Have you ever had an electric shock?

Slurryface · 10-10-2012 01:21PM

The Jammy dodger wrote: »

I remember today that years ago when I was renting out a house. The pipes burst and the whole place was covered in water. Not thinking the landlord told me to switch off a light that was obviously flickering and I did almost instantly as everyone was in a rush and ZAP. I felt my chest tighten (and stomach up ) and thought I was going to die there and then. Truly a frightening experience that I never want to go through again.

What about you? any stories?

Idiot post, if a person had been electrocuted they would be dead!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrocution

Red Pepper · 10-10-2012 01:24PM

FatherLen wrote: »

yeah of course sure how else would we have tested the fence?

Using a blade of grass gives you much less of a shock but tells you if the fence is electrified or not. We spent many hours seeing who could withstand the most grass shocks.

The Jammy dodger · 10-10-2012 01:25PM

Red Pepper wrote: »

Using a blade of grass gives you much less of a shock but tells you if the fence is electrified or not. We spent many hours seeing who could withstand the most grass shocks.

Yeah done that before.

Lingua Franca · 10-10-2012 01:25PM

This thread is gonna be 50% funny/stupid electric shock stories and 50% "if you were electrocuted you'd be dead" posts.

The Jammy Dodger, you should claim to be a ghost come to warn us all of the dangers of electricity from beyond the grave.

10-10-2012 01:28PM

A few times on electric fences. Also managed to get a wallop off a camera flash circuit (by far the worst I had). On one other occasion I was disassembling a PC with an exposed PSU inside, that wasn't nice either.

The Jammy dodger · 10-10-2012 01:31PM

Lingua Franca wrote: »

This thread is gonna be 50% funny/stupid electric shock stories and 50% "if you were electrocuted you'd be dead" posts.

The Jammy Dodger, you should claim to be a ghost come to warn us all of the dangers of electricity from beyond the grave.

I am!!! :cool:

ejmaztec · 10-10-2012 01:32PM

Dean09 wrote: »

Intriguing.
Tell us more.

I've said too much already. :eek:

maxfresh · 10-10-2012 01:47PM

worked as a electrician (still do sometimes

) so got shocks a good few times ,usally when cutting corners and connecting something live

The Jammy dodger · 10-10-2012 01:48PM

maxfresh wrote: »

worked as a electrician (still do sometimes ) so got shocks a good few times ,usally when cutting corners and connecting something live

Interesting. What kind of a shock does it take to kill a person?

CruelCoin · 10-10-2012 01:50PM

Was helping the putative mother in law rewire some cables out in her field.

Bat told me the power was off.

BZZZZZ - hey presto einstein hair.

Not pleasant.

SEPT 23 1989 · 10-10-2012 01:51PM

Got a belt off a clock radio as a chizler

KERSPLAT! · 10-10-2012 01:53PM

Working as a sparks Ive had loads! Worst was when I was connecting a socket in a pub kitchen. I had turned the MCB off and started connecting it when suddenly, what felt like bolts of lightning, shot through my arms... Blackedout for a split second came to with a chippy shouting at me and asking if I was ok

The other sparks in all his wisdom decided to knock on the MCB to boil the kettle :mad: I happened to be touching the brown while leaning on a stainless steel counter... Shock of my life!!

KERSPLAT! · 10-10-2012 01:55PM

The Jammy dodger wrote: »

Interesting. What kind of a shock does it take to kill a person?

All depends on voltage, load and how long you get a shock for

Intensive Care Bear · 10-10-2012 01:55PM

I'm an electrician, in the last 11 years i've probably only had 4 shocks, no serious ones.

squrm · 10-10-2012 01:55PM

kiffer wrote: »

I've had a few nasty shocks but I've never been killed by it...
Back in primary school we had those light switches that are boxes stuck on the wall with a pipe for the wires coming out the top ... in one of them had a hole in the buttom.
Stuck my finger in... Ouch, wasn't as bad as the time I stuck a tweezers into a socket. And I'd licked a lot of 9 volt batteries so I knew what electric felt like. Was bad shock but I'd had worse before and after that... wouldn't want to get really bad one.

