Hello.
- Seen demonstrations of persons conducting arcing currents which are not even felt.








[Poor image borrowed from the web -not a video- ] Arcing to finger.

- Seen painful and lethal arcing trough persons capable of killing with no doubt.
What makes them electrically different ?

 

What makes them electrically different ?

The arcs that cause no shock are from a high frequency Tesla Coil.
The high frequency causes the electricity to travel on the surface of the skin and doesn't penetrate to the pain nerves (although a high enough current can cause localized skin burns).

 

The arcs that cause no shock are from a high frequency Tesla Coil.
The high frequency causes the electricity to travel on the surface of the skin and doesn't penetrate to the pain nerves (although a high enough current can cause localized skin burns).

This was used in Quack Medicine over a century ago, when Tesla currents and the competing Oudin currents and D'Asonval currents were considered as healing. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_D'Arsonval_and_Oudin_electrotherapy_circuits.png

 

The dangerous arcs are those where current flows into the body. And even more dangerous ones are where metal vapor is in the arc. Copper vapor from a exploding wire gives an instant painful burn. Commonly called Arc flash. Copper vapor is quite hot,by the way, and it is a good electrical conductor as well.

 

 

That glowing cloud is a mixture of ionized air and coppermetal vapor, about ten thousand degrees F So there is a lot of heat energy all set to do serious damage

 

The dangerous arcs are those where current flows into the body. And even more dangerous ones are where metal vapor is in the arc. Copper vapor from a exploding wire gives an instant painful burn. Commonly called Arc flash. Copper vapor is quite hot,by the way, and it is a good electrical conductor as well.

It's pretty wild how much damage an arc can do without even touching it. My dad a former welder would get radiation burns all the time. Even with shielding, it always found a way to bare skin on his neck because overhead welds etc.

 

My dad a former welder would get radiation burns all the time.

UV burns. Worked for three years in a steel shop. Summer temperatures in the shop were well over 100˚F. Workers would go outside into the heat to cool off because they wore leathers and covered up every part of their bodies. Anything exposed would get "sunburn". That burn was caused by UV light emitted from the welding process. Same UV is present in sunlight.

I weld from time to time and usually don't spend more than 15 minutes exposed to the UV arc. And I usually get a fair burn on my arms and neck. It's not "radiation" it's - um - well, I suppose UV is a form of radiation.

 

This webpage of Arcs and Sparks is a favorite of mine. Some pretty cool images and video. Love the MPEG video of an Arcing 138 kV Substation and Exploding Power Transformer! Also the disconnects with a phase hot.

Ron

 

When I was in fifth grade I was given a used neon sign transformer, 12,000 volts at 36 Ma. It was fun drawing arcs between different things and seeing that different metals produced different colored arcs.
The amazing thing was that I could draw an arc right through plate glass. I had some scraps of quarter inch thick plate glass and I would amaze my friends by drawing an arc through the middle of a piece of it. What I had discovered is that melted glas is not such a good insulator.
And the really good part of this is that neither I nor my friends ever got shocks. We were careful. I think about the high ambient fear level among so many folks today and wonder what they would do if they saw some kid doing things with high voltage like that.

 

And the really good part of this is that neither I nor my friends ever got shocks.

I hear that. Mine was a 15 KV 60 mA from a local neon sign shop. Amazing I never managed to electrocute myself. I have one but lower voltage. 9 KV 30 mA I would not want to get across.





This was used for a project at work and for the love of me I can't recall what the project was but it was a few decades ago. I grabbed it from a dumpster.

Ron

 

They work very well for locating "opens" in a cable. I had an open develop in a hundred foo extension cord, no visible damage at all. So I applied the high voltage at opposite ends of the circuit that was open. The arc burned through at the. plug, so I knew exactly where to fix it. Ot course, I did do this check outside on a concrete driveway.

 

I've shocked myself with 120VAC so many times and am still here. Conclusion? It's safe. So let's all go out and start shocking ourselves with 120VAC and wait to see who doesn't come back.

