General > General Technical Chat
Got shocked by 120VAC
MathWizard:
I was doing some drywall plastering for a friend, and there was a connection box for a light, with a 14/2 wire stuck out of it, not stripped, just cut-off even, and I thought it was off, or not even possible to touch so I never considered it a problem
But like a fool, I managed to brush the underside of my wrist right across the wires, and I got a slight tingle. So I think I made contact the live wire, and/or the N or G lead right next to it in the sheathing, as I only felt something in my lower arm, and not down and out through my feet.
Last week I was worried about getting a shock of a 70V transformer and I was really careful. So it's my own fault for not checking the wire or taping it off.
BrokenYugo:
Non contact probes are cheap, and even the cheap ones work, just saying. That said in my experience you more or less have to be standing in a puddle to get bit hard by 120 AC. I think my worst was working on a furnace, standing on a damp concrete floor in just socks or maybe barefoot, grabbed a stranded wire near a wire nut that some idiot decades ago had a left a loose strand sticking out of, quite the firm handshake but not as bad as the lawnmower ignition.
I remember seeing some old electrician training book from the 50s that seriously suggested one just use the back of their hand to check for presence of AC power, reporting that most could tolerate up to 240V.
james_s:
I've been zapped by 120V a bunch of times and it never gets any more pleasant. The older I get, the more careful I am with it, haven't been shocked by it in a while. Don't work with electricity while you're tired and make sure any live circuits are properly capped off. 120V is not usually lethal but it can and does kill people once in a while.
MarkF:
I burnt a 1/4" off the end of my needle nose pilers once. I was replacing a switch in a box with two other switches. I had turned off the circuit I was working on. However, the switch next to it was still live. My mother didn't appreciate my welding in the living room. :-DD
Non-insulated handles and didn't even get a shock. Lucky.
When I was seven, I tried to pulled broken prongs from a wall socket with my bare fingers. Very stimulating! That's when I started my electrical career. :-+
Probably my worse shock was when I got my hand against 120VAC 400Hz. I'll take 60Hz any day. The 400Hz stuff carries quite a bite. I could still feel it the rest of the afternoon.
themadhippy:
Bunch of wimps,come on over to 230v to earth land.
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