...... really?!

So whats it like to have to wear a helmet as part of everyday attire

Intensive Care Bear · 10-10-2012 01:59PM

The Jammy dodger wrote: »

Interesting. What kind of a shock does it take to kill a person?

Voltage isn't the real danger, it's the current that causes the most damage. 50mA for a sustained time is enough to kill some people, where as you could get hit with 20000 volts and survive (with burns)

Paddy on the Road · 10-10-2012 02:00PM

Itzy wrote: »

Electrocution would imply your heart has been stopped. You suffered a shock ya poor fecker :rolleyes: Worked in the Electrical business and received my fair share of shocks. No big deal.

Is this true yeah? I remember when I was a kid I got up early one morning to have a sneaky before school go on the oul super nintendo and while plugging it in, without realising, I was touching one of the pins on the plug. Jesus the shock flew up my arm and into my chest.

But this happened in Africa, and I was always told if it happened here in Ireland I would have been killed because of the higher voltage difference or whatever!? Lies?

17larsson · 10-10-2012 02:01PM

IPAM wrote: »

Working as a sparks Ive had loads! Worst was when I was connecting a socket in a pub kitchen. I had turned the MCB off and started connecting it when suddenly, what felt like bolts of lightning, shot through my arms... Blackedout for a split second came to with a chippy shouting at me and asking if I was ok

The other sparks in all his wisdom decided to knock on the MCB to boil the kettle :mad: I happened to be touching the brown while leaning on a stainless steel counter... Shock of my life!!

Nasty.

I was changing the red blinking bulb at the end of the jib on a crane a few years ago and I got a shock off it. Not too bad though but it amused me looking at the length of the path it had to travel to get back to earth

Another time, similar to your story, I was working on a three phase isolator in an underground carpark and had the main switch off, taped up and all three fuses out and some complete tool wanted power for something so ripped off the tape and stuck the fuses back in. I realised the power was back on so didn't get a shock but I carry the fuses in my pocket now if I'm ever doing anything similar

Penn · 10-10-2012 02:07PM

Used to live in a one-bed apartment. Burst pipe in the apartment above caused water to leak into mine, so I contacted landlord, people upstairs etc. There was one of those perspex bowls around the pendant bathroom light which was full of water. Took it off, took out the bulb. Started cleaning the socket.

Didn't realise that the lightswitch had actually been on but the bulb went off. While standing on a chair, I ended up sticking my finger into the socket (wrapped in tissue paper to dry to socket) and got a good shock from it. Managed to grab the back of the chair to prevent falling off it. Arm felt weird for a few hours after that, but I was lucky enough.

Squ · 10-10-2012 02:09PM

Penn wrote: »

Used to live in a one-bed apartment. Burst pipe in the apartment above caused water to leak into mine, so I contacted landlord, people upstairs etc. There was one of those perspex bowls around the pendant bathroom light which was full of water. Took it off, took out the bulb. Started cleaning the socket.

Didn't realise that the lightswitch had actually been on but the bulb went off. While standing on a chair, I ended up sticking my finger into the socket (wrapped in tissue paper to dry to socket) and got a good shock from it. Managed to grab the back of the chair to prevent falling off it. Arm felt weird for a few hours after that, but I was lucky enough.

Even with the switch off, never trust a fitting.

ejmaztec · 10-10-2012 02:28PM

I find them quite invigorating, and I've been invigorated a fair few times when pretending to know what I'm doing.

Menas · 10-10-2012 02:28PM

Back in the 80s I was doing a repair to an old black and white TV.
I was about to solder something and did a quick visual check to double check that I had plugged it out....I hadnt.
I jolted to get the solder and soldering iron out of range of the back of the TV but the jolt caused a drop to fall on the back of the tube. Bang.

