quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

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.

Hurt, sting... (?)

More people die from 120 volts AC than from any of the other voltages.
120 will grab your ass and you can't let go. As it makes your muscles contract.

240 is just two legs of 120 volts.

Higher voltages will blow you away. Problem is, is what it blows off your body in the process (fingers/hands/arms/etc).

AC will not only cook your insides, but can mess up your heart rhythm. If beating out of rhythm (pumping blood with-in the heart instead of throughout your body) and before you know it, organs start shutting down until you are died.
That's why they put your ass in the ICU and monitor your heart for 24-48 hrs.

Been there and done that... on 120 volts AC, so this is first hand experience!
It is a complete fluke that I'm alive today to be able to post this information.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

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

110/220 or 120/240

It is actually 120/240

Generic terms...
It's like people calling R12 refrigerant 'freon'. Or for that matter, all refrigerants 'freon'.

Voltages will fluctuate due to load conditions on the system. If you look at the specs for a piece of equipment, it'll list an acceptable range (108-128 volts).

*As a note, lower voltages equate to higher bills.
Low voltages will also shorten equipment life.

Yeah my understanding having worked around it all and seen the end results is that 120vac locks you up and you cannot let go. 240/480 3 phase a lot of times just blows body parts off.

Was taught by my dad at the age of 14 to always slap anything electrical with the back of your hand first before touching or throwing and switches or hitting any resets. He used to "LET" me wade through knee high water to shut off pumping units when it would flash flood. The units would often still be running but were shut down to save them incase the flooding got deeper the the electrical panels or water got where it didn't need to be and blowed everything up...

120vac will cook you though. Worked with a guy who was working on 120vac control voltage for a 480 3 phase grinder pump. While we well trained and and used lockout/tagout it was almost impossible to lockout the 120vac control voltage because it would have shut down the control voltage for a whole panel of 240/480 3 phase. So instead of shutting a good portion of the plants operation and not providing enough people to stand guard while he performed his work a worker who wasn't aware that there was someone working on the issue saw that the switch was turned off and not tagged or locked out and didn't bother to check with anyone or look at the area he just flipped the switch and hit the reset while said co-worker was troubleshooting the control circuit and well he was charcoal black before he was found, was a very sad day.

Worked in the field for a very large fiberglass tank mfg and one of the plant employees was moving a 300Bbl fiberglass tank with a tank hoist on a concrete foundation and rolled the hoist into the plants main power supply. He lived but it blew his arms and legs off.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
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.

So funny, V-Tail! Why am I reminded of “Lurch” (of the Addams family)?