# Have you ever been shocked?



## FishinElectrcian

Was testing a water control yesterday, it's been a while since I got a poke. Got careless swapping a noload pumptec control back and forth and touched the capacitor.

Most memorable one was the first one, as an apprentice I touched a 3 way and turned a light on with my hand. It was brown but I felt every hertz in the line. Bugged me for a few days.


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## macmikeman

My biggest shock came when the first time I listened to the Alex Jones radio show.


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## five.five-six

My biggest shock came in 2016 when Trump won the election.


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## flyboy

This thread got me thinking about all the stupid chit I did back in the day that lead to me getting shocked on numerous occasions. I either didn't de-energize the circuit, wasn't wearing PPE or just plain didn't follow proper electrical safety procedures. 

I think I'm going to just pass on the details. It's too embarrassing. :sad:


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## B-Nabs

I received my most memorable shock long before I was even an electrician. I've always loved taking things apart, and one day when I was about 12 I was dismantling a disposable film camera. In the process my finger pushed on the switch for the flash, so the capacitor charged. I didn't notice and continued on my merry way, until I touched the top of the cap and got thrown back by the discharge. 

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## canbug

As an apprentice we were working a reno for K-Mart, remember them. No lockouts and every time we turned a breaker off, some lady would come by behind us and turn it back on. I would get my morning wake up shock every day that summer.


The most memorable one was changing parking lot lights at a mall. 105 ft up, leaning out of the basket, I think I got an open neutral 347V. I felt it go up one arm into my shoulder and down the other arm from the other shoulder. The kid helping me in the basket said "boy did your eyes pop out". At least I jumped back into the basket.


Tim.


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## just the cowboy

*480 corner grounded delta system*

One time when bumping a motor for rotation my finger went from the Ol heater to the coil frame of the starter. Saw stars and had a hole in my finger, yes that was 480v to ground not 277v.


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## catsparky1

480 blew off the tip of my pinky finger once . ONCE . 

Electricity don't fell pain and don't care if you do . Be safe .


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## glen1971

Most memorable one, was when a journeyman I was working with got hipotted while we were working in a reactor cage on a 25,000 hp motor. We had it locked out as per our LOTO. We showed the testing guy which cables needed to be retested, and had them loosened off for him to about 2 threads each. We also flagged the cables he was to test on both ends. He clamped his lead on the crimp lug and began to test, energizing the cable, the motor, the other 5 motor cables, the 6 cables to the reactor, and the reactor itself. 
When my buddy got shocked he said "this f&%king this is hot!". I went inside and asked if there would be a reason it would be hot and the guy doing the test said "Yes, give me a minute to shut it down!". Talking with my buddy afterwards, he said if the guy doing the test would not have been so old, he woulda laid him out for that one once he got out. The guy was about 60ish, and that was his last job on that site.


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## Wirenuting

Most memorable was 120v, 600 cycles on a gun mount. 
The later ones seemed insignificant. 

The stuff is unforgiving.


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## Southeast Power

I remember every 277volt hit.
The first one was as a second-year apprentice from an exit light. 
I was holding a piece of greenfield and pulled a red wire nut out of the box. Someone didn't make a good splice and the hot conductor came out and touched my finger. I fell off of a six-foot ladder into a trash pile.


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## MechanicalDVR

First one I was just a kid. With the guys changing a service on a house and the meter was pulled. My jman was removing the old fuse box and I was changing an old push button switch for the back porch light. Pulled the switch out of the box and when I grabbed it to loosen the conductor screws it bit me. The back porch light was feed from the attached store with a separate service. Nobody believed when I said it was still hot.


Working on control relays in a ceiling, I had pulled the tile out and went up the ladder to open up the relay box. One hand one the box removing the cover and my neck hit the grid and I jumped off the ladder. The grid was hot from the 277v lay ins.


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## LARMGUY

Southeast Power said:


> I remember every 277volt hit.
> The first one was as a second-year apprentice from an exit light.
> I was holding a piece of greenfield and pulled a red wire nut out of the box. Someone didn't make a good splice and the hot conductor came out and touched my finger. I fell off of a six-foot ladder into a trash pile.