It caused a bit of a bang allright and the ESB had to come around as the short caused the junction box on our street to blow. Fckin aincent fuse box in our house did not blow, but the street one did?
The world is lucky that Trigger is still here!

maxfresh · 10-10-2012 02:35PM

IPAM wrote: »

Working as a sparks Ive had loads! Worst was when I was connecting a socket in a pub kitchen. I had turned the MCB off and started connecting it when suddenly, what felt like bolts of lightning, shot through my arms... Blackedout for a split second came to with a chippy shouting at me and asking if I was ok

The other sparks in all his wisdom decided to knock on the MCB to boil the kettle :mad: I happened to be touching the brown while leaning on a stainless steel counter... Shock of my life!!

You would think if the socket circuit was on a rcd as it should be it should have tripped before you got shocked

10-10-2012 02:35PM

Yup. As a sparks I've had a few shocks. Nothing major. You live and learn (most of us anyway). The worst was when I was working on a friends mothers house about 2 years ago. It was wired in the 80's by the original owner who wasn't an electrician. It was a bungalow and I was changing out old lights in the hall for new ones. As soon as I went into the attic, I put my hand down on the insulation to discover 2 live cables buried and twisted together to join them with no more than an inch of insulation tape wrapped around them leaving a lot of exposed copper. Anyway I stuck to the cable which caused me to jump and put my knee through the ceiling as well as getting a shock! When I got myself together I went and inspected all the wiring i could and discovered this type of dangerous DIY work was done everywhere (in white and yellow core cable!) and eventually convinced the owner that the house was a death trap and to fork out for a full rewire. You'd be amazed at the amount of potential death traps electricians come across every day be it a house, shop, factory etc.

KERSPLAT! · 10-10-2012 02:45PM

maxfresh wrote: »

You would think if the socket circuit was on a rcd as it should be it should have tripped before you got shocked

It was definitely on a RCD or RCBO, can't remember if it tripped after or not, the shock was only milliseconds, it was the stainless steel that f'ed me

maxfresh · 10-10-2012 02:55PM

IPAM wrote: »

It was definitely on a RCD or RCBO, can't remember if it tripped after or not, the shock was only milliseconds, it was the stainless steel that f'ed me

Ye i had a similar shock connecting a light in a stainless steel pole and my hand near my knuckles was touching the pole and my finger touched the live copper conductor :eek: ouch , lucky i pulled my hand away pretty quick.

KERSPLAT! · 10-10-2012 03:12PM

maxfresh wrote: »

Ye i had a similar shock connecting a light in a stainless steel pole and my hand near my knuckles was touching the pole and my finger touched the live copper conductor :eek: ouch , lucky i pulled my hand away pretty quick.

I'm lucky that I don't really remember it

Another time I got blown/fell off a ladder. I was tryin to get the lid off 2x2 galvo trunking. It was packed with cables and when I tried to prise it open I broke the insulation on the live and hit the earthed trunking with the rest of my driver! No shock but huge bang/flash an a very sore arsè!!!

ejmaztec · 10-10-2012 03:15PM

I'm surprised that my old man never got electrocuted to death, because for some mysterious reason, his electric drill never had a plug on it, and he would poke a small stick into the earth socket and then feed the live and neutral wires into their holes. I think he had a deathwish, which he probably got living with the rest of us.

maxfresh · 10-10-2012 03:29PM

IPAM wrote: »

I'm lucky that I don't really remember it

Another time I got blown/fell off a ladder. I was tryin to get the lid off 2x2 galvo trunking. It was packed with cables and when I tried to prise it open I broke the insulation on the live and hit the earthed trunking with the rest of my driver! No shock but huge bang/flash an a very sore arsè!!!

yes a fall off a ladder can be very dangerous a guy that worked for a company i worked for died after falling and landing on his head

KKkitty · 10-10-2012 03:30PM

Got a shock from an iron once. It had one of those fabric type flexes which had become worn and after I got the shock sparks came out. Haven't ironed since

Have you ever had an electric shock?

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