How not to deal with electrcity

[ppppenguin]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-13678266

Very nearly Darwin Award material.

[ppppenguin]

There's an old saying: It's the volts that jolts, the mils that kills.

I've touched 25000V EHT in a TV and it was like a sharp pinprick. There's not enough current available to do you any real harm**. The worst shock I had was 1200VDC from an oscilloscope. Rectified straight from the mains transformer with enough current available to do damage. I was lucky. My arm ached for a few days and that was all. 240V mains can easily kill, especially between the hands and if your hands are wet. i think the lowest voltage that has known to have killed is 32V. I would guess the victim was at least partly immersed in salty water to achieve that. Animals such as cows and sheep can suffer badly from quite low voltages between their legs. This can happen when fault currents flow through the ground. Electric fences will do them no harm, again because the available current is small.

**NB: This does not apply to mains derived EHT on prewar and some early post war TVs

[ucl82]

There's so many variables, your age, fitness, how much you are sweating etc as to how severe a shock will be. Best to just remember electricity bites and treat it with plenty of respect.

[glowinganode]

I think anything above 0.30A kills?

More like 0.03A (30mA), though this figure is no more than an educated guess.
Only yesterday I was at a factory that had suffered cable theft, all the time scrap metal merchants pay cash, no questions asked it will continue.
I hope (but very much doubt) this report will deter others.
Rob.

[tiv48]

try waving a neon screwdriver near a working lopt it may suprise you how far away you can get befor the neon goes out
rob t

[ppppenguin]

try waving a neon screwdriver near a working lopt it may suprise you how far away you can get befor the neon goes out
rob t

A small neon lamp will give a visible glow with just a few microamps. Please don't try to draw an arc from a LOP with a neon screwdriver. you may find it unpleasant and it may render the neon screwdriver unsafe for mains testing. Actually there's a valid school of thought that says they are inherently unsafe for mains testing.

[fido]

Yes, I've got a few dud neon screwdrivers that I keep because they still work as screwdrivers. It's OK as long as only I use them, a bit like the anonymous 5 litre plastic container in my garage that I only recently discovered contains battery acid.....

[glowinganode]

Actually there's a valid school of thought that says they are inherently unsafe for mains testing.

I quite agree with you Jeffrey, and no longer use them.
If you're interested (I suggest you ought to be) a copy of HSE guidance note GS38 can be found here, which details advice on use and construction of electrical test equipment.
Rob.