Were we working the same building?

I saw a guy do that. Dark shoulder length hair right? You cussed a blue streak too.

I was pulling access control banana cable above the ceiling grid and my arm brushed the grid while I was holding a conduit to stabilize myself. Whoooaaah!

That had to be 277 at least. Yes it did leave a mark.


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## catsparky1

My best hit I ever took .

Remodeling a service center I had to remove the 4 foot fluorescent lights turned off the power and removed them . Well it was like 120 degrees so I turned the power on to run the fans on the ceiling . Unboxed the new lights jumped up on the work bench to hang the first light . Grabbed the mc cable striped it back hung the light and stripped the wires . Now my hot neutral and ground have bare ends hanging out of the light . 

Now my helper ask me what's next . I lay him out on what to demo next . I jump back up on the work bench . Now I'm looking at the spinning fan so I don't get hit by the blades . Well I walked into the hot wire hanging out of the fixture and take 120 right to the head . The hit caused my to yank my head back and the back of my head gets tagged by the fan . The fan made me jerk forward back into the hot wires again . I repeated that process 4 times before I fell on my back on the work bench and then rolled onto the floor . 

My helper is busting up laughing . I told him that's not funny . He says yes yes it is . Bout an hour later I walked up to my helper and said " ok yeah its funny " . Then I went to the store got some beer came back and watched my helper work while I had some beers . 

Love my job good time good times .


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## MechanicalDVR

LARMGUY said:


> Were we working the same building?
> 
> I saw a guy do that. Dark shoulder length hair right? You cussed a blue streak too.
> 
> I was pulling access control banana cable above the ceiling grid and my arm brushed the grid while I was holding a conduit to stabilize myself. Whoooaaah!
> 
> That had to be 277 at least. *Yes it did leave a mark*.



I hear they make color safe bleach for those marks!


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## joe-nwt

Found a crack in the insulation on a live 2.4Kv bus with the back of my hand. Didn't actually touch it but had 7 little tiny burn marks in a row on the back of one finger.

Not the least bit religious but, if there ever was something I would describe as the wrath of God, that would be it.

Not one of my crowning achievements...........:vs_sob:


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## MechanicalDVR

joe-nwt said:


> Found a crack in the insulation on a live 2.4Kv bus with the back of my hand. Didn't actually touch it but had 7 little tiny burn marks in a row on the back of one finger.
> 
> *Not the least bit religious *but, if there ever was something I would describe as the wrath of God, that would be it.
> 
> Not one of my crowning achievements...........:vs_sob:



That didn't give you a little religion?


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## Mack Fisher

Thank you people for your shocking recollections, from time to time I rationalize safety for productivity your threads and helped reinforce my better judgment. 

Webster’s definition of an accident is*: *_1__a_*: *_an *unforeseen* and unplanned event or circumstance_. 
I think it’s clear from your comments that experience has given us more insight so help reduce the *unforeseen* part of the accident scenario,I guess I can do a better job of planning but look out for circumstances they could be a killer. 



Be safe


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## B-Nabs

canbug said:


> As an apprentice we were working a reno for K-Mart, remember them. No lockouts and every time we turned a breaker off, some lady would come by behind us and turn it back on. I would get my morning wake up shock every day that summer.
> 
> 
> The most memorable one was changing parking lot lights at a mall. 105 ft up, leaning out of the basket, I think I got an open neutral 347V. I felt it go up one arm into my shoulder and down the other arm from the other shoulder. The kid helping me in the basket said "boy did your eyes pop out". At least I jumped back into the basket.
> 
> 
> Tim.


And after the first time someone didn't think to bring in some lockouts? Or lock the panel door? Not even a hokey piece of tape with "do not energize" written on it? 

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## five.five-six

Oh, electric shock...


24 years ago, working in a supermarket remodel on a lighting circuit above the T-bar. Up a 10’ ladder. 

