On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 07:48:32 -0600, wrote:

We have all heard the horrors of tossing a toaster or other appliance
in a filled bathtub. Well, I dont understand this now. A friend told
me that he had to replace the shower valve in his tub. He replaced
it, leaving his tools and a plugged in trouble light in the tub when
he went out to the pump house to turn the water back on. The problem,
he never turned the tub faucets off. When he got back in the house
the tub was almost ready to overflow. and the trouble light was under
water except the bulb which was floating and still lit. He said he
immediately unplugged it. (the drain was shut because he was afraid a
screw would go down). How can this be? Why did a breaker not trip?
He said the socket of the light was filled with water too, because he
took it apart to dry it out. He said his electric drill was also
under water, but not plugged in. He took that apart too.



Clean water isn't that good a conductor. Wet people are, though.
What surprises me is that the bulb didn't blow up from
thermal stress. FInd out for me what he was using as a bulb,
will ya?

I suspect that, in a non-metallic and/or ungrounded tub,
you'd have a hard time electrocuting yourself, anyway.

The voltage supply the voltage drain are, after all,
right next to each other in whatever device you
drop in the tub. why would the electricity want to
make a side-trip through you? You have to touch
two things at different potentials to get electrocuted.

--Goedjn

(and yet, I don't plan to test my theory...)