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Registered Member #540
Joined: Mon Feb 19 2007, 07:49PM
Location: MIT
Posts: 969
jovica93 wrote ...
lol the other day i was plaaying with an mot i tought it was off i was about to grab the one of the arcing elecrodes but it was a good thing i went for the heat sink i was using as an electrode first it wasnt a big diffrence in which i was about to grab both of the electrodes only 0.5 seconds when i felt little discharges to to hand that told me it was still on when ever i think of that i feel like im gonna shit myself i cold have died that day
Little discharges? Are there any that you can feel at low of a voltage without dying? I kinda doubt it...
Registered Member #1407
Joined: Fri Mar 21 2008, 07:09AM
Location:
Posts: 222
Myke wrote ...
jovica93 wrote ...
lol the other day i was plaaying with an mot i tought it was off i was about to grab the one of the arcing elecrodes but it was a good thing i went for the heat sink i was using as an electrode first it wasnt a big diffrence in which i was about to grab both of the electrodes only 0.5 seconds when i felt little discharges to to hand that told me it was still on when ever i think of that i feel like im gonna shit myself i cold have died that day
Little discharges? Are there any that you can feel at low of a voltage without dying? I kinda doubt it...
PS: Spelling is good.
no beacuse my body is grounded i could feel little and see litle flashes arcing to my finger
any way ill put a picture up you can kind of tell where they are
Registered Member #30
Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706
jovica93 wrote ...
no beacuse my body is grounded i could feel little and see litle flashes arcing to my finger
any way ill put a picture up you can kind of tell where they are
Let me get this straight. You shocked yourself with a MOT once, and you were so scared you thought you would die. So you did it again to get a picture?! This is the kind of jackass stunt that brings the hobby a bad reputation. I have your Darwin award waiting here.
In this instance you were lucky because the MOT core wasn't connected to anything, so the only current path was through the stray capacitance between core and primary. This capacitance is small, so the current was small and you only felt a few tingles. But the insulation between core and primary isn't rated for 2000V, so it could have broken down at any time and fried you.
Registered Member #1407
Joined: Fri Mar 21 2008, 07:09AM
Location:
Posts: 222
Dr. Conner wrote ...
jovica93 wrote ...
no beacuse my body is grounded i could feel little and see litle flashes arcing to my finger
any way ill put a picture up you can kind of tell where they are
Let me get this straight. You shocked yourself with a MOT once, and you were so scared you thought you would die. So you did it again to get a picture?! This is the kind of jackass stunt that brings the hobby a bad reputation. I have your Darwin award waiting here.
In this instance you were lucky because the MOT core wasn't connected to anything, so the only current path was through the stray capacitance between core and primary. This capacitance is small, so the current was small and you only felt a few tingles. But the insulation between core and primary isn't rated for 2000V, so it could have broken down at any time and fried you.
ok how could it kill me i was ony touching it with on hand plus the mot is on a wooden block and i didnt shock my self i just got close to getting shocked
Registered Member #152
Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 03:36PM
Location: Czech Rep.
Posts: 3384
Dr. Conner wrote ...
Let me get this straight. You shocked yourself with a MOT once, and you were so scared you thought you would die. So you did it again to get a picture?! This is the kind of jackass stunt that brings the hobby a bad reputation. I have your Darwin award waiting here.
In this instance you were lucky because the MOT core wasn't connected to anything, so the only current path was through the stray capacitance between core and primary. This capacitance is small, so the current was small and you only felt a few tingles. But the insulation between core and primary isn't rated for 2000V, so it could have broken down at any time and fried you.
Actually, the insulation must be rated at 3000V (I think it's some standard that all commercial transformers must meet, rather check this for yourself before you take it for granted!).
And the insulation of socks/shoes/dry floor is usually good for a few kilovolts. But of course that doesn't justify jovica's dangerous feats.