I turned off all the breakers listed on the J-box and the NC tester agreed. 


Got hit 277 from my hand to the inside of my bicep (same arm) where it brushed up against the grid. 

Felt like I had been hit with a baseball bat. 


I will never forget that.


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## canbug

Looking back, it was in 1986, removing the wire from the breaker may have been the best solution.


Tim


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## 99cents

I started as an apprentice yanking wire in cheap condos. At finishing time, I got hit from hand to hand working on a live receptacle. It threw me across a bedroom. Don’t let anybody tell you, “It’s only 120V”.


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## canbug

I bet you were"100cents" before that shock.:vs_laugh:


Tim.


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## MechanicalDVR

five.five-six said:


> Oh, electric shock...
> 
> 
> 24 years ago, working in a supermarket remodel on a lighting circuit above the T-bar. Up a 10’ ladder.
> 
> I turned off all the breakers listed on the J-box and the NC tester agreed.
> 
> 
> Got hit 277 from my hand to the inside of my bicep (same arm) where it brushed up against the grid.
> 
> Felt like I had been hit with a baseball bat.
> 
> 
> I will never forget that.



At least it didn't knock you off the ladder.


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## just the cowboy

Wirenuting said:


> Most memorable was 120v, 600 cycles on a gun mount.
> The later ones seemed insignificant.
> 
> The stuff is unforgiving.


I know 400hz on ships. Did not know of 600 Hz. 

Why do they use them frequency anyway. My guess is better DC conversion in the old days. 

Cowboy


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## canbug

Airplanes use 400Hz also. The components get smaller.


Tim


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## emtnut

I wasn't only shocked, I was electrocuted :surprise:

That hurt


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## B-Nabs

emtnut said:


> I wasn't only shocked, I was electrocuted :surprise:
> 
> That hurt


So, you're a g-g-g-ghost?!? 

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## nrp3

The few times I worked at BAE, they had 400hz panels for the labs.


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## just the cowboy

canbug said:


> Airplanes use 400Hz also. The components get smaller.
> 
> 
> Tim


Odd it would seem higher frequency would be more heat bigger components


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## MechanicalDVR

just the cowboy said:


> Odd it would seem higher frequency would be more heat bigger components



Never gave that a lot of thought but you' think it's true.


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## Wirenuting

just the cowboy said:


> I know 400hz on ships. Did not know of 600 Hz.
> 
> Why do they use them frequency anyway. My guess is better DC conversion in the old days.
> 
> Cowboy



I typed it wrong. 
It was 400hz.... Synco/servo’s for train and elevation. 

I was lucky and only brushed it... it was “officially” deenergized... 
Yup, never trusted anyone after that day. I was lucky.


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## MechanicalDVR

Wirenuting said:


> I typed it wrong.
> It was 400hz.... Synco/servo’s for train and elevation.
> 
> I was lucky and only brushed it... it was “officially” deenergized...
> Yup, *never trusted anyone after that day.* I was lucky.



I learned that lesson long ago!


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## wcord

B-Nabs said:


> I received my most memorable shock long before I was even an electrician. I've always loved taking things apart, and one day when I was about 12 I was dismantling a disposable film camera. In the process my finger pushed on the switch for the flash, so the capacitor charged. I didn't notice and continued on my merry way, until I touched the top of the cap and got thrown back by the discharge.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk



In auto shops we would charge up the distributor capacitor and throw it to someone. Decent shock when they caught it.



canbug said:


> As an apprentice we were working a reno for K-Mart, remember them. No lockouts and every time we turned a breaker off, some lady would come by behind us and turn it back on. I would get my morning wake up shock every day that summer.
> im.



As a second year, doing a 600v motor replacement and the plant manager starts telling my JM about another motor which was dead, walks over and turns on the unit I was working on. With all 3 split bolts in the palm of my hand , they heard me yell. I came roaring into the control room, with the manager hot footing out the other door. JM grabs me because i was going to kill the guy.



