There is an even more dangerous device being sold on ebay:
Yes, those exposed electrodes are live at (rectified) mains voltage.
Big Clive has also reviewed this on his YouTube channel (look for "Deadly quack water tester"). He has a hilariously unhealthy fascination with stupidly lethal bits of apparatus.
Other gems include the 'suicide shower' and the Turkish 'stinger' kettle which both connect mains voltages directly into water.
this is a derivative of the old well known Soviet DYI things.
I remember, when I was a student (in 90th), some students in our campus (far from home, no money at all, too big brains, no fear for life...) made those dangerous heaters from 2 stainless raizor blades, 2 wood matches (as a spacers), 2 wires and a thread. Moreover, when there was no wall electricity plug in a room, they attach wires to a lamp... They knew what they were doing, how dangerous it was, so nobody was killed, but sometimes the electricity shut down on the whole floor of the building due to overcurrent...
I thought these days have passed long time ago.
You probably either had really hard water or they were specing the wattage for 110V not 220. The other dude that tested one of those had the wattage numbers come out much closer at first.
Actually I would use this or something like this to heat a bathtub in an emergency or something like that... but I think I would stay outside and have a switch outside and keep the door locked while it was cooking.
Actually I would use this or something like this to heat a bathtub in an emergency or something like that... but I think I would stay outside and have a switch outside and keep the door locked while it was cooking.Wouldn't thad trip the RCCB in any modern building?
Since the drain is grounded the breaker would kick in immediately.
Actually I would use this or something like this to heat a bathtub in an emergency or something like that... but I think I would stay outside and have a switch outside and keep the door locked while it was cooking.Wouldn't thad trip the RCCB in any modern building?
Since the drain is grounded the breaker would kick in immediately.
Wouldn't thad trip the RCCB in any modern building?
Since the drain is grounded the breaker would kick in immediately.If the bath was ungrounded, no.
Wouldn't thad trip the RCCB in any modern building?
Since the drain is grounded the breaker would kick in immediately.If the bath was ungrounded, no.
3. water is fairly poor conductor so the resistor network it forms in between the electrodes, human body and the grounding point (fault current) wont normally pass current or potential to matter (e.g. even to trip the RCCD fault current condition).
1. there are tons of commercial solutions for consumer and industrial market employing this method. I can send you a picture of an industrial heater rated for 25kW used to either heat utility water or provide heating to HVAC systems (NB! directly coupled via conductive liquid to metal fixtures like radiators or kitchen taps). If you want, I can sell it to you for €300 + shipping, it's perfectly functional.
NEC specifies water areas must have metal bonded to the EGC so you can not use a plastic plug and plastic surrounding the plug in a fibreglass bathtub as the metal must be bonded to a perfection device; you must have a permanent metal fixture in a pool bonded to the EGC and an exponential grid.
So without a leakage current you wouldn't trip
1. there are tons of commercial solutions for consumer and industrial market employing this method. I can send you a picture of an industrial heater rated for 25kW used to either heat utility water or provide heating to HVAC systems (NB! directly coupled via conductive liquid to metal fixtures like radiators or kitchen taps). If you want, I can sell it to you for €300 + shipping, it's perfectly functional.
2. falling water does not conduct due to formation of droplets (shower case). Else, everybody who walks out during thunderstorm would already be toast meat a'la hotdogger.
3. water is fairly poor conductor so the resistor network it forms in between the electrodes, human body and the grounding point (fault current) wont normally pass current or potential to matter (e.g. even to trip the RCCD fault current condition).
I made a video just now to explain this phenomenon of ionic conductivity in water. It's an extremely strong effect, because water is not just a very good polar solvent, but ionic pathways tend to open up especially on voltage gradients and you really don't need much in the way of dissolved ions to get into the low-ohms volume resistivity of water.
Try it out for yourself! Science the shit out of it!
https://youtu.be/exn90L95dgI
Thanks for the video. But would it be a good idea to omit 'EEVBLOG' from the Youtube title? It has the potential to confuse.
What do you use for a fork?
The principle was used for light dimming applications such as theater lighting way back when.
http://www.compulite.com/stagelight/html/history-5/salt-dimmers.html
Thanks for the video. But would it be a good idea to omit 'EEVBLOG' from the Youtube title? It has the potential to confuse.