I Took A Suicide Shower and Survived - BSFEEChannel #9

[bsfeechannel]

In this episode I show you why it is always useful to have a multimeter, test leads, alligator clips and a piece of copper-clad board in your luggage when you're on vacation. You never know.

[rsjsouza]

I survived 32 years taking showers on these...

In my home town it was 220Vac phase voltage (not line), thus we still had a grounded neutral. Regardless, I also noticed the water resistance is too high to compromise your brains...

The video is very informative and you even highlighted one of my replies on the other thread. However, I personally found the synthesized voice a bit distracting.

[IanB]

This looks like one of those fake videos with various images all strung together and computer generated voice over. Is there a real video with an actual human?

[bsfeechannel]

I survived 32 years taking showers on these...

It is a surprising survival rate for something that has "suicide" in the name, isn't it?

In my home town it was 220Vac phase voltage (not line), thus we still had a grounded neutral. Regardless, I also noticed the water resistance is too high to compromise your brains...

Yes, those with one-phase 127V-neutral or 220V-neutral installations are lucky enough to have an incidental leakage conductor already dipped in the water. But those with two-phase 220V (i.e. two live wires) installations need to take extra precautions.

When you're wet under the showerhead your skin resistance is as low as a few kilohms. Ironically you and the water form a voltage divider in which the water resistance is at least one hundred times greater. Any residual voltage in the water will be divided by that factor.

That will be the subject for a next video.

The video is very informative and you even highlighted one of my replies on the other thread.

As an electronics engineer myself, I spent a whole carrier joining the forces in the battle against moisture and water mixed with electricity. Electric showers in special always give me the hibbie jibbies. But to my surprise it seems that under very specific circumstances water and electricity go together very well.

The suicide shower is something that defies the common sense. It seems to be more of a happy accident (to quote Bob Ross) than a mistake. And that's why I decided to investigate.

However, I personally found the synthesized voice a bit distracting.

I don't know what to do about that. I simply can't speak in front of a camera. Even if I read a script.

I can't afford a narrator. So I guess I'll have to learn to live with that. Sorry.

[bsfeechannel]

This looks like one of those fake videos with various images all strung together and computer generated voice over. Is there a real video with an actual human?

Wow! That's unexpected. Why would I fake a video about my own safety? Last time I checked, I was human. But there's always a possibility that the universe be nothing more than a computer simulation. Go figure.

[IanB]

This looks like one of those fake videos with various images all strung together and computer generated voice over. Is there a real video with an actual human?

Wow! That's unexpected. Why would I fake a video about my own safety? Last time I checked, I was human. But there's always a possibility that the universe be nothing more than a computer simulation. Go figure.

I'm sorry about that, but you must know that YouTube is flooded with spam videos using synthesized computer voices. The first reaction from anyone encountering such a video will be to stop watching it.

If you can't or won't speak in your own voice, then I suggest to keep the video silent and use subtitles like myfordboy does. It works very well. Whatever you do, don't use a synthesized voice. It is a massive turn off.

[rsjsouza]

I survived 32 years taking showers on these...

It is a surprising survival rate for something that has "suicide" in the name, isn't it?

Well, currently 200M people live in Brazil and more than 80% in urban areas showering daily with these - I say the surprise is someone dying from it...

In my home town it was 220Vac phase voltage (not line), thus we still had a grounded neutral. Regardless, I also noticed the water resistance is too high to compromise your brains...

Yes, those with one-phase 127V-neutral or 220V-neutral installations are lucky enough to have an incidental leakage conductor already dipped in the water. But those with two-phase 220V (i.e. two live wires) installations need to take extra precautions.

You want to hear something else that will be even more puzzling for you? Ground only started to be mandatory in residential installations with the revised national code in 1994 and I can tell you that the vast majority of residences still did not have it well into the 2000s. Add to that the scarcity of inspections and you get installations like the one you show in your video - ground completely loose.

When you're wet under the showerhead your skin resistance is as low as a few kilohms. Ironically you and the water form a voltage divider in which the water resistance is at least one hundred times greater. Any residual voltage in the water will be divided by that factor.

That is something I also mentioned in the other thread: if the surface resistance of the skin is dropped to a few k , the vast majority of the current would be flowing directly from head to toe without affecting any internal organs (thus no kill) - this would even be improved if soap is used. Another factor that may contribute is the prevalent use of PVC on sewer lines and ceramic tiles on the shower room - both insulating materials.

The video is very informative and you even highlighted one of my replies on the other thread.

As an electronics engineer myself, I spent a whole carrier joining the forces in the battle against moisture and water mixed with electricity. Electric showers in special always give me the hibbie jibbies. But to my surprise it seems that under very specific circumstances water and electricity go together very well.

The suicide shower is something that defies the common sense. It seems to be more of a happy accident (to quote Bob Ross) than a mistake. And that's why I decided to investigate.

When I lived in Brazil I spent quite some time trying to convince people to buy something slightly higher quality than the super cheap Lorenzettis you showed - I even bought one with fully insulated resistance at a premium price. Nowadays I really see there is no difference - the evidence by the numbers simply crush my feeble attempts to make people be more conscious.

However, I personally found the synthesized voice a bit distracting.

I don't know what to do about that. I simply can't speak in front of a camera. Even if I read a script.

I can't afford a narrator. So I guess I'll have to learn to live with that. Sorry.

No worries: your channel, your rules. Although narration tends to be easier than speaking in front of a camera.

[bsfeechannel]

I'm sorry about that, but you must know that YouTube is flooded with spam videos using synthesized computer voices. The first reaction from anyone encountering such a video will be to stop watching it.

I didn't know about that. My inspiration for the use of a synthesized voice was the movie "The Theory of Everything" about the life of Stephen Hawking.

If you can't or won't speak in your own voice, then I suggest to keep the video silent and use subtitles like myfordboy does. It works very well. Whatever you do, don't use a synthesized voice. It is a massive turn off.

Thanks for the tip. Awsome channel. I'll see if I can borrow ideas to reduce the cringe factor to my videos.

[bsfeechannel]

Another factor that may contribute is the prevalent use of PVC on sewer lines and ceramic tiles on the shower room - both insulating materials.

That is precisely what I want to address. The discussions I mentioned in the video almost implied that suicide showers necessarily kill, and if they are allowed in certain countries it is because their shower takers deserve to die. But they don't. So perhaps they get away with it because they don't care too much about their personal hygiene and they really do not use the shower. That was also proved wrong.

No objective investigation had been carried out, i. e., no one tested the doggone thing in an adequate or even typical installation to really assess its safety.

This is the only guy who cared to do it to my knowledge.



I just want to expand his approach.

[alanb]

Big Clive has done a video on these showers

https://youtu.be/cNjA0aee07k