Registered Member #952
Joined: Mon Aug 13 2007, 11:07AM
Location: Finland
Posts: 388
Yeah, NEVER EVER test if a HV source is lethal or not by touching it yourself, just assume it is lethal and keep your fingers out! And, as Steve said, even if you were lucky once, don't push your luck and try it again.
Treat HV as a gun. Keep your fingers out even if your HV device is off.
Registered Member #396
Joined: Wed Apr 19 2006, 12:55AM
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 176
jovica93 wrote ...
ok how could it kill me i was ony touching it with on hand plus the mot is on a wooden block and i didnt shock my self i just got close to getting shocked
First of all you need to learn what grounded actually means before you experiment with HV. You ask how it could kill you when you were only touching it with one hand? If you stand under some 100kv transmission lines and hold a 40ft aluminum pole in the air with one hand near/touching the lines, any bystanders will be lucky to find all of your body intact. This is grounding. Read about it.
I've seen this before with a MOT (for the love of god not on my own hand), and the core of my MOT was grounded properly to the mains ground. When the "hot" electrode gets near something metal and relatively large (but not officially grounded) I've noticed similar small sparks. I assume this is due to the stray capacitance Steve Conner described earlier. So your situation could have been the same as mine depending on whether your core was grounded. Either way it is terribly dangerous to be touching. You are relying on the core-to-winding or your body-to-ground insulation - both of which are poor.
Registered Member #902
Joined: Sun Jul 15 2007, 08:17PM
Location: Pacific Northwest USA
Posts: 1042
that is plain stupid... ever wonder you can touch a doorknob with one hand and get shocked, or with a vann de graff? Or why does the high voltage from a tesla coil go to any nearby object? That is because you are the easiest path for the voltage, as you are not yet charged and I doubt you are standing on a special platform designed to keep you from being more than just a void of charge, but a path to the earth where it will never stop flowing through you until the power goes out... please think ahead and please say you learned from this...
Registered Member #1408
Joined: Fri Mar 21 2008, 03:49PM
Location: Oracle, AZ
Posts: 679
Dr. 2N3055 wrote ...
Treat HV as a gun. Keep your fingers out even if your HV device is off.
Just my opinion, but that's a damn good analogy. The potential for lethality is always there and what's very important: but UNLIKE a firearm, there are quite a few idiosyncratic elements that can sneak up on you and bite you bad! I'm NOT going to harp on a point but I have learned some VERY valuable lessons about HV. Stringing wires all over Hell and working in a cluttered environment is a distinct risk. It's like hunting or shooting without knowing your backstop or the end line of your trajectory. Tragedy can happen even with every good intention BECAUSE you have lost a certain control over the lethal phenomenon.
We are all human and we all make mistakes but when you are dealing with anything that is a "one mistake can be your last" type of activity.......you had better keep an open mind to potential. I make it a point not to try and rationalize or intellectualize my behaviour. If someone points out something that may help me I let go of my ego and get very honest with myself.
In this hobby I am a raw recruit beginner. In some things, I've been damn well "around the block". I really believe I am still alive today because someone CARED enough about me to make sure I did stuff the right way. When someone would tell me something, I didn't take it like a put-down. I said to myself that this guy doesn't want me to die (or get hurt). That means that guy cares about my well being. With the type of personality I have....I say "thank you" when someone would pull up on my reins. When a guy tells me I'm doing something that could get myself hurt - he gives a damn that I don't die. There are not too many folks in this world who really do care if another person lives or dies.....that's a sad reality.
Largest age group Death by Electrocution 20-34yrs old Lowest level of current to cause death (Young Healthy Adult): 5ma ! Lowest level of Fibrillation (YHA): 12ma Identifiable brain damage (YHA) 20ma exposure level over 10-15sec or cumulative Identifiable Cardiac lesions, burns, lowest level (YHA) 12ma Young Healthy Adult defined as over 18yrs no hx of cardiac abnormalities, daily physical activity (AMA -1997 PRG)
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Electronics/High voltage stories
plus the mot is on a wooden block and i didnt shock my self i just got close to getting shocked
