"Daniel J. Stern" wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
: On Fri, 25 Nov 2005, Zak wrote:
:
: Decent ES fittings have two fingers in the bottom, one
contacting center
: and the other contacting the base from below. After the first
quarter
: turn out, the base is isolated. The fitting is tall enough to
make
: touching the base very unlikely. These must have been
standard since at
: least 30 years.
:
: Wow. Not in North America, where bayonet-base lamps are not
used and the
: threaded shell is for lamp retention *and* contact. 'Course, we
have half
: the mains voltage...

What? Of COURSE in NA! The only power in a properly plugged in
lamp socket is the small metal in the bottom center of the
socket. The threaded metal is neutral; no harmful voltage there.
That's why lamps have polarized plugs if the mains connects to
the bulb.

240/50 vs 120/60 - they both kill in very nearly the same length
of time. The heart succumbs at about 46V ac.