Planetarion Forums

starmog · 8 Mar 2004, 23:56

So i was at work... currys chelmsford if you must know...

and a customer asked me where the scart socket was on a 14" grundig dvd vcr combi unit... so i showed them as i shown them my finger made contact with the socket and a blue spark come off it and i fell backwards agaist some boxes of stock... i then black out for about 5-10secs

when i woke up i saw the customer standing there asking if i was ok, they had there phone out and was about to call 999, i kinda grumbled somthing like ****ing tv but the customer didnt hear me... they went on to call the ambluence

as time went on the customer helped me up and i kinda got my barings, the guy then canceled the ambulence, and actually bought the tv with a 5 year cover (stupid bugger) then i kinda disapeared to the staff room for a break..

then about 30mins a manager came in and shouted at me what i was doing in here, i told him, he laught, then gave me a warning for being in the staff room, cnut...

i then had to work out the day with blured vision and a cnut of a headache

today i still have a cnut of a headache

to say im not happy with my work is a understatement......

Marilyn Manson · 9 Mar 2004, 00:01

You should have got the customer's name for future legal proceedings.

Dante Hicks · 9 Mar 2004, 00:02

Obligatory "Go to the Union" communist post for the thread.

But seriously, if there is one, do so.

Intrepid00 · 9 Mar 2004, 00:05

I'd say pansy, but you euros are stupid and use a higher voltage and such because its cheaper. Good thing we in the USA use lower rates, because I just got shocked and it wasn't that bad. My arm just oh crazy and crap and a slight burn on the finger.

Marilyn Manson · 9 Mar 2004, 00:05

Good idea Dante; Picket the fellow's house.

Tactitus · 9 Mar 2004, 00:14

Aren't all the SCART pins low voltage?

Tomkat · 9 Mar 2004, 00:21

I've touched SCART sockets before.

I think.

I'm pretty sure I've never blacked out from it though.

Blimey.

at0mic.c0w · 9 Mar 2004, 00:21

did that guy take your wallet during these 5-10 seconds ?

Kurashima · 9 Mar 2004, 00:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by at0mic.c0w

did that guy take your wallet during these 5-10 seconds ?

Dont be stupid.

He works for Curry's. There would be **** all in the wallet.

the_dastardley_chihuahua · 9 Mar 2004, 01:45

i remember when i worked in a crappy little newsagents, we had a 10 year old computer to print out newspaper rounds for the paperboys to do, one time i accidentally touched the metal panel on the back of the tower as i was cleaning and got a massive shock from it, unfortunately i was too young and innocent to feign serious injury, i could have been quids in

the_dastardley_chihuahua · 9 Mar 2004, 01:46

i need to learn how to use a '.'

meglamaniac · 9 Mar 2004, 02:14

SCART is low voltage (I don't think there's anything higher than 12 used in the spec afaik). If you got a shock like that there's a short somewhere else in the equipment that's made contact with the socket casing or something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intrepid00

I'd say pansy, but you euros are stupid and use a higher voltage and such because its cheaper. Good thing we in the USA use lower rates, because I just got shocked and it wasn't that bad. My arm just oh crazy and crap and a slight burn on the finger.

How many times for goodness sake. Voltage doesn't kill, current does.
One of the demos in my A-level physics course involved us all having 10,000 volts passed through us, with no noticeable charing of flesh and only a slight tingling.
So your US power spec is just as likely to kill as the UK's is (moreso, seeing as you lot don't seem to believe in earthing things).

[edit]
A further example:
While the shock from a car battery won't kill a healthy person, it poses a very serious risk to anyone with a heart condition and will certainly make someone who's healthy watch where they put thier fingers next time. From personal experience (stupid mistake while jumpstarting my mum's car for her) it's not a nice feeling - I'd take the low current 10,000volts from physics any day.
What's the voltage in a car battery? 12v...

JammyJim · 9 Mar 2004, 02:15

its what lawyers are for....!

JammyJim · 9 Mar 2004, 02:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by meglamaniac

SCART is low voltage (I don't think there's anything higher than 12 used in the spec afaik). If you got a shock like that there's a short somewhere else in the equipment that's made contact with the socket casing or something.

How many times for goodness sake. Voltage doesn't kill, current does.
One of the demos in my A-level physics course involved us all having 10,000 volts passed through us, with no noticeable charing of flesh and only a slight tingling.
So your US power spec is just as likely to kill as the UK's is (moreso, seeing as you lot don't seem to believe in earthing things).

in the US the plugs fall out of the sockets easier too :/

JetLinus · 9 Mar 2004, 02:30

I've got a very small but still painfull spark from a video cinch / composite before...

A friend of mine got real havy sparks spraying when he connected his network cable to the back of his computer. He wasn't hurt, but it looked quite dangerous and impressive ^^. He went on using gloves.
Explanation can only be: The cables run through a wall, where also power cables are laid. Must be (electro) magnetic effects etc.

His house seemed to be ****ed up pretty bad anyway. With the radiators don't being earthed but actually "live" (I think the whole earth must be connected to a live wire or mixed up in that building).

When he once opened his computer -- having the power cable disconnected -- and by chance touched the radiators, the sparkling thingy came again.
The only way the power could come in must have been through the vga cable. The monitor was plugged in, and the shielding of the monitor cable probably carried the current onto the pc case.

