i was taking apart my broken digital camera just to tinker and see how it works and even though i was being careful and thought i had discharged teh cap i still got hit. 330v 140uf and man i felt the power of god surge through me!!!! i dont thin kill be taking a camera apart ever again.....

We used to play capacitor roulette in school. Two wires on a cap, plug it into the wall, unplug and toss it to someone. Sometimes it wasn't charged ... sometimes it was! Hilarity ensued!

Always worth a laugh and two days suspension ...

Another good joke was to tie 100V or so to the metal strip running along the test benches. Oh, was that fun!

Worth another two days suspension.

You have not felt anything until you have had a tv picture tube zap you.
In EE we use to love to charge a cap then yell Hey! to someone and toss it to them. They would of course catch it not thinking.

LOL roulette with a capacitor! that is awesome and a tv tube? thats oldschool stuff right there how many volts do those run? all i can say is if 330v felt that bad i dont want to know what a tazer feels like.

quote Originally posted by TK: We used to play capacitor roulette in school. Two wires on a cap, plug it into the wall, unplug and toss it to someone. Sometimes it wasn't charged ... sometimes it was! Hilarity ensued! Always worth a laugh and two days suspension ... Another good joke was to tie 100V or so to the metal strip running along the test benches. Oh, was that fun! Worth another two days suspension.

It's the sinewave. You can't tell what part of the sinewave you're on when you pull it off the wall plug so you don't know whether it is charged until you short it.

Anode. I was testing different CRTs for a new high res monitor. I didn't completely clip the anode wire in, bumped it and it dropped on my arm. All 30kV. Wow. I had been shocked, stabbed and hit with a hammer all at one time. I did additional damage jerking my hand out of the enclosure.

The worst damage physically was touching 1kV plate supply on a ham radio. That burnt a deep hole into my finger that hurt for days. It wasn't just a shock - it was burning flesh to the bone. My wife could smell it in the other part of the house.

quote Originally posted by Dodgerunner: You have not felt anything until you have had a tv picture tube zap you.

I had that happen, plugged in.
A bolt of lightening exited my hip and struck my Wife who's hands were in dishwater.
If it ever happens to you, when she comes too tell her she slipped.
I told the truth and took a knee to the seedsack.

[This message has been edited by Boondawg (edited 03-17-2012).]

I got blown on my ass by my Cap bank on my tesla coil. Door knob caps hurt....

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: I had that happen, plugged in. A bolt of lightening exited my hip and struck my Wife who's hands were in dishwater. If it ever happens to you, when she comes too tell her she slipped. I told the truth and took a knee to the seedsack.

LOL!

Carol came running in when I had the ham radio "incident" and just gave me the "men" look.

Sadly, I watched a guy smoke himself on a 440v circut. The noise was deafening, and the smell unforgettable. His necklace, a big silver link, connected with a bus bar inside a robotic cell. The chain burnt deep into his neck. He died before he hit the concrete.

I don't wear jewelry when working any longer. That, and BBQs remind me of that day.

Always take your time with electricity.

Tony

i have been hit with a cap that was for a a/c compressor, it was rated for 90 mfd at 440v that hurt and did knock me out for a few

Got hit by the 1500(?) VDC plate supply in a 250 watt UHF Motorola transmitter.

One of my moron co-workers had left the cage off the HV supply, because they had a habit of eating power transformers.
I knew this of course, but was looking for an interference problem, and wasn't even considering the HV section.
It reached out and shook hands.

After it happened, I sat down and smoked a bunch of cigarettes. Said "F___ Motorola. These next 30 minutes are mine, dammit!"

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 03-17-2012).]

Something else you always remember the first time.........

quote Originally posted by Tony Kania: Sadly, I watched a guy smoke himself on a 440v circut. The noise was deafening, and the smell unforgettable. His necklace, a big silver link, connected with a bus bar inside a robotic cell. The chain burnt deep into his neck. He died before he hit the concrete. I don't wear jewelry when working any longer. That, and BBQs remind me of that day. Always take your time with electricity. Tony

My dad got shocked by a 440v 3 phase as well... but luckily it threw him off....

I heard of one guy that slipped a wrench on two battery contacts on a car battery and his ring was touching the wrench... the ring melted all the way to the bone on his finger.

quote Originally posted by 1985FieroGT: My dad got shocked by a 440v 3 phase as well... but luckily it threw him off.... I heard of one guy that slipped a wrench on two battery contacts on a car battery and his ring was touching the wrench... the ring melted all the way to the bone on his finger.

