On Tuesday, 30 March 2021 at 09:02:48 UTC+1, Andy Bennet wrote:
On 29/03/2021 23:32, soup wrote:
Many have had a 'belt' from domestic 240Volt wiring through bad luck,
bad judgment or plain stupidity .
Whilst a shock from 240V CAN kill how often does that actually happen
and how many just get thrown across the room into a foetal position
whimpering and crying until the arm unknots and the tingling feeling
goes away.
Been there done that - once!
When I was about 8 years old I had a crystal set and thought I needed a
longer aerial on it to get better reception. Had seen pylons with wires
on them supplying electricity so thought that would be a lovely aerial!.
Went to mains socket in bedroom with metal meccano screwdiver in one
hand, bare wire to plug into socket in other. Pushed down the earth
shutter with screwdriver and inserted bare wire into now open shuttered
pin. I now know the difference between live and neutral! Seriously
thought I was going to die. Been extreemly cautious ever since and never
had another belt from the mains!


And I thought it was just me. At a similar age - maybe 10 - I decided to make an electric car. I knew motors had windings. That was all I knew. I wound a wire around the metal axle of a lego car, and attached both ends to a battery. Strangely, nothing happened.

OBVIOUSLY I needed more oomph. I opened up a plug. Observing that there were three terminals, I decided to splice the wire into all three to see what would happen. I then made the only good decision I made that day. Instead of plugging in to the switched on socket, I elected to switch it off, plug in, and THEN switch on. Just as well, it blew the thing off the wall and blew the fuse at the board. I saw a flash but avoided any shock, which was more than could be said for my parents.

I also remember that when the electrician came round to fix it, I ended up with a double in my room where I had previously had a single. So that was a win.