Electrocuted

[Reefer madness92]

Used to have a bunch of 10 watt LEDs suspended from the ceiling anchored an all. One day my hands were in my tank and one of the anchors gave out sending massive shock through my arms. I don't know how I was able to take my hands out of the water. I emediatly passed out from weakness. from what I hear your not supposed to be able to move when something like this happens, I guess someone up there likes me. Thought I would share this experience with everyone cause I'm bored. I will never have suspended lights again. right away I went out and bought a HO fixture that sits on the tank. Happy aquascaping everyone

[allan]

You weren't electrocuted.

Just shocked.

AC tends to have that pull back syndrome (not always)... DC tends to tense all your muscles, that's why folks typically hold on instead of letting go. In the case of water, you either fall in or fall out. And the contact is sooooo much more complete for the obvious reasons.

[Mike]

Always recommend a GFI and voltage sink in tank.

[Mike]

Oh and glad you were okay...

[Reefer madness92]

Oh and glad you were okay...
Lol thanks the fact that it was salt water doesn't help. Also I've never heard of a voltage sink I'm gonna google it now

[350gt]

How were they suspended?? LEDs don't weigh much.... I had my MH/t5 fixture over my tank for awhile and never once did it fall...

Good to hear your okay.... But this could have been prevented.

[Reefer madness92]

How were they suspended?? LEDs don't weigh much.... I had my MH/t5 fixture over my tank for awhile and never once did it fall...

Good to hear your okay.... But this could have been prevented.Really have no idea, the anchors are supposed to be able to hold up to 60 lbs.each light weighed like a pound. I guess it was one of those final destination moments they were suspended by chain and hook

[350gt]

Did the hooks drop too? Or just chain?...

[Reefer madness92]

Anchor came out of dry wall so hook and all fell in water

[350gt]

Ya, I made sure to get mine into a stud..... I would never trust a anchor.

[Reefer madness92]

Feels pretty crazy getting shocked like that i screamed like I was being murdered. Hope anyone that does have them in drywall fixes this right away and learns from my mistake. Hard to explain but after that I felt like any strong water current reminded me of the shock and I'd jolt my hands away. Guess I was a little traumatized

[profntbtr]

i read somewhere that saltwater is as conductive as copper. i too have very nearly electrocuted myself, when a bulk head for a closed loop system came apart and proceeded to empty 100 gallons of saltwater everywhere. i tried to stop the water with my hand, but it splashed onto the fuge light, completing the circuit. amazed i am still alive. i believe the item you are looking for is called rid-volt.

[Reefer madness92]

i read somewhere that saltwater is as conductive as copper. i too have very nearly electrocuted myself, when a bulk head for a closed loop system came apart and proceeded to empty 100 gallons of saltwater everywhere. i tried to stop the water with my hand, but it splashed onto the fuge light, completing the circuit. amazed i am still alive. i believe the item you are looking for is called rid-volt.
Il check it out thanks, **** that sucks. did u pass out? Right before passing out, all I was thinking is now you've done it, u went and killed yourself. When I came to I was so surprised and now I live everyday like it's my last

[rrasco]

How long ago was this? Just curious since you were talking about it like it was a few weeks ago. I'd look into a grounding probe and a GFCI outlet.

[Reefer madness92]

This was in December

[Sherita]

Allan actually has it backerds......

ac causes an anomaly called tetanic spasms....essentially, if you grab a live ac wire, your hand will spasm around it and it's very difficult to get loose.

dc does not cause tetanic spasms, and will actually knock you away from it. Example: DC welders (most large trailered welders or on site generator/welders) are relatively safe to use in damp locations, the current is pretty well behaved and will normally travel from the stinger to the ground clamp without deviating path. AC welders, on the other hand, will bite you in the butt in damp conditions, the current will seek the path of least resistance in the presence of moisture, and will routinely knock your socks off.

Either way, you got shocked, not electrocuted. And since these were leds, depending on the power adapter, you may not have even gotten a full jolt of 110. It's not surprising that you got out of the tank, since you weren't holding onto the source of power when it happened.

The thing to remember, it's not the voltage that will kill you, it's the amperage. As little as 20 MILLIamps (that's 0.020 amps) can stop the heart.

