Electrocuted

[Angelapinks]

I was in industrial construction for over 18 years ... I've been zapped hard MANY times by welding .

Like your photo gallery. I too am a photographer but lost interest awhile ago and can't seem to get it back.

 

[Cottontail]

To the OP: Wow, I'm really sorry that happened. May the treatment go well!

I've so far avoided serious injury...somehow. My present job has me working primarily with low voltages (designing logic circuits), but I'm also a longtime Tesla coil hobbyist who has utility transformers in his garage. I swore that stuff off when I had kids, but I kept most of my gear, and I may well get back into it at some point. I've been bitten by the "wimpy" 120V US mains a few times, but never by anything bigger or badder, and never for more than a split second.

 

[Deleted member 49306]

Picked an LBT out of a puddle on a roof, someone had put the cover on it with the end of a wire hanging out, one leg of 460 vac = 277 . Burnt 2 small holes in my hand.
your shock probably caused your muscles to seize up while current was present, uncontrolled like that can do a lot of damage, my older brother was a lineman, caught the back of his hand on 14k volt line, caused a heart arrithimia and a lot of damage to his lower back that eventually killed him.

 

[ltaluv]

I remember an electrical foreman at a mine I worked at telling me about someone at another mine where he has worked. This fellow was moving equipment with a truck-mounted hoist, and ran it into a high-voltage line. I don't remember the voltage, but I think it was 56kV or 115kV. He received this degree burns over much of his body, with some of his muscles in the current path literally cooked. Apparently the burns were so severe and widespread that they had to literally suspend him on wires drilled into his bones, because he didn't have an unburned side to lie on. He lost some limbs, and never returned to work.

Arc flash training is one of the online training modules in have to sit through at work tomorrow. I never work with villages above 480, but that's plenty to injure or kill you if you don't do things correctly. (I made it through overhead hoists and cranes and hand safety today. Lots of training that I've gotten behind on and need to get caught up!)

 

[Jbob12]

Yeah its been about three weeks since the original icedent still going to physio for my back turns out the muscles were so swollen that they were pinching a nerve thats why everytime i bent over it felt like i was about to shit lol i work commericial hvac in toronto also i never specified which trade i work so i figured i would now since i got such a big response

 

[Wolfyhaffers]

It's not actually the voltage that would kill you, it's the current. Only 100 milliamps near your heart would stop it dead. Happy days... Hence why RCD's the uk trip at 30miliamps on final circuits.

 

[ShippoFox]

I was shocked a few years ago, but there were no lasting effects. I felt fine about five to ten minutes later.

 

[private1]

It's not actually the voltage that would kill you, it's the current. Only 100 milliamps near your heart would stop it dead. Happy days... Hence why RCD's the uk trip at 30miliamps on final circuits.

While this is literally true, it's a somewhat dangerous thing to say.

Taking two examples from where I work... On the one hand, I've got a machine (a very BRIGHT arcade game with tons of lights and motors) that runs on 12V 150A internally. On the other, I've got a 277V 20A lighting circuit. Which one is more likely to kill me?

This statement is one of my peeves, because it falsely leads the uninformed to believe that a lower number of amps on the label makes a circuit or device less likely to kill them. If the available current is greater than 100mA then it might as well not even be considered a variable. There is enough there, the *only* thing to be varied or debated is whether or not the applied voltage will push that current through the person. In this scenario (which is pretty much the entirety of real-world examples) it is, in fact, the *voltage* that determines the outcome.

 

[2012Stroke]

While this is literally true, it's a somewhat dangerous thing to say.

Taking two examples from where I work... On the one hand, I've got a machine (a very BRIGHT arcade game with tons of lights and motors) that runs on 12V 150A internally. On the other, I've got a 277V 20A lighting circuit. Which one is more likely to kill me?

This statement is one of my peeves, because it falsely leads the uninformed to believe that a lower number of amps on the label makes a circuit or device less likely to kill them. If the available current is greater than 100mA then it might as well not even be considered a variable. There is enough there, the *only* thing to be varied or debated is whether or not the applied voltage will push that current through the person. In this scenario (which is pretty much the entirety of real-world examples) it is, in fact, the *voltage* that determines the outcome.

Ohms law. I=V/R. The current, “I”, is dependent on the voltage, “V” and resistance “R”. The resistance remains the same in general (yes electricians and electrical engineers know that isn’t always true. It can actually decrease as voltage increases.) Here is an example;
I just measured myself, and my dry resistance from finger to heel was 200000ohms. Bear in mind that is unusually high, I am in air conditioned room at 60 degrees, it would be closer to 75000ohms
so at 12 volts, only 0.06ma can flow through me, not enough to even feel, even if the source can supply 150amps
at 277 volts, 1.385ma can flow though me, enough to be noticeable, out of 20 amp supply source
in either case, the 12volt source would be harmless (even if it was a 1000amp source). The 277volt source would theoretically harmless, but it would be idiotic to prove this point.

when wet down with sweat I was down about 1500ohms
so at 12 volts, 6ma would flow through the examplar 150amps. Enough to be painful
at 277 volts, 185ma would flow through me, out of the 20amp source. More than enough to be fatal
i can attest that when soaked with sweat, a car battery gives a nasty shock, though fairly harmless.
usually the 48volt point is where electricity becomes hazardous. Examples like operating rooms and ICU’s are an exemption, but that is for reasons that normal people don’t have to deal with.