Stupid dangerous world.

Actually voltage AND current don't matter, if you use a nice & great invention called "earth leakage circuit breaker" or "residual current circuit-breaker". It's basically part of every fuse box in almost every German household.
It somehow detects something that usual fused don't catch, and hence saves your life.
Apparently even the classic "hairdryer -> bath tub" method wouldn't work. It might still hurt though...
Probably depends.......

[On a class trip to Straßbourg we went to visit the "Hager Tehalit" factory who produce this stuff]

CrashTester · 9 Mar 2004, 11:39

1) You should take you rmanager to a tribunal and have him cnuted

2) Why is the customer buying a Grundig TV? I thought they went bust and couldnt honour any warranty.

3) Ha ha!

starmog · 10 Mar 2004, 10:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrashTester

1) You should take you rmanager to a tribunal and have him cnuted

2) Why is the customer buying a Grundig TV? I thought they went bust and couldnt honour any warranty.

3) Ha ha!

all the stock we have is ordered 6 months ago... but yea they went bust....

so all our stock is backdated 6 months

Structural Integrity · 10 Mar 2004, 11:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetLinus

Actually voltage AND current don't matter, if you use a nice & great invention called "earth leakage circuit breaker" or "residual current circuit-breaker". It's basically part of every fuse box in almost every German household.
It somehow detects something that usual fused don't catch, and hence saves your life.
Apparently even the classic "hairdryer -> bath tub" method wouldn't work. It might still hurt though...
Probably depends.......

[On a class trip to Straßbourg we went to visit the "Hager Tehalit" factory who produce this stuff]

I believe they trigger at a leak of 20 mili-amps? Or something like that... which is deadly enough. You can only hope it shuts down fast enough not to kill you. Say it takes a tenth of a second (fictional number) to shut down, you still have full current on you for a tenth of a second.
Nah, I wouldn't put my life in the hands of a circuit breaker though it does safe lives occasionally.

meglamaniac · 10 Mar 2004, 12:15

Yeah pretty much all modern houses uses those now.
My parents only had one fitted a few years ago though (the house is about 50 years old) so before that it was good old fasioned fuses. Nice to know your live is dependant on two springs with a bit of wire stretched between them eh?

The circuit breaker panel does have an annoying tendancy to be oversensitive though - like shutting down the entire ground floor lighting circuit when a bulb goes in one room.
Then again, the wiring in that house has always had me worried. Lights tend to flicker every so often, and before those power-surge protected bar adapter things came on the market we lost 2 harddrives due to power spiking.
Shitty 60's job that house.

JammyJim · 10 Mar 2004, 13:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetLinus

Actually voltage AND current don't matter, if you use a nice & great invention called "earth leakage circuit breaker" or "residual current circuit-breaker". It's basically part of every fuse box in almost every German household.
It somehow detects something that usual fused don't catch, and hence saves your life.
Apparently even the classic "hairdryer -> bath tub" method wouldn't work. It might still hurt though...
Probably depends.......

[On a class trip to Straßbourg we went to visit the "Hager Tehalit" factory who produce this stuff]

its in alot of homes in the uk now
the one we have at home is meant to shut down power within some 0.00000X seconds amount of time if we drop something electrical in the bath so noone can die.

Stew · 10 Mar 2004, 13:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by JammyJim

its in alot of homes in the uk now
the one we have at home is meant to shut down power within some 0.00000X seconds amount of time if we drop something electrical in the bath so noone can die.

Sounds like an experiment with a stopwatch is needed!

JetLinus · 10 Mar 2004, 16:39

Apparently 30mA for 0.5s can kill you...

Those circuit breaker thingies measure what "goes out" to the consumer and what "comes back" in. If there's some current lost somewhere, it will immediately (about 40ms) break the circuit. Quite guickly actually...

I found a nice graph, unfortunately it is in German.
The white area on the left means "no danger". The grey area next to it means something like "danger of accidents due to 'jump-reactions'". The stuff on the right stands for "highest mortal danger".
The little dotted line is an "identifiying line" for certain circuit breakers.

As you can see, overall it all looks very nice. You still have a problem when high currents occur for a short period of time though...

Marilyn Manson · 10 Mar 2004, 16:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetLinus

Apparently 30mA for 0.5s can kill you....

Do you always make long-winded posts about electrical components, or is it just my imagination?

pyirt · 10 Mar 2004, 17:09

Most people who die whilst being electrocuted die from asphixiation, not heart attacks. When Saddam`s sons regularly tortured their victims in Iraq using electricity, they (the victim) could only let out a scream after the current was switched off.

Scoot951 · 10 Mar 2004, 21:10

I actually got shocked in my Physics lab just the other day, was trying to figure out what cords went where, picked up 2 that were just dangling and ZZZZTT! 100V, dunno the current...didn't hurt, just like a static shock x10, but apparently I jerked enough to get some strange looks.

Stew · 10 Mar 2004, 21:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scoot951

but apparently I jerked enough to get some strange looks.

Apparently MM has done that a few times too

Marilyn Manson · 10 Mar 2004, 23:07

I just fell victim to a pot hole. I need girls and nancy boys to revive me immediately.

JetLinus · 11 Mar 2004, 00:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marilyn Manson

Do you always make long-winded posts about electrical components, or is it just my imagination?

My first one this week!