Southeast Power said:


> I remember every 277volt hit.
> The first one was as a second-year apprentice from an exit light.
> I was holding a piece of greenfield and pulled a red wire nut out of the box. Someone didn't make a good splice and the hot conductor came out and touched my finger. I fell off of a six-foot ladder into a trash pile.


Too many times that has happened. Really fn hurts on 347



catsparky1 said:


> My best hit I ever took .
> 
> Remodeling a service center I had to remove the 4 foot fluorescent lights turned off the power and removed them . Well it was like 120 degrees so I turned the power on to run the fans on the ceiling . Unboxed the new lights jumped up on the work bench to hang the first light . Grabbed the mc cable striped it back hung the light and stripped the wires . Now my hot neutral and ground have bare ends hanging out of the light .
> 
> Now my helper ask me what's next . I lay him out on what to demo next . I jump back up on the work bench . Now I'm looking at the spinning fan so I don't get hit by the blades . Well I walked into the hot wire hanging out of the fixture and take 120 right to the head . The hit caused my to yank my head back and the back of my head gets tagged by the fan . The fan made me jerk forward back into the hot wires again . I repeated that process 4 times before I fell on my back on the work bench and then rolled onto the floor .
> 
> My helper is busting up laughing . I told him that's not funny . He says yes yes it is . Bout an hour later I walked up to my helper and said " ok yeah its funny " . Then I went to the store got some beer came back and watched my helper work while I had some beers .
> 
> Love my job good time good times .


Sorry for laughing, but guys would have paid to watch that.

However, similar situation for me.
We had removed some fixtures and the open splices were hanging out of the ceiling boxes. I wasn't thinking and while climbing the ladder, reached up and grabbed hold of the conduit run to steady myself. Took one more step up and touched the hot wire dead center of my head:vs_mad:. Literally saw stars on that hit


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## gpop

Worst shock i have received was using a plasma cutter with a high freq arc start. That hit like a stun gun and i face planted the floor. 

Funniest shock was the new guy i was working with. Operator complained of a poke so we went over the area to find the cause. 
I dragged my meter over everything in the area and found a pvc coated ridgid that was 277v to ground. Told the new guy that i had found it and that we needed to shut the lights down and fix the problem.
He told me that was impossible and the operator was just making crap up. You can not get shocked of a pvc coated pipe. I tried to explain that you can get poked of a pvc pipe if its wet so a pvc coated could shock you. He called bull and grabbed the pipe then like a smart arse and said "see i told you that you cant get shocked" .

Now i could have explained to him that he was standing on a fiberglass ladder and had no ground path but his attitude needed to be adjusted so i told him if he was that smart to touch the metal screw case with his other hand if he didn't believe my meter.

His nickname after that day was "pissy pants". Worked with the guy for year after and he was one of the safest guys i have ever worked with. He locked and checked everything after that day.


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## Ink&Brass

I've had a couple of brushes against 347V hots that tickled pretty good, a couple of hot-hot 240V, a couple of 120V hot-neutrals.

I think the worst I got was from replacing the first wall sconce in a circuit in a row of 30-ish CFL-bulbed apartment hallway lights. Neutral splice fell apart and bridged across my hand, so I got the return path current of 10ish amps of lights through my fingers. That hurt something fierce.

Unless a circuit is mission critical, I just turn it off now for device replacement. It was a thrill as an apprentice to work live, but after a couple years now as a journeyman, it just aggravates me now.


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## Rora

My very first experience with "the concept of electrical safety" was when I was 12 working a paper route to make money. I found out one of my customers was looking to pay someone to mow her lawn and took the opportunity. Thing is, she had an electric mower... maybe you can already see where this is going.

So yes, I did eventually run over the cord. Naturally, my immediate reaction was to say "oh no!" and pick up the mangled end... at least I can say I didn't hold on to it for long! Dad was my ride home and saw the whole thing. :vs_laugh:


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## Kevin

There are a few of these that I remember. 

