Just had a full blown mains shock!

Gassage

So, we have hot water issues. it seems our Hive do-dah isn't triggering the boiler.

And, the immersion heater was not great in any case, so Lee, the plumber came around today.

He couldn't fix it immediately, so he showed me how to reset the trip on the immersion heater in the tank.

He forgot to tell me to switch the mains off, so I reset it and promptly got a full on shock from the tank contacts at the top.

I was utterly shell shocked, like literally, and tried to explain to Alistair what had happened to which he replied

"Yes, but have we got any hot water now?"

I'm speechless!

stickyfiddle

Are the amps ok?!  

(srsly tho, glad your'e not dead!)

Gassage

stickyfiddle said:

Are the amps ok?!  

(srsly tho, glad your'e not dead!)

Don't worry about me....

Alistair knows where the Classifieds section is and has a spreadsheet of prices.

Bridgehouse

Gassage said:

I'm speechless!

I was with you until you said that....

gringopig

.

Gassage

gringopig said:

Pah mains shocks are nothing! Fiddle around in a valve amp and get 450 volts DC disharging through your chest arm to arm!

That's a real man's electric shock!

OK, give me a mo and I'll try it again.

ourmaninthenorth

Some people pay good money for this sort of thing....

ICBM

 A few more of those and you'll have hair like mine... that sticks out randomly in all directions.



Glad you're not dead. That can be one of the results of mains shocks, especially if another part of you is in contact with a good earth - like a copper water tank.

On a slightly more serious note, now you will know that when someone says "I want the old US mains cable and the grounding cap left in my vintage amp for originality, I don't want a new cable fitted" they simply aren't aware of the possible consequences...

Gassage

ICBM said:

 A few more of those and you'll have hair like mine... that sticks out randomly in all directions.



Glad you're not dead. That can be one of the results of mains shocks, especially if another part of you is in contact with a good earth - like a copper water tank.

On a slightly more serious note, now you will know that when someone says "I want the old US mains cable and the grounding cap left in my vintage amp for originality, I don't want a new cable fitted" they simply aren't aware of the possible consequences...

I wasn't thinking of using the amp to boil water.

I've seen Goldfinger and the bath.

boogieman

Stings a bit don’t it?  Glad you’re ok though. 

Gassage

@boogieman - it actually kind of thumps you, if that makes sense.

west

Glad your ok dude .....  When i was a kid i climbed on the fridge to get to the biscuit tin , me dad had put one of those can openers on the wall , one of the scews went through a live cable in the wall and  as i held on to the opener to steady myself it threw me out of the kitchen in to the lounge every hair on me was sticking up and i couldnt stop shaking for ages ....shocking ..

gringopig

.

Gassage

gringopig said:

It's not nice that's for sure. At least the path of the current was localised and contact time was short...
I take it it was a jolt to the front of the chest?

Yeah exactly that. Phew!

boogieman

Gassage said:

@boogieman - it actually kind of thumps you, if that makes sense.

Yeah that makes entire sense.. and if you get more than a couple of seconds of voltage it makes you ache afterwards too. I’ve had a few belts in my time, I was a building maintenance sparks. The worst one was on a passenger lift panel... the guy I was working with told me he’d shut the mains off. What he didn’t tell me (and what I hadn’t realised) was that the caps were all still charged and I got a massive belt off it. 

brooom

His reply is priceless but seriously, make sure you're fine. Electrical shocks can have effects something like half an hour after the fact.

Myranda

You'd think he might maybe say "don't touch these bits they're ouchie!"

Cols

Shocking.  Positively shocking.

Glad you’re okay; as @ICBM said, mains voltage can be lethal.

ICBM

Gassage said:

@boogieman - it actually kind of thumps you, if that makes sense.

Yes - or rather you thump yourself, fifty times a second as the muscles contract on each pulse of the AC. That's why it's extremely dangerous to get it across your chest, even briefly - it does that to your heart muscle.

gringopig said:

Pah mains shocks are nothing! Fiddle around in a valve amp and get 450 volts DC disharging through your chest arm to arm!

That's why you should NEVER hold the chassis with your other hand when you're poking around in equipment. One hand in your back pocket is the safest, and is why you'll see so many experienced techs doing that if they're not sure if something is safe.

Phil_aka_Pip

Glad you survived. Valve amp HT ouchiness > mains ouchiness but both capable of killing you.

gringopig

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