My Father was shocked by 440 to, but luckily he just brushed his forarm across it and it threw him back also. I've been shocked by 110 and 220 but never 440.

Saw a guy hit a cap, and his arm went all the way around like a windmill, as he shouted "Ahhh- Voltage!"

Used to charge caps up to 200 volts and tap them for fun. However, 440 is no fun. Was testing a board that put out 440, and someone had wired it wrong, ground was hot. That is something I never want to do again.

Back when I worked for Slush Puppie, we had this thing called a Stoelting 100F...its an all steel frame, and if it shorts at the compressor the whole thing gets powered......I was working on one, and the boss came into to talk, and without thinking when I stood up, rested my arms on it.....damn near blew me across the room, I sat on my azz PDQ, and for a couple days could feel my heart missing beats.....

Lesson learned, was dont work with elecricity on wet floors in sandles, and when the boss comes into the shop to talk and you are working with something like that, tell him to FO and come back later.

[This message has been edited by MidEngineManiac (edited 03-18-2012).]

I scavenged this huge cap from some equipment that was being thrown out. It was about the size of a mixed drink glass. I hooked two 9v batteries in series and charged it for about 15 seconds then shorted it with a spoon. I had a pretty big charge for a small time it was hooked to the batteries. The spoon didn't do so well as there was a small hole where I touched it to the lead.

I've been shocked a few times, never more than 120V though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xONZcBJh5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoWMF3VkI6U

Yes, but only small ones.

Big ones can injure or even Kill you. By directly shocking you or secondary damage by hitting something else when your muscles contract.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave (It's also at the top and bottom of every forum page...)

Dont try it with an old television...it will knock you thru the wall into the next room.

quote Originally posted by Jake_Dragon: I scavenged this huge cap from some equipment that was being thrown out. It was about the size of a mixed drink glass.

I have a bunch of those from my Bowling machines.
I actually grenaded one of those by wiring it & plugging it into the wall socket.
Went off like a stick of dynamite.

quote Originally posted by Dodgerunner: You have not felt anything until you have had a tv picture tube zap you. In EE we use to love to charge a cap then yell Hey! to someone and toss it to them. They would of course catch it not thinking.

we would hook them to chairs too.

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: I have a bunch of those from my Bowling machines. I actually grenaded one of those by wiring it & plugging it into the wall socket. Went off like a stick of dynamite.

Electrolytics are polarity sensitive. If they are wired backwards (or directly to A-C power) they're likely to explode.

Early eighties, I worked at a Ford dealership.

We used to charge up the capacitor from the distributor, and toss it like a Hot Potato to someone.

Bzzztt ! Yeow ow ow.

quote Originally posted by Raydar: Electrolytics are polarity sensitive. If they are wired backwards (or directly to A-C power) they're likely to explode.

yup, tons of fun

Wors that ever happend to me was when i licked a battery when i was like 3... it sucked..

Tony's post reminded me of an incident that happened in one of my golf course pumping stations. I installed and maintained stations throughout Georgia and Alabama. 440-460V variable speed motors. I had gone to Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga. to do a preventive maintenance call and when opening the service cabinet, found a big burn on the buss bar and the edge of the cabinet where the door closes.

I asked if they had a lightning strike, and the superintendent told me they were having a water fountain installed in the lake cove beside the pumping station. The installer threw the disconnect and pulled his wiring into the cabinet. His intent was to tap the buss bar for his power. Problem was that this was before the disconnect and it was still hot. They said that he had leaned his forearm against the cabinet and as he started to insert the Allen Wrench into the lug, it bit him, burning a big gash in the back of his arm and into the bone and blowing his thumb off his hand.

Two days later he came back, disconnected the transformer console outside the pumping station, and finished the job.

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: Wors that ever happend to me was when i licked a battery when i was like 3... it sucked..

There is a 22V version of the standard 9V battery. The only difference is it's longer. They were used on battery flash units years ago. I buddy tossed me one and asked me to check it. Yep, it was still really good.

When I was in high school (long ago) there was a guy that was one of the brains that got to quit high school the start of his sophomore year and go right to UNL. He was alway building lasers and other electronic stuff at home.
One time he built a Tesla coil that was 7 feet tall which could throw huge arcs. We where playing around with it seeing how long an arch we could get holding a hand saw with the arc jumping to it. When it was my turn I started to back up and had the arc jumping about 3 feet. What I didn't realize was I was backing toward the furnace that was in the basement. Suddenly the arc started jumping from my rear to the furnace as well. The other guys got a big laugh out of that. Didn't hurt just tingled... Wish there where video camera at the time to see that again..