quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
I've been zapped countless of times by static electricity, and I'm sure most, if not all of you, have also. Always a no big deal. Until...

Yesterday morning, I was going to go running out in the street but then heard a lot of thunder rumbling. So, I went and checked the weather radar and saw a heavy storm about to roll through our area. Not wanting to potentially get struck by lightning, I decided to run indoor on my treadmill...

And I was running on the treadmill like I've done a gazillion times. Ceiling fan on high. Ran for an hour. When finished, I reached up to grab the pull chain to slow the fan to medium, already expecting a microsecond zap and done. Instead, my hand just got sucked in and stuck to the chain and shocked for, and I estimated, about three seconds, before I came to the realization and yanked hard and broke the chain. All that brief of a time, I was feeling the shock coursing through my body to my arm. That was truly a Holy Shit moment. My fingertips were sore and numb the rest of the day, but I was fine otherwise. But I still don't get it. The same activity that I've done time and time again, and all of a sudden, shit happened. Reminded me of Death Wish II's end scene, when the bad guy was electrocuted. That's how I felt, but luckily I'm still here.

The next time, thunder or not, I'm going outside.

That wasn't Static Electricity, you got zapped by what used to be called a "hot ground". Get one of those outlet testers to confirm your outlet for that fan is wired properly and throw that fan in the trash.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Even if he had stepped off I'm assuming sweaty and wet after an hour run. May have been way more conductivity that usual.

Great observation, soaking salty sweaty mess. There is obviously a difference of potential in the ground that the treadmill is plugged into, and the ground that the fan is hooked to. Well, there was, until you grabbed the chain.

Like many have also said, get them both checked. And yes, of course. Run outside! The Dreadmill can wait for 5 degree windchill days.

[/QUOTE]

That wasn't Static Electricity, you got zapped by what used to be called a "hot ground". Get one of those outlet testers to confirm your outlet for that fan is wired properly and throw that fan in the trash.[/QUOTE] It was a ceiling fan .

Yikes ! Time to call an electrician !!! I wouldn't mess with electricity, you don't want to end up in the local neighborhood news letter.

Sounds like you completed the circuit...have the fan wiring inspected.

1. New Fan
2. New After-life
Your body - your choice

Note: If you choose number 2, be sure you are better grounded with your Creator than your fan is to your electrical system.

quote:

Originally posted by Southern Rebel:
Note: If you choose number 2, be sure you are better grounded with your Creator than your fan is to your electrical system.

I told you the copper running shorts was a bad idea......geesh...

Conversation I recall with an electric guy. AC will hurt you, DC will kill you. DC was the common power source in Iraq. It was scary.

quote:

Originally posted by Citadel:
Conversation I recall with an electric guy. AC will hurt you, DC will kill you. DC was the common power source in Iraq. It was scary.

That can't be right

Iraq and the rest of the Middle East use 230V AC at 50 Hz like Europe uses

We in the US are 110V AC at 60 Hz

AC will kill you faster than DC I believe due to how the alternating current messes up your heart

Open ground,
Crossed polarity,
Shorted,
Pick one and fix it.
Now.

I got a chassis buzz of a fixture where the ground was open. It was definitely NOT static.

quote:

Originally posted by Citadel:
Conversation I recall with an electric guy. AC will hurt you, DC will kill you. DC was the common power source in Iraq. It was scary.

Depends on the voltage. I’m told (by people who should know) that 120 volts is plenty to kill you. That hasn’t been my experience. An electrician friend put it this way: 120 can sting, 240 can hurt, you typically only make one mistake with 480 or higher.

I’m always careful to make sure all three blades are out, meter them, and meter the input and output side of all three fuses before sticking my hands in the box, whether changing fuses, starters, wires, or whatever.

quote:

Originally posted by Citadel:
Conversation I recall with an electric guy. AC will hurt you, DC will kill you. DC was the common power source in Iraq. It was scary.