1) I was around 6 or 7 and my mom took me to mc Donalds. She's ordering food and little me is busy touching stuff. They had an overhang on the counter and they had either t-8 or t-12 lights installed under there. Well my finger found a tombstone with no paper cover in the terminals. That really hurt 

2) about 9 years ago (+/- 1 or 2) I was tasked with installing a valance light. Asked my dad to test for power because I didn't have a non-contact tester. He said use your DMM. as I was stripping the wires, I found out the switch was on the hard way... power went in one hand,up my arm, across my chest, down my other arm, and out my other hand. I was hooked on that for what felt like eternity, but was probably only 20 to 30 seconds. As soon as it happened, my whole body tensed up. I stood there for a couple seconds trying to figure out what to do. Ended up yelling "Shut the power off!" Several times until someone did. My dad felt pretty bad after that... next day he got me a non-contact (not that you should trust them but that's a separate issue).

3) we had a customer call us at 3 pm one day. He was cutting down a tree and took down the service on his neighbours house (in-laws or his parents, I can't remember which). Hydro showed up and cut the power and said There, fix it. We decided to run a teck cable from his house to the one with no power. All went well until I was installing the breaker. Went to put the breaker in, and had forgot to turn It off (why we didn't shut off the main, I cannot remember). Well with one finger on each lug on the breaker, that gave me 240 volts through 2 fingers. 

4) was trimming out a job last summer. I had most of the circuits off, and the condo was empty. I guess when my dad was doing joints he had accidentally hooked up a wire that was going to a new outlet. Well when I went to pull the wires out to put the receptacle on, the wire shorted to the plaster ring. Oddly enough, the breaker didn't trip... it shorted until it melted clear. I didn't get shocked but got a burn from the molten copper. 5 minutes later I was on my way to the supply house. Because I couldn't find my non-contact tester (which I still haven't found to this day) I bought a new fluke brand one (10/10 I would reccomend it even though it's 50$.). I ended up replacing all the breakers in the panel because there were a few that never tripped during construction (with a very heavy load sometimes.)

Those last 3 are the first and last times ice had those things happen. I'm a LOT more cautious now and days. I will double and triple check before touching.

I've never had a run in with 347/600, as I'm paranoid about that voltage. My dad's friend has no hair because of that voltage... apperently a disconnect blew up in his face.

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## gpop

Rora said:


> My very first experience with "the concept of electrical safety" was when I was 12 working a paper route to make money. I found out one of my customers was looking to pay someone to mow her lawn and took the opportunity. Thing is, she had an electric mower... maybe you can already see where this is going.
> 
> So yes, I did eventually run over the cord. Naturally, my immediate reaction was to say "oh no!" and pick up the mangled end... at least I can say I didn't hold on to it for long! Dad was my ride home and saw the whole thing. :vs_laugh:


My first shock was taking a old 110 camera to pieces when the film got jammed. I was only 9 or 10 and it had a warning sticker saying danger high voltage which i though was weird as it only took 2 batteries. 

Turns out the cap for the flash hurts like hell.


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## VELOCI3

glen1971 said:


> Most memorable one, was when a journeyman I was working with got hipotted while we were working in a reactor cage on a 25,000 hp motor. We had it locked out as per our LOTO. We showed the testing guy which cables needed to be retested, and had them loosened off for him to about 2 threads each. We also flagged the cables he was to test on both ends. He clamped his lead on the crimp lug and began to test, energizing the cable, the motor, the other 5 motor cables, the 6 cables to the reactor, and the reactor itself.
> When my buddy got shocked he said "this f&%king this is hot!". I went inside and asked if there would be a reason it would be hot and the guy doing the test said "Yes, give me a minute to shut it down!". Talking with my buddy afterwards, he said if the guy doing the test would not have been so old, he woulda laid him out for that one once he got out. The guy was about 60ish, and that was his last job on that site.


You had me at 25,000 Hp motor


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## Going_Commando

120v hits aren't usually memorable. 277 definitely are.


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## frankendodge

Haven't taken anything over 240v since getting into the trade. That's was a mislabeled range plug in a very old apartment block very early on. Hurt like hell. I'm a lot more careful to meter things out since then.

