to get my wits about me.
called my wife, who was on her way to work, and asked her to pick
me up, and take me to the hospital. had an ECG done, and blood work,
which is important. after a bad shock, the next 8 hours are iffy.
the tissues when electrocuted, release potassium into the blood
stream, which can trigger a heart attack some hours later.
always knew there was a risk of heart attack following a bad shock.
didn't know why. that's why.
blood work normal, heart normal. felt pretty well beat to crap for
several days afterwards. still feeling out of sorts a week later.
i'm not gonna plead with anyone here not to do anything as
stupid as what i did.
just understand, as you think "that won't happen to me" that i
have had in excess of 30 years experience working things hot,
including a 30 KVDC test rack, that i worked barehanded in
the mid 1970's, for over a year. 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
turns out, the arrogance of my ego did not provide enough
protection against electrocution.
tired today, not even gonna bother preparing invoices. and
doing paperwork. it screws with you longer than you think it
ought to.
it's a good day to be alive.
randy
practical purposes, permitted any more.
and we all know how that gets violated. i know, not by you....
but the other guys on the forum, and elsewhere.
or maybe just by other guys who are *not* on this forum.....
i'm gonna assume, for the sake of argument, that i was the
ONLY guy on this forum still doing stuff hot.
been doing it over 30 years, excellent hand skills, yada, yada, yada.
well, rest assured, we are pure again.
i. am. not. doing. it. again.
ever.
why was i doing it hot? really? 'cause i was too lazy to go
turn off the switch in an office. no other reason. won't even
pretend there was one.
i was still tasting copper a week later. based on my knowledge
of ohm's law, there really isn't a valid reason why i'm still alive.
went in between the first and second finger of my left hand, exited
the heel of my right palm. straight across the chest, no parallel paths.
solid connection, no burning of the skin.... turned the skin very dark
for a while, as in bruised, but no charring. no arc.
it was 120 volts.... now, we all know that 50 milliamps can trigger
a heart attack... i tripped a 20 amp breaker, all by myself. no arcing
of voltage to ground. usually, the human body cannot flow enough
current to trip a 20 amp breaker on 120 VAC. you just stay on it till
you fry.
the connected load on the circuit, not including me, was about 250
watts, so i pulled the difference. something above 2,000 watts.
it knocked me out, when i came to, i was sitting on top of an 8'
stepladder. the ceiling grid kept me from falling off the ladder.
my first thought was, "the breaker tripped"... climbed down off the
ladder, and sat down on the floor to get my wits about me.
called my wife, who was on her way to work, and asked her to pick
me up, and take me to the hospital. had an ECG done, and blood work,
which is important. after a bad shock, the next 8 hours are iffy.
the tissues when electrocuted, release potassium into the blood
stream, which can trigger a heart attack some hours later.
always knew there was a risk of heart attack following a bad shock.
didn't know why. that's why.
blood work normal, heart normal. felt pretty well beat to crap for
several days afterwards. still feeling out of sorts a week later.
i'm not gonna plead with anyone here not to do anything as
stupid as what i did.
just understand, as you think "that won't happen to me" that i
have had in excess of 30 years experience working things hot,
including a 30 KVDC test rack, that i worked barehanded in
the mid 1970's, for over a year. 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
turns out, the arrogance of my ego did not provide enough
protection against electrocution.
tired today, not even gonna bother preparing invoices. and
doing paperwork. it screws with you longer than you think it
ought to.
it's a good day to be alive.
randy