The many people electrocuted by AC might tend to disagree with the electric guy

AC is actually more dangerous than DC, because DC tends to throw you off, whereas AC tends to "grab" you. Witness Q's experience in not being able to let go of the chain.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
Depends on the voltage. I’m told (by people who should know) that 120 volts is plenty to kill you. That hasn’t been my experience. An electrician friend put it this way: 120 can sting, 240 can hurt, you typically only make one mistake with 480 or higher.

That is also not entirely correct. We have a saying in electricity: "Current kills." That's because current = "volume."

Voltage = "pressure." A lot of "pressure" (voltage) with little "volume" (current) may sting, but it won't kill you. E.g.: Static electricity can measure thousands of volts, but it's got no current behind it. Anybody who used to work with CRT's knows what it's like to get hit with the anode voltage. Scary, and stung like a bitch, might even leave a burn, but not likely to kill you unless you had a weak heart.

(N.B.: That anode voltage was DC, too, which is why anybody who came in contact with it had a violent "thrown off" reaction, rather than the errant limb or digit getting "stuck" to it.)

The other side of the equation is the pressure has to be there to overcome the body's resistance, too. E.g.: A 12VDC car battery has essentially unlimited current-supplying capacity. So do Lithium, NiMH, and NiCad batteries. But they have very little voltage (pressure). They don't have enough "pressure" to overcome the body's resistance sufficiently to create enough current flow to be dangerous.

So the final answer is: I takes both voltage and current to kill, but it is the current that kills, not the voltage.

Typical (U.S.) residential 120VAC circuits with 15-20A of current-carrying capacity have more than enough of both. This is why we have GFCIs and you learn early-on not to stick things like knives into electrical outlets

I've been bit by up to 480V before and it fucking sucks.

From an episode of Night Court:

[Bull was just struck by lightning. He is found on the couch, his clothes still smoking]

Harry Stone : Bull!

Bull Shannon : Mind if I smoke?

Christine Sullivan : Doctor, is he all right?

Doctor : That depends. What did he look like before?

Mac Robinson : Just like that.

Doctor : Well, then he's fine. Spooky, but fine.

Harry Stone : Fine? Art said his heart stopped beating.

Doctor : Well yes, for a few minutes he was clinically deceased.

Bull Shannon : But I'm feeling much better now.

Dan Fielding : Really? You look dead on your feet.
[He laughs; glares from everyone]

Dan Fielding : Oh, come on. If we can't laugh at the walking dead, who can we laugh at?

Doctor : It's a miracle he wasn't even hurt. With the voltage he absorbed, it must have been like French-kissing a light socket.

Bull Shannon : No, that feels different.

In reading some of these replies, I’m a little confused.

I could have sworn that standard US household current was 110 volts but it’s now apparently 120 volts? When did that happen?

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
In reading some of these replies, I’m a little confused.

I could have sworn that standard US household current was 110 volts but it’s now apparently 120 volts? When did that happen?

It's nominally 120VAC.

Apparently it last changed in 1984: https://www.quora.com/Is-the-p...40-or-235VAC?share=1

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
In reading some of these replies, I’m a little confused.

I could have sworn that standard US household current was 110 volts but it’s now apparently 120 volts? When did that happen?

It's nominally 120VAC.

Apparently it last changed in 1984: https://www.quora.com/Is-the-p...40-or-235VAC?share=1

My Fluke 115 True-RMS multimeter confirms 120V here in San Diego.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
Depends on the voltage. I’m told (by people who should know) that 120 volts is plenty to kill you. That hasn’t been my experience. An electrician friend put it this way: 120 can sting, 240 can hurt, you typically only make one mistake with 480 or higher.

Depends on how wet you are. 120 can kill, 240 can kill, 480 can kill. Stepping of a treadmill after and hour slog is a bad time to participate in an AC circuit.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

Thank God for that! Glad you’re okay.