I worked with a surly old resi guy years ago that would lick his fingers and pinch the hot wire on a 120v line to see if it was live. Not sure if he's still around..

My worst hit ever was at 12 years old. I was into hobby electronics and computers as a kid. My dad picked up a lot of surplus computer monitors at an auction. Some of them could be "saved" by adjusting the trim pots for hold and sync circuits.. done live with a screwdriver of course!

While stabbing around the back of the biggest monitor yet, I shorted out the flyback circuit. 125kv charge up my left arm. Luckily I was relatively ungrounded so most of the current blew out the driver circuit, killing it instead of me. My arm was completely limp for 4 hours and the pain when the feeling came back was unreal for a good day.
Didn't tinker with CRTs again after that.


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## VELOCI3

IBM demoing perimeter offices. Two 2x4 lights. Turned the switch off and put some (lock out/tag out scotch 33) on the switch. Sitting on the top step of a 10’ ladder I pulled the first duplex whip out of the back of the first fixture. As I was sliding the locknut over the wires I got 277 from a hot phase across my chest back through my other hand grounded to the cable jacket. Landed on the floor below on my feet. Felt like a train hit me as every last ounce of air was instantly squeezed from my lugs as all my chest muscles violently contracted. 

Was the last office out of 30 I did the same way. Turned out to be a switched neutral. 

Roof crawl space in the heat of summer soaked with sweat. Holy **** even though the shock should’ve just been through my hand and lower arm, it felt like it was everywhere. 120v. 


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## em158

frankendodge said:


> Haven't taken anything over 240v since getting into the trade. That's was a mislabeled range plug in a very old apartment block very early on. Hurt like hell. I'm a lot more careful to meter things out since then.
> 
> I worked with a surly old resi guy years ago that would lick his fingers and pinch the hot wire on a 120v line to see if it was live. Not sure if he's still around..
> 
> My worst hit ever was at 12 years old. I was into hobby electronics and computers as a kid. My dad picked up a lot of surplus computer monitors at an auction. Some of them could be "saved" by adjusting the trim pots for hold and sync circuits.. done live with a screwdriver of course!
> 
> While stabbing around the back of the biggest monitor yet, I shorted out the flyback circuit. 125kv charge up my left arm. Luckily I was relatively ungrounded so most of the current blew out the driver circuit, killing it instead of me. My arm was completely limp for 4 hours and the pain when the feeling came back was unreal for a good day.
> Didn't tinker with CRTs again after that.


How did you measure the "125KV"?


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## joe-nwt

Should be 12*.*5Kv


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## gpop

Us older guys judge a poke by whether you can taste your fillings. I wonder how the youngsters judge it.


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## jbfan

2 memorable ones.
The first one was when I work on arcade video games and pin ball machines.
The arcade had mirrored columns, and i was reaching around the machine to adjust the color and layed my forearm across the back of the screen, It caused my arm to go numb, and I sat down on the skee ball machine to see if anyone saw me.

The second time was when I first started in the trade. I worked in a cotton mill, and some of the older equipment had blowers that ran along an open buss to blow off the fuzz. There were 3 of us in the room, the operator and another guy helping with the motor. We had turned off the blower and were sitting close to the buss working overhead to take the motor from the exhaust fan. We were both coming down the ladder with the motor in our arms when I felt these strange sensations. I couldn't let go of the motor and couldn't move. The operator had turned on the blower. 

I can't believe I never dropped the motor.


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## dronai

jbfan said:


> 2 memorable ones.
> The first one was when I work on arcade video games and pin ball machines.
> The arcade had mirrored columns, and i was reaching around the machine to adjust the color and layed my forearm across the back of the screen, It caused my arm to go numb, and I sat down on the skee ball machine to see if anyone saw me.
> 
> The second time was when I first started in the trade. I worked in a cotton mill, and some of the older equipment had blowers that ran along an open buss to blow off the fuzz. There were 3 of us in the room, the operator and another guy helping with the motor. *We had turned off the blower* and were sitting close to the buss working overhead to take the motor from the exhaust fan. We were both coming down the ladder with the motor in our arms when I felt these strange sensations. I couldn't let go of the motor and couldn't move. The operator had turned on the blower.
> 
> I can't believe I never dropped the motor.


