Boots are capacitors; did i make that up?

Thread Starter

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
The other day I was talking to my brother who has started a new job as an electrician's helper. He told me "I learned a new thing: rubber soled boots isolate you from the ground so technically you could touch a live wire and the current wouldn't have anywhere to go, so you wouldn't get shocked." I replied with something that I've always "known" to be true, since I can remember: "that is a dangerous misconception. Actually your boot soles are the dielectric layer of a capacitor. Your body is one plate, and the ground is another. AC can flow through a capacitor. You can still get a potentially lethal shock while wearing rubber soles."

I don't know where I heard that, but I've always believed it. We revisited the conversation today and he said he looked it up and couldn't verify my claims. So I went to look it up for him, and I can't find any confirmation of what I said. I'm reading things that say as long as you're wearing the appropriately rated electrical workboots with no holes, you should not get shocked. As well, they talk about lineman's rubber gloves.

I know lineman's gloves work. That should be the same principle. If I can work on high voltage (barefoot) with lineman's gloves then I should be able to work on the same circuit without lineman's gloves, but wearing rubber soles instead, right?

I've worn thick rubber soled boots my whole working career and accidentally brushed live circuits several times. 120v, 240v, 480, all of them shocked me despite the boots. I've been shocked in the past month, by 120v; the boots I'm wearing have rubber soles 3/4" thick.

So what's the deal? Did I make up this capacitor theory and convince myself of it? Is it real? If it's not real then why do I get shocked despite my boots? If it is real, then where can I find documentation of it and why is the internet so quick to contradict me?
 

Thread Starter

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,782
The boots do not help if the current is flowing from one finger to another.
Right. I meant to cover that in the original post.
If you hand is resting on something grounded, boots are out of the picture. I get that. I'm just interested in the scenario where you have one hand in your pocket, not touching anything but the circuit and the ground (via your insulated boots)
 

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,179
I can tell you from experience that while those insulating glove will prevent a shock I could still feel the fuzzy tingle of high voltage. And certainly good insulating boots will reduce the current that you get from a high voltage line a lot, and with a 120 volt system they will prevent shocks, and probably also even with a 480 volt system. But a fiberglass ladder is what I prefer because i do like several feet of insulation. A dry wooden ladder is OK for residential work, and often cheaper.
So yes, the boots are part of a capacitor, but there is still a charge moving in AC circuits. You might not feel it but it is there.
 
From the Indiana Electric Cooperatives

Myth: Rubber gloves and rubber shoes protect you from electricity.

Truth: That’s true only if they are 100 percent pure rubber with no holes or tears (the kind that electrical linemen wear). Typical cleaning gloves and shoes, which are made with rubber mixed with cheaper materials, aren’t going to protect you in an electrical encounter.
 
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