why isn?t the dog dead

[lmj1930]

i have a question that i can not find an answer to. I was visiting a relatives house while he was replacing an old baseboard heater 240v type. the idiot did not turn the power off to the circuit and he had left the bare wires on the floor while he went to the garage to retrieve the new heater, the dog started gnawing on the hot ends how did it not kill him he didn?t even act as if it was shocking him. this is a 220v 20amp circuit and after running the dog off we checked the line with a meter and sure enough it was hot. how in the world di it not at least knock his socks off. i am afraid of 110 i?m not sure but i thought 220v 20a would kill you dead as a nail period even on carpet. we did find later that day that the ground was loose in the sub where the heater supply came from would this have saved the dog.

lmj

 

[realolman]

If he only chewed on one at a time he may not have been grounded on a wood floor or carpet.

If he chewed on both I think he'd have stopped chewing as soon as possible.

I'd like to know how your relative got the old heater off without getting his socks knocked off.

4. remove heater
1. chase off dog
2. check with meter
3. yup, it's hot
5. install new heater
6. turn off breaker ... save energy

 

[petersonra]

Re: why isn?t the dog dead

The dog would have had to complete the circuit between the two hot conductors. Maybe he did not chew the insulation off one of the conductors so there was no way to complete the circuit.

 

[jtester]

The dog would have had to complete the circuit between the two hot conductors. Maybe he did not chew the insulation off one of the conductors so there was no way to complete the circuit.

If the circuit was in one tooth and out an adjacent one, it probably would only have spoiled the dog's day. It would have had to go thru his heart to send you to the pound for a new one.

Jim T

 

[lmj1930]

i would have sworn that he had the bare ends in his mouth. now i do know my uncle cut the ground wire back but the two hots were stripped bare from where the wire nuts were attached, if he only had the two hots in his mouth would it still have shocked him. i always thought you had to be grounded to get shocked and he was on laminate flooring would that have grounded him enough. i mean i?ve seen the hollywood version of electrocution where they just grab a wire and stick it to someones body and they get jolted but i didn?t think it was true, i mean electrocution is so rare i figured that you?d have to try really hard to get killed or hurt. wouldn?t the ground wire have to touch you as well to get a jolt or just the two hots. sorry to seem so stupid but i have started a new job in elec. sales and i want know everything i can as far as safety goes for my own piece of mind.

lmj

 

[lmj1930]

my uncle is real lucky i suppose. the breaker for that set of heaters is in a box under the house and he didn?t FEEL like crawling under i suppose i don?t know the guy is charmed i suppose

 

[realolman]

if he only had the two hots in his mouth would it still have shocked him.
lmj

Oh yeah... He'd have done a break dance fer sure. Could have burned him good too.

 

[charlie b]

now i do know my uncle cut the ground wire back

Why on earth would he do that? The ground wire has a very real and important role to play in electrical safety. That is as bad an idea as buying a new car, and before you even drive it off the lot taking a knife and cutting away all the seat belts. Sure, a seat belt does absolutely nothing, and will never do anything, unless and until you have an accident. But if you do have that accident, the seat belt can save your life. So too can a ground wire save your life, if the heater ever has anything go wrong with it. Can you say for certain that the heater will operate for 30 years and never have anything go wrong with it?

but the two hots were stripped bare from where the wire nuts were attached, if he only had the two hots in his mouth would it still have shocked him.

To get a shock, your body (or the dog's body) would have to form part of a complete electrical circuit. A 240 volt heater will be fed by a 2-pole circuit breaker. Normally, with the heater in operation, the complete circuit would start at one pole of the 2-pole circuit breaker, go through one of the two "hot wires," into and through the heater, back out the other hot wire, and back to the other pole of the 2-pole breaker. If the heater is not yet connected, and if the two hot wires are just sitting on the ground, then there is no complete circuit (yet).

The dog could have completed the circuit two ways. One way is to touch both hot wires at the same time. The dog would take the place of the heater, in the description I give above of the "normal" complete circuit. The other way is to touch only one wire, and to be in contact with the ground or the floor or any other conductive surface. The complete circuit would go from one pole of the 2-pole breaker, through one hot wire, to the point at which the dog touches the wire, through the dog's body to the floor, from the floor to the home's foundation, through dirt to the electrical panel's ground rod, up the grounding electrode conductor to the main panel, via the neutral-to-ground bonding jumper to the neutral bar, and that completes the circuit.

Please note that most floors are not very good conductors, but they don't have to be. It only takes a fraction of one amp to give a fatal shock.

i always thought you had to be grounded to get shocked

Not true. The first of the two ways I describe above does not require the victim to be grounded.

i mean electrocution is so rare i figured that you'd have to try really hard to get killed or hurt.

Not true. It is regrettable, but electrocutions are not at all rare. Anyone who attempts to repair or install an electrical item without first turning off the power is at a high risk of being hurt or killed.

wouldn?t the ground wire have to touch you as well to get a jolt or just the two hots.

Again, not true, as explained above.

i have started a new job in elec. sales and i want know everything i can as far as safety goes for my own piece of mind.

That is admirable. This Forum is one good source of safety information. Please look around for others.

 

[dlhoule]

I had a dog chew through the insulation on a cord from table lamp. He let out a yelp and never went near one again.

 

[megloff11x]

When I was younger we had a fat cat that would eat anything. At Christmas, he ate several of the light bulbs off the Christmas tree. It didn't bother him a bit. My father also caught him trying to pull a mouse free from a mousetrap - jaws around the mouse, paw on the trap. Usually he'd just beat up the other cats and take their mice. He also liked to sit at the end of the arc of the dog's leash. The dumber they are, the harder they are to kill.

 

[hockeyoligist2]

Way back when VCR's cost $1200 and had a wire remote (showing my age) My wienie dog let out a yelp late at night came and jumped in the bed. Tried to use my VCR the next day and found that he had chewed the wire for the remote in two. After that every time I picked up the remote he went to the bedroom! Low voltage and taught him a lesson. I'm just glad he didn't get the power cord! You were lucky!