No LOTO in those days ?


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## jbfan

dronai said:


> No LOTO in those days ?


Never heard of it back then This was in 1987.


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## Willie B

Yes.


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## CoolWill

My wife told me she is pregnant this morning. I was shocked because my crotch was blown off in Fallujah in 2005.:surprise:


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## JoeSparky

I got the biggest shock of my life on November 9, 2016. 














When Donald Trump got elected:devil3:


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## Willie B

Willie B said:


> Yes.


Been shocked more than is appropriate. I'm a bit embarrassed at the numbers. 100% my fault being careless. Once I was young. Young people are invincible, even immortal!

There was a time death didn't frighten me. These days death still doesn't frighten me, but i'd like to postpone it. 

I've worked more connections live than I should.

Testing happens live in the interest of finding the problem. You are correct, I shouldn't have.

25 years ago we had a major spring storm. Power lines were off everywhere near. An isolated farm was out. Nearest neighbor, a mile away was out. Everybody downstream was out. I cut both transformer end conductors, then the center tap. It being bare, me being immortal, I did it bare handed. My big concern was ACSR ruining my cutters. I could not let go!!! My brain was in full alarm! I consciously told my hands to release, They did not respond! I stood there, I'm not sure how long, TOO LONG! I couldn't let go! Eventually, I backed up far enough to trip over something. Falling backward, one cable pulled out of my hand. 

I had sore forearm muscles several days, and a new attitude.


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## dronai

Willie B said:


> Been shocked more than is appropriate. I'm a bit embarrassed at the numbers. 100% my fault being careless. Once I was young. Young people are invincible, even immortal!
> 
> There was a time death didn't frighten me. These days death still doesn't frighten me, but i'd like to postpone it.
> 
> I've worked more connections live than I should.
> 
> Testing happens live in the interest of finding the problem. You are correct, I shouldn't have.
> 
> 25 years ago we had a major spring storm. Power lines were off everywhere near. An isolated farm was out. Nearest neighbor, a mile away was out. Everybody downstream was out. I cut both transformer end conductors, then the center tap. It being bare, me being immortal, I did it bare handed. My big concern was ACSR ruining my cutters. I could not let go!!! My brain was in full alarm! I consciously told my hands to release, They did not respond! I stood there, I'm not sure how long, TOO LONG! I couldn't let go! Eventually, I backed up far enough to trip over something. Falling backward, one cable pulled out of my hand.
> 
> I had sore forearm muscles several days, and a new attitude.


You were also a fireman back in the day I recall ?


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## John Valdes

When I was a kid I stuck a metal knife into a toaster cause the bread was stuck.


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## LARMGUY

dronai said:


> You were also a fireman back in the day I recall ?


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## Willie B

dronai said:


> You were also a fireman back in the day I recall ?


?????? I feel excluded. Could you let me in on the joke?


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## JoeSparky

LARMGUY said:


>


Either he really isn't the chicken man or he's playing Syphilis games


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## Willie B

If I've done something to offend you I apologize. If I haven't, and you are just crazy, go away.


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## 460 Delta

Willie B said:


> If I've done something to offend you I apologize. If I haven't, and you are just crazy, go away.


There was another member here from Vermont who was quite opinionated and he has resurfaced a few times, I don't think you are him. Some others here are apparently still undecided.


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## LARMGUY

460 Delta said:


> There was another member here from Vermont who was quite opinionated and he has resurfaced a few times, I don't think you are him. Some others here are apparently still undecided.


Not me. He doesn't have the prose. :vs_laugh:


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## B-Nabs

Willie B doesn't write in Chicken Steve's style, not even close. And I don't think that's something he could hide for this long. 