I'll be the first to admit, getting hit with 110vac will make you cuss, and there's a very remote chance it might kill you. It's not a fun experience, no matter what.

[allan]

Ah, I much prefer AC over dc. The latter of which has always feels nasty to me.

The last time I was bitten by dc (160vdc positive or negative) caused me to latch onto the circuit card I was troubleshooting.

Much prefer AC, although its not really pleasant either. :)

[Reefer madness92]

Wow dude I had to read that twice your like a full blown electrician over here, so in which case would aquarium lights be ac

[Sherita]

Wow dude I had to read that twice your like a full blown electrician over here, so in which case would aquarium lights be ac

LOL, not a dude :) Dudette.

I own and run a construction company, and I work in the trades. I've had more than my fair share of experience. Aquarium lights MIGHT be ac, or they could be dc if they require a converter. I know, that helps a lot, doesn't it?

If your lights use a small box that plugs into the wall, or is inline between the wall outlet and the lights, the chances are your lights are dc. HOWEVER, they could still be ac if the small box is a stepdown transformer.

Your laptop computer is probably dc, your desktop usually isn't. And we haven't even gotten into the really fun stuff like 3 phase.

Best thing to remember, if you aren't sure of what you are doing, call someone who is qualified. Electricity can kill, be it AC or DC.

@Allan - Electricity can certainly grab your attention, can't it? And it can be REAL danged impressive when it does it. I got crossways with 240vdc when I lived in Germany. You can bet I did not EVER do that again. I hurt for about a week.

[Reefer madness92]

Sorry :bigsmile:, very cool by the way, so a uv sterilizer would be ac and my zoomed HO is dc good to know, at least it was an LED but still sucks I passed out

[Sherita]

Sorry :bigsmile:, very cool by the way, so a uv sterilizer would be ac and my zoomed HO is dc good to know, at least it was an LED but still sucks I passed out

No harm done, not a habitat that one normally finds women working in. :wink_smile:

I actually suspect your zoomed ho would be ac. I can't say about the uv, mine is dc since it has a wall wort that plugs in. The easiest way is if there is a wall wort, take a close look at it. Somewhere on it you will see input and output. It will look like this:

Input 115vac 2amp

Output 12v dc 1amp

or some such. Obviously, your numbers will be different. Most fluorescent lighting is ac, all of mine is.

[Reefer madness92]

The uv has a transformer the zoomed goes strait into the wall not that I'm even using the uv it's more backup.

[allan]

Yeah, I forget the actual numbers, but to generate x-ray you have to hit tungsten with an arc at about 15k vac to atomize the material.

We don't work in the tube heads, but that's a lot of juice to play with up to the head. Our old techs used to work inside the transformer for the old 100/100 x-rays... Crossed lines often resulted in a fireball.

LEDs are powered by dc, conventional diodes run at 1.2vdc, only reason I know that. Your LED set up, if your transformer was removed as sherita indicated, would have given you a blast of dc juice.

The other day I had a pump go out in my sump which provided a nice AC tingle to the water since I was standing barefoot on the floor. Since I had frags to put in the tank, and I couldn't, I asked Milly to do it.

She stood on the stand which didn't give her a path to ground.... Until I grabbed her arm. :)

[Sherita]

Allan, you're terrible :bigsmile:

Something else impressive....drop a knockout down the back of a service panel, then fire up service. You will have a full grown thunderstorm inside the building, complete with clouds, lightening and thunder. Works best with at least 660v, don't try this at home, your results may differ, offer void in any state that would sue you.

What you did reminds me of high school and working on cars. Have someone hold your hand, then grab that spark plug wire that is popping fire to the manifold. You won't feel it, they sure will. OR, do like someone I know.......get mad at your tractor and change out the 6v coil........with the key on. If I wasn't mad before, I sure was after. Dang, those things pack a punch.

[johnsutter71]

I just installed a ground probe in my refugium

[allan]

I have one of those grounding wires as well. Now.

I've actually pulled that plug once to turn off my truck from the engine bay. Slammed me so hard I thought I was going to lose my arm. Shoulder ached for a week.

Have never done that since.

[Sherita]

Have never done that since.

It usually only takes one time. That lesson HURTS.

I learned a new found respect for 6v coils the day I forgot to turn the tractor key off. Like you, I won't do that again