OK, the moderators are in an uproar over that statement. It's meant to be outrageous and extremely stupid as a suggestion. The fact that I've been shocked a bunch of times and am still here does NOT mean it's safe to do so. Taking a shocking in just the wrong way can result in death. So @MisterBill2 the reason for "the high ambient fear level" is because regardless of the previous outcomes, getting shocked is dangerous. Today I'm lucky to have gotten this far. But that doesn't mean my next shocking will be no worse than any of the previous shocks. It's dangerous for a reason - someone could die.

I've driven my car at 140 plus MPH. So because I'm here today it must be safe. Right?

Sorry Bill, I must take issue with your sentiment.

I think about the high ambient fear level among so many folks today and wonder what they would do if they saw some kid doing things with high voltage like that.

I, too, have played with high voltage. And obviously survived. I can't point to anyone I've known who didn't survive it. But I'm sure people have died from it. Heard a youtube thing about a girl in the bathtub with her cell phone plugged into the charger and dropping the phone in the tub and dying. I don't know if that's true, but if it is - - - . Erring on the side of caution is the reason for the high ambient fear level of so many. Electricity kills. Not always, but it does.

 

Just had to research it. "phone charger and bathtub". Found this:

 

Really a good video. Working an entire career in electronics and plenty of experimenting as a kid including amateur radio I have been bitten my fair share of times. This includes several RF burns modifying WWII surplus radio equipment. I always doubted the cell phone in the bathtub unless the charging unit went into the tub taking mains power along with it. Unless there was a faulty charging unit and no GFCI. Anyway to my thinking if you work with or around electricity long enough there is a good possibility you will experience a shock. Then too, with bathtubs and electricity we will always have James Bond and shocking positively shocking.

Ron

 

I've shocked myself with 120VAC so many times and am still here. Conclusion? It's safe. So let's all go out and start shocking ourselves with 120VAC and wait to see who doesn't come back.

OK, the moderators are in an uproar over that statement. It's meant to be outrageous and extremely stupid as a suggestion. The fact that I've been shocked a bunch of times and am still here does NOT mean it's safe to do so. Taking a shocking in just the wrong way can result in death. So @MisterBill2 the reason for "the high ambient fear level" is because regardless of the previous outcomes, getting shocked is dangerous. Today I'm lucky to have gotten this far. But that doesn't mean my next shocking will be no worse than any of the previous shocks. It's dangerous for a reason - someone could die.

I've driven my car at 140 plus MPH. So because I'm here today it must be safe. Right?

Sorry Bill, I must take issue with your sentiment.

I, too, have played with high voltage. And obviously survived. I can't point to anyone I've known who didn't survive it. But I'm sure people have died from it. Heard a youtube thing about a girl in the bathtub with her cell phone plugged into the charger and dropping the phone in the tub and dying. I don't know if that's true, but if it is - - - . Erring on the side of caution is the reason for the high ambient fear level of so many. Electricity kills. Not always, but it does.

Most people play the 'reverse lottery' as I call it. They do things that are inherently dangerous but since it has not caused them injury yet, they conclude it's unlikely to ever happen through their ongoing complacency.

Of course some of these people will hit the jackpot one day and wind up injured or dead. Having worked in the steel shop I'm guessing you have witnessed this common attitude yourself!

There are smart people and there are smart people who take chances!

 

they conclude it's unlikely to ever happen through their ongoing complacency.

My take is simple, complacency kills.

The most dangerous workplace I have ever experienced was the flight deck of an aircraft carrier during launch and recovery operations the best place to get killed I have ever come across. No room for complacency at all.

Ron

 

My take is simple, complacency kills.

The most dangerous workplace I have ever experienced was the flight deck of an aircraft carrier during launch and recovery operations the best place to get killed I have ever come across. No room for complacency at all.

Ron

A guy was killed in my dad's shop years ago by an I beam. I had often wondered of all the small decisions that led up that happening by everyone involved. Did they use two chain instead of three? Was it a manufacturer defect of some equipment? Was he drunk? Or was it because management was incompetent and allowed unqualified people on site that should have known better?

The point is there are a lot of ways the situation could have gone wrong, and did.

 

We can now resume our regular programming.
Harmless and harmful arcs and sparks.

Ron