first 230v shock :)

[da_ging]

just got my first 230v electric shock

was just modding my download box's psu by changing the fan and 7v'ing it my mum appeared and started asking questions at which point my hand brushed against the pcb connected to the plug-in part needless to say i shat myself dropped everything and tripped the mains out aswell

didn't and doesnt hurt tho and was actually quite dissapointing tbh in a weird kinda way

moral of the story dont just turn off the psu with the back switch turn it off at the bl00dy mains!!!!!

[Agent]

You left it pluged in to the mains while changing the fan ?

Right.

[Allen]

HAHAHAHA! You're lucky to be alive mate...

Oh, did you discharge the capacitors or leave it for at least 2 days to discharge itself? I would not even try to work on one after doing that coz I just don't know enough about them.....

[da_ging]

yes i left it plugged into the mains as i had it on my lap checking which fan was the best to stick in it

i checked the caps with a multimeter they were empty even straight after powerdown

would have been fine if i didnt get distracted

[Big RICHARD]

yes i left it plugged into the mains as i had it on my lap checking which fan was the best to stick in it

i checked the caps with a multimeter they were empty even straight after powerdown

would have been fine if i didnt get distracted

I bet you were working with both hands......

[unrealrocks]

I bet you were working with both hands......

I work on PSUs not very often although atm I'm doing a big roundup of some new BTX form factor PSUs at CPU3D.com (plug ) and when I've been in them I allways follow the electricans thing - allways work with one hand.

M8 - your quite lucky, I've had a 240v shock twice and it hurts like hell. Makes your whole arm spasm (kind of the frogs legs experiment). Working with a PSU open is really dangerous and a little stupid

[Lee H]

lol worst shock I ever got was when I took apart an old TV as the tube/rays were misaligned . I turned off the power @ the fusebox, took the back off and then moved and adjusted a few things.

While doing this I was too being mithered by my mother ( they always start whinging at the wrong time - is it a genetic defect or something ? ) I touched something at the back which gave 1 hell of a "click" and I got threw across the front room lol

Morale of that story is - never let a woman near a man while he's playing with electronic parts

Lee

PS - heres where I get lynched now by all the female posters of the forum

[Allen]

The worst shock I got was nothing to do with computers. I was on a school trip in Wales and we went out for a walk one evening whilst it was bucketing it down with rain. We walked past a field with some sheep in that was surrounded by an 'electric fence' and no-one thought it was so for some stupid reason I touched it. Well, it obviously wasn't on coz nothing happened, so I touched it again. Haha, it's not on you fools, so I grabbed it...

**BANG**

I flew about 5 foot in the air past all my friends and landed in a cow pat. My hair wouldn't go down all night either. Worst thing was I was soaking wet so the delayed fence gave me a right old shock!

Also I got thrown accross the kithcen at a pub once by doing washing up in a stainless steel sink, holding on to a stainless steel worktop and turning on the (faulty) dishwasher. My arm spasmed so much people thought I had Parkinsons.

[swek]

Ive had my share of 'em too. Pretty dumb, but quite funny.

Abou 8 years old i knocked over a lamp which broke on impact. Clever as I can be, guess in which end I picked it up? That's right, just where the bulb used to sit around the filament. 3 seconds of shaking later i managed to shake off the lamp which was stuck to my fingers from the current. Nice.

Then just some screwing around, one screwing in a rooflight(I THOUGHT the mains were off) and another connecting a bathroom heater using a knife as a screwdriver(dont ask...)

Tada!

Switching on the computer with the power lead unplugged discharges the supply doesnt it? It's always forked for me when "modding" my supplies.

What's that "one hand" trick?

[msaeger]

What's that "one hand" trick?

You are only supposed to use one hand so if you get shocked the path for current flow would be from your hand through your feet instead of from one hand to the other passing through your chest and heart on the way.

[Big RICHARD]

The best thing to do is to put your 'non-working' hand in your back pocket (if you have one). This means that you can not inadvertantly touch an 'earth' point with it...

[Howard]

I electrocuted myself with a really old stereo amplifier once. Was taking it apart and left it plugged in accidentally. I must have touched part of the transformer inside cos all of a sudden I felt this really wierd and hard vibrating/buzzing sensation through my entire body. It threw me backwards quite a bit, and left me pretty shaken up, but no harm was done. I dunno what the voltage was. Lol

[5lab]

i've bridged a 230v connection (in the back of an open set of speakers) with my finger before.. was held on there for 3 seconds cos i couldnt move me arm. put a scortch mark onto my finger and me arm was shaking for about 20 mins afterwards..

[Captain Fizz]

I electrocuted myself....

Techinically you would then be dead. Electrocution is a method of death - Electric shock is going "Owww."

Had 4 or 5 shocks off the mains. It's not THAT sore, more just a buzzing all the way up your arm. One was changing a clock in school - To turn off the power would have involved shutting off one of the circuits for the school. Luckily I was standing on a plastic coated bench!

There was a bit of a darwin moment... Cutting the grass when all of a sudden - Plop. Mower went off. ?? Checked cable, it hadn't been long enough and the plug was off. So, started putting the plug back on - Wire up nice and tight. Plugged it in and wondered why the mower wasn't working. THEN engaged brain and thank goodness the breaker had tripped!! Sitting on damp grass wiring a plug... Not the best thing to do...

[Theo]

I stuck a fork in the toaster, whilst trying to get half a crumpet out

[Big RICHARD]

The longer you are getting an electric shock, the worse it gets. The resistance of your skin reduces the longer the shock lasts. This means the current increases, giving you a worse shock.

If you really need to test something with your hand, use the BACK of your hand. If it is live, your arm tenses up and pulls your hand AWAY from the shock. If you use your palm or front of you hand (including fingers) your reaction to being electrocuted is to grip (your hand closes) and you will get a longer, more painful shock, which you might be lucky to get away from.