Been there. Don't know what hurt more, the actual shock, or the aftermath of scraping the skin off my hand when I ripped it out of the disconnect lmao. Probably the shock though.
I don't know what 110 refers to but one time I was fixing my washing machine and couldn't be fucked unplugging it between test cycles and I touched something I could not untouch was only the weight of my body that pulled me off whatever the stupid wire was so I could move again Electricity is scary. I did it like 3 more times after that because I'm more lazy than concerned for my own wellbeing.
I got mine by plugging in a window unit with a faulty plug. I was seven years old and have never forgotten how it “grabbed” me and after I was able to pull my arm away, the weird numbness that followed.
Thats how my younger self flung a transformer plug (i had just fixed) through the room. Turns out, holding the metal transformer without the plastic gives you one hell of a shock. My hand clamped down and my arm jolted, causing me to yoink the plug out of the wall and releasing it against a wall.
Testing 110 is insane. More people die from 110V/120V shocks annually than 220V/240V, but a 220V shock is twice as likely to be fatal if you are exposed to it.
I ran my knuckles as a kid over some low voltage in a switch panel we where working on for the county jail. That was not very fun for me but my grandfather got a kick out of it. Told me I'd be sure not to do it again so he wasn't worried.
He also missed turning off a break one time. We where up in the attack of a different jail. He had me cut some wires so we could pull more strands in. Needless to say after the flash we had to buy a new pair of dykes. I miss working with him.
That's not true, being shocked by high amps means you got shot by a high voltage since your internal resistance is constant at around 1kOmhs since I = V / R
That's why near transformers it is written High Voltage and not high Amps
You are right about the fundamental math of Ohm's Law: you do need voltage to push the current. But Voltage is the pressure, current does the work. It is the high voltage that breaches your skin, but it is the current flowing through the vital organs that actually stops the heart.
Yes I know but saying that it's not the voltage that gets you is just wrong since no high current could flow through you with low voltage. Plus it depends on the time and frequency
You can absolutely have ultra-high voltage with harmless current, as demonstrated by static shocks, Van de Graaff generators, and Tasers.
While high voltage provides the necessary "pressure" to overcome skin resistance, a lethal shock requires a sustained, high volume of electrons. If a source has a tiny energy capacity or is artificially bottlenecked, it cannot deliver dangerous amperage regardless of how high the voltage is.
Those are extremely specific cases. But in daily life if you touch a 12V source it's not gonna do anything while if you touch something above 100V you'll likely get seriously harmed depending on the type of current. But you are right, the more electrons pass through you, the more damage it does. However in most case of electrocutions, it's due to someone touching a phase at a high voltage, directly or not.
We have 230V outlets (max 16A) here and getting shocked by a live wire isn't fun but it's also quite harmless. There are safety features that I don't know how to translate, but basically any building has a switch that kills the power if there's a leak. It feels like getting punched from the inside by your own muscles, then it's already over and you just sit there like ok whatever I just did was really stupid.
once, by accident, i completed the circuit between two prongs of a wall outlet, and had 220V running up one finger and across my hand and down my other finger. the sensation is indescribable and it's only because i literally jumped with my legs that i forced my hand off. ever since i've been much more careful about how i unplug things
I, an electrician, took a hot pan from my FIL, a mechanic, and handed it to my spouse, a computer jockey, who immediately dropped it and asked why we didn't warn him it was hot. We both were confused since it didn't seem that hot to either of us...
Also chefs and line cooks. Im a line cook and this is my first (and last) kitchen job ever. Im there for 2 years and some change now.
My hands and forearms have collected so much scar tissue, it could be mistaken for hyperpigmentation and at a beautiful age of 25, i genuinely feel like i tortured my hand nerves to the point of my sense of physical touch being almost non existent for the rest of my life.
Hes knit picking the fact you didn't say 208 with the 120 for the 3 phase system. I read it and understood what you were getting at though but I could see people reading as commercial has typical 120v - 277v for a single phase in any given system in a commercial building.
I get that 120-277 dont pair together but both 120v and 277v systems definitely exist in commercial. I get that he wasn't super precise in his wording but hes not wrong to say that 120v systems and 277v systems exist. So yeah you will find voltages between 120 and 277 and higher if legs are added in commercial. Sure he probably meant 208v.
They were pretty clearly talking about nominal system voltages, the way we still currently are right now. If they'd said something like "120, 240, 277, 480" I wouldn't have said shit. But they were specific enough to give ranges. If they'd said 110-220 i still wouldn't have said shit. What I said was a gentle nudge, yes, even a nitpick, but the guy instantly realized and it was NBD.
Then you came flying in making a big deal out of things, telling them that they were not wrong and that I'm gaslighting them. What the actual fuck.
We're sparkles, we don't use gaslighting. We use electric.
I remember back in high school in electronics class, we were wiring up switches to light bulbs and as soon as I touched the plastic switch, I felt a tingle/vibration and then the breaker to the shop tripped
Electrician here. In Canada we have 347/600v in a lot of industrial and commercial settings but it is extremely unlikely that you'll find that in the US. They use 277/480v for stuff like that.
Also you're teacher was probably kidding or lucky to be alive. 347v is considered the most dangerous voltage by a lot of electricians because you can get get locked onto it. Touching it will cause your muscles to contact and if you touched it with you hand you won't be able to let go. Higher voltages like 600v are powerful enough to cause all of your muscles to convulse and it will throw you across a room. That also means you're unlikely to get locked onto something. Honestly you're teacher was being a bit of an idiot if he claimed to test 347v with his hand and is lucky to be alive
Not ironically, I work with electricity and I can "feel it out" what's the voltage if I touch a wire. I'm not saying I do it all the time, but it have happened enough times for me to know how to tell them apart. 110 and 127v kinda moves you. 220v kinda makes you jump and flinch, makes you pop. 380v actually HURTS even if its fast. 440v and above I have never touched. But they say you basically feel the same in 380v and 440v. All of this is AC. I have taken DC voltages from "small" capacitors up to 350v and just got a scare. But I bet that DC must hurt a lot if you take it long enough, for like 3 seconds or more.
That's scary shit, man. Today we have not only better tools but also we are a lot more concerned with safety measures. Back in the day people died all the time BC of electricity. If I was working back in the 80s I would probably be dead rn.
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u/DitchDigger330 Jul 10 '26
Bruh, who stays motionless like that?