chocolatemalt wrote:
In article ,
Jeff Wisnia wrote:


Yes, the dangerous part about electricity is that at line voltage levels
you can't see, hear or smell it. And if you chance to feel it, it may
just bite you or make you jump enough to bash yourself on something sharp.


I've been surprised to discover how innocuous 120V is -- just an
unpleasant tingling, aside from the initial contact which is moot anyway
if a screwdriver does the job. What is disturbing is the thought that
you are flirting with death despite the unremarkable sensation.


Then again, I still remember the words of a middle aged Brit prof back
in my college daze circa 1954 who tought a course I was taking called
"Rotating Machinery" (All about electric motors, generators and stuff
like that.) We were working with three phase 440 volt equipment when he
told us, "You smen will never be good electrical engineers until you
learn to 'take' a shock!" G

Jeff


That scares up the question: How many shocks have you electrician (and
EE) types encountered in your careers? And how many arm-to-arm (i.e.
across the heart) shocks, which seem inevitable given the ease of using
some conducting metallic box with the non-working arm to give support?

I've tried to follow the "One arm behind my back" adage when working
around dangerous voltages, and I'm still around, so I guess it works. I
don't think I've ever gotten a shock through my chest, but I've had some
pretty good ones through one hand.

The "shock" I've never forgotten was received when I was doing TV repair
as a kid and was schlepping a 19" B&W TV chassis down a flight of stairs
from a customer's second floor apartment. I'd forgotten to discharge the
multi KV high voltage stored in the capacitance of the CRT. Somehow,
part of me got zapped by that voltage and the chassis flew out of my
arms and down the stairs, with the CRT imploding en route. The boss had
to buy the customer a new TV, and after that experience I always treated
CRTs like they were running chainsaws. G

But, I started playing with electricity back in the era when electronics
were all vacuum toob stuff, where ac and dc voltages in the 150 to 1000
volt range abounded. Things got quite a bit "safer" when solid state
circuits took over. Nowadays sticking your fingers into "live" stuff is
more likely to damage the equipment (through static electric discharges)
than hurt you.

Thanks for the mammaries...

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."