 

[ArchtopK]

Are you sure you are looking at the correct scale? 200K ohms from hand to heel is very conductive. I might believe 200 Meg Ohms. Holding probes in each hand, tight, I read about 2Meg ohms

 

[2012Stroke]

Yep. It actually started about 150k and peaked about 400k from right hand to left heel using a calibrated Fluke 117 with standard test leads. If I hold it loosely, then I run into the 2meg ohm range. It’s kind of tough to measure it though. Varies with pressure and body position. NIOSH actually gives the resistance of a human being maxing at 100k.

 

[AnalogRTO]

Are you sure you are looking at the correct scale? 200K ohms from hand to heel is very conductive. I might believe 200 Meg Ohms. Holding probes in each hand, tight, I read about 2Meg ohms

As an electronics engineer, I know about this from learning safety while dealing with high voltage and current. Your skin is not very conductive, which is why you see such a high resistance from one point on your body to another. The issue becomes when you start current flowing through your body, it burns pinholes in your skin and now you go directly into blood and plasma, which is closer to salt water than anything else. In that case, you can get a LOT of current flowing very easily and kill yourself.

 

[ltaluv]

If your want to measure your body's resistance, you need to use Kelvin probes. That cancels out your skin resistance so you can get an actual reading of the body resistance.

For electric shocks, it really depends on the material and configuration of the conductor you come into contact with, as well as the voltage. Anything under 50 volts is generally considered intrinsically safe.

 

[private1]

when wet down with sweat I was down about 1500ohms
so at 12 volts, 6ma would flow through the examplar 150amps. Enough to be painful

I don't disagree with any of your post or your numbers, but my experience somehow differs... apparently both myself and my boss (we're the only two people who work on that game) have mutant non-conductive sweat. We're a non-air-conditioned arcade on a beach. Sweat is part of the uniform. I haven't ever "felt" 12V.

Now, some of the crane machines have 48V in them... that's a tingle!

 

[AnalogRTO]

I don't disagree with any of your post or your numbers, but my experience somehow differs... apparently both myself and my boss (we're the only two people who work on that game) have mutant non-conductive sweat. We're a non-air-conditioned arcade on a beach. Sweat is part of the uniform. I haven't ever "felt" 12V.

Now, some of the crane machines have 48V in them... that's a tingle!

Your experience with handling voltage and sensitivity to pain is absolutely individual. Each of us has a different pain tolerance and how well the current would flow through you can vary a bit as well. When it comes to working safely with electricity, the numbers quoted for safety are based on average human body characteristics and then given a safety margin. It is entirely possible that when you are working with 12V the current is low enough that you don't notice it.

 

[Wolfyhaffers]

While this is literally true, it's a somewhat dangerous thing to say.

Taking two examples from where I work... On the one hand, I've got a machine (a very BRIGHT arcade game with tons of lights and motors) that runs on 12V 150A internally. On the other, I've got a 277V 20A lighting circuit. Which one is more likely to kill me?

This statement is one of my peeves, because it falsely leads the uninformed to believe that a lower number of amps on the label makes a circuit or device less likely to kill them. If the available current is greater than 100mA then it might as well not even be considered a variable. There is enough there, the *only* thing to be varied or debated is whether or not the applied voltage will push that current through the person. In this scenario (which is pretty much the entirety of real-world examples) it is, in fact, the *voltage* that determines the outcome.

While this is literally true, it's a somewhat dangerous thing to say.

Taking two examples from where I work... On the one hand, I've got a machine (a very BRIGHT arcade game with tons of lights and motors) that runs on 12V 150A internally. On the other, I've got a 277V 20A lighting circuit. Which one is more likely to kill me?

This statement is one of my peeves, because it falsely leads the uninformed to believe that a lower number of amps on the label makes a circuit or device less likely to kill them. If the available current is greater than 100mA then it might as well not even be considered a variable. There is enough there, the *only* thing to be varied or debated is whether or not the applied voltage will push that current through the person. In this scenario (which is pretty much the entirety of real-world examples) it is, in fact, the *voltage* that determines the outcome.

 

[redbullfiend]

Magneto on a race car. 44 amp.

 

[Remington1911]

Probably not technically electrocuted, but i was checking voltage on an electric fence on time, trying to shove the ground probe in to the frozen ground resulted in the top of my head coming into contact with the electric fence. Needless to say the fence was definitely hot. Pretty sure I temporarily blacked out. The songs had changed on the radio, and the earlier song had just begun. I checked it after I regained my bearings I checked the fence. There was approximately 10,000 volts pulsing through it.

 

[srmousse]

I used to do electric trim for house flips. Every switch and outlet would get swapped and new covers installed. I received $350 per house regardless of switch/outlet count (most of the houses were less then 2000 sq ft). Needles to say, time is money.... I was only able to shut one breaker at a time as others were in the house working. After about a dozen houses, I thought, screw this and just started writing everything live. While I got good at handling wires and what not, I still would get zapped at least once in three houses... But it would cut a full hour from the job time, so it was worth it!

 

[DL4201]

Ive ben electrocuted before doing a bunch of different things. All the times where at or below 120v 60hz on 10amp circuits and once with a bank of d batteries no lasting damage. When I worked for Home Depot cutting christmas trees they were too cheep to get gas saws so we used 120v electric saws and the melting snow and ice would constantly get in the cord and saws and I would constantly get electrocuted even through gloves. It wasn’t necessarily painful it just tingled a lot like an over powered stick of prank gum. Looking back I probably should have contacted osha.