On Apr 7, 7:31*am, Jules Richardson
wrote:
On Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:07:33 -0400, clare wrote:
As for safety - AC and DC are relatively * equal as far as shocks are
concerned - if *12 *volts DC does not give a shock, 12 volts *AC won't
either. *The only difference is *a *DC shock is a "single *hit" while AC
is a "buzzzz" WHich is more dangerous? Since *AC hurts more, I'd say DC
is the more dangerous - easier to ignore??????

Lots of old railroad engineers have told me that DC was far worse because
it can make muscles contract - and then you can't let go of whatever it
is that's causing the shock. Whether there's truth in that, I'm not
sure...

There is.

I don't know how many 240V AC shocks I've had over the years when I lived
in the UK, but certainly quite a few. I'm yet to get zapped by US
power... :-)

It hurts too, but our normal household service is half (120V) of what
you have. A 240V outlet, only used for large appliances, has two such
wires (the 240V is split with a center tap tied to ground) but you'd
have to work to get across both wires.