ECN Forum Forums Safety Discussion and News Occupational Safety Discussion What's Your Story, Were You Ever Shocked?

i was about 5 or 6 and was unplugging my race track and zap hand to far back on that big plug.

the one my dad still laughs about is when i decided to rewire my sisters blow dryer to 120v even though it only ran on 2 D batteries. thermal melt down on the bathroom counter nice little pile of plastic burning when dad walked in. we were out of batteries and i was maybe 8 sister was 9 i told her i could fix it no problem.

Got burnt once by a model train track... The train had derailed and I went to retrieve it
(without turning the X-former down) when my metal watch band found some potential... ZAP! Lots of sparks and a blistered wrist for a few days. Didn't get shocked though...



Of course, one can't forget the intentional use of "condensors" (capacitors) in shop class in school... Just charge with a handy spark plug wire (a few pulls on a lawn mower does the trick), and toss to the unsuspecting whilst shouting "think fast"...




[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 08-29-2002).]

Had an Electrician tell me this, my first
thought was thats not to bright, my second
thought was:
"Why in the $#@% would you tell anyone ?"

He was getting ready to check 480v 3 ph
with a wiggy, with one lead on A phase he reach up with the other lead and scratched
his head.

Currently,

Those fences can really sting can't they! Man I was working on a farm when I backed into a fence once. Ouch! did it hurt.

hey guys maybe i can do one better on this.when i was 13 i always wanted to build a jacobs ladder(the thing you see in the old frankestine movies).well i found out about some old neon sign trnsformers at a old run down movie drive inn. asked the owner if i could have them, "sure just don't get hurt with them". no problem!two were in great shape, the third had been in the weather & the case was severly rusted.i decide to check them out,so i sut down on a metal wash tub,not realizing that one of the hi voltage wires is touching. i plug it up & boy do i get a good jolt.needless to say the cord went flying.this was one side of a 15,000 volt neon sign transformer.boy that hurt! not to mention !

Grew up in potato country and did my share of work for farmers that used romex to power conveyer belts without male plugs, just bare wire pushing 220.
They thought it was hilarious to watch someone get zapped (this is with 220 on wet concrete floors!)

As for the barbed wire incident, the field was empty, he had moved his cows in the barn for the winter the week before. Let us just say that that was a mistake I never made again!

I was attracted to the idea of a Jacob's ladder as well. I beat some copper wire as flat as I could, borrowed my cousin's Model T ignition coil, and powered it with my Lionel train transformer (cranked all the way up, natch). Well, the arc just wasn't long enough, only about an inch or so.

Then I chanced on the possesion of a burned out incandesent street light, 'bout eight inches in diameter. I connected one side of the T coil to both contacts on the lamp base, and the other side to a wire wrapped round the widest part of the bulb. When turned on it was GREAT! I called in friends, got around on the other side to show it off, leaned over to adjust the transformer and put my hand in the middle of the loop.

Woke up on the other side of the room.

I understand ¾-volt snout-to-udder will make cows do the hula. Then there's this...nasag's operation electrobarb (Their 1940’s “Sour Cream on the Hoof” project kinda’ backfired.}




[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 08-31-2002).]

I was trying to get a 3 prong plug into a 2 prong receptacle when I was about 14-15, ok maybe i was 16. I need some a/c !! anyway, after that I swore up and down that the white wire was always The hot. we had the 4 circuit edison based fuse panel.(thank GOD no-one jerry rigged them with a penny) I knocked out my moms coffee pot, couple of lamps and maybe even the washer machine.
277v in an emergency lighting fixture, where on is switched and one is always hot. It was supposed to turned off as my Journeyman assured me. Never trust your Journeyman when you are green!
he laughed for long time . It hurts

My son was about two years old when he got his first electric shock. He liked unwinding the christmas lights, crawling through the house with them stretched out behind him. He would plug them in like he saw me do many times, and watch them light up. Well he had his little index finger across both prongs when he plugged them in. He cried a little bit, but he was alright. (personally, it was the proudest day of my life)