Sent from my SM-G975W using Tapatalk


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## Willie B

Sorry to disappoint. I've never been anybody but me. I'd bet 90% of people are opinionated.


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## 99cents

Willie B said:


> Sorry to disappoint. I've never been anybody but me. I'd bet 90% of people are opinionated.


That’s your opinion.


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## Wirenuting

Willie B said:


> Sorry to disappoint. I've never been anybody but me. I'd bet 90% of people are opinionated.


Hmmm, do you raise chickens on the side? lain:


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## dronai

Willie B said:


> If I've done something to offend you I apologize. If I haven't, and you are just crazy, go away.


If I have you mixed up with a former member, I apologize, but he was a cool guy


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## Willie B

I'm not very cool, but my dog loves me, my wife loves me, and my neighbor, I hated 59 years ago (now he has MS) called me at 2:00 AM this morning because he fell out of his wheelchair. 

I serve a purpose. That's my claim to fame. Pretty boring huh?


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## Willie B

Wirenuting said:


> Hmmm, do you raise chickens on the side? lain:


Nope. My family had a very choice farm in 1941. My father was likely to succeed in ownership. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December. My grandfather died unexpectedly in January, on my father's 20th birthday. Days later, he was drafted. In two months time the family went from farmers to aircraft mechanic. 

I've always envied farmers. I once spent much of my work hours working for farmers. I feel very at home on a farm. I see it as a misdirected fate. No, the only chicken I've ever owned was on a Styrofoam tray, with somebody's soiled maxi pad, wrapped in plastic.


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## Willie B

Double Post


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## Willie B

Yes, I've been a volunteer fireman since age 16. At 63, I stand back and let younger men be the heroes. My son, I am profoundly proud of is among the 4 most prominent firefighters in our rural department. Me, I'm in a more second string support capacity. 

I will mention that I received a desperate phone call a few months ago. 10 firemen were trying to spread roofing underlayment on an addition to the firehouse. My son couldn't do it alone, the wind was blowing, and 9 self described "heroes" wouldn't get on the roof. Seth & I were the only ones willing to walk the roof.


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## dronai

dronai said:


> *You were also a fireman back in the day I recall* ?





Willie B said:


> *Yes, I've been a volunteer fireman since age 16. At 63, I stand back and let younger men be the heroes.* My son, I am profoundly proud of is among the 4 most prominent firefighters in our rural department. Me, I'm in a more second string support capacity.
> 
> I will mention that I received a desperate phone call a few months ago. 10 firemen were trying to spread roofing underlayment on an addition to the firehouse. My son couldn't do it alone, the wind was blowing, and 9 self described "heroes" wouldn't get on the roof. Seth & I were the only ones willing to walk the roof.


:vs_cocktail:


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## VELOCI3

richardwilson2905 said:


> While I was ironing my clothes in the morning, I got an electric shock from the iron box in between. My hands started shivering, and everyone in my house came running to the room where we do the ironing. When I returned to normal after a few hours, we contacted a company that does electrical services here in Toronto https://www.hi-liteelectricinc.ca/emergency-repair/. They arrived within an hour and began to examine this problem. After thorough checking, they told us there is an issue with the wiring system and needs repair. We liked their services very much as they were so accommodating in getting it repaired within two days. Do suggest some precautions that everyone should follow to prevent electric shocks in the future?



It’s probably because they wired the house in Teck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## joe-nwt

VELOCI3 said:


> It’s probably because they wired the house in Teck
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


You sound so jealous when you say it like that.


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## Quickservice

five.five-six said:


> My biggest shock came in 2016 when Trump won the election.


Was that a good shock or a bad one? Just curious.


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## Quickservice

Was young, green, and stupid.... Used an aluminum ladder which did not have rubber feet, on a damp basement floor to work on a hot 240 volt circuit. You probably have already guessed the rest of this sad episode... yes I got into both phases with the back of my hand. Very lucky it didn't kill me. There have been skeptics who didn't believe me when I told them that I could taste the filling in my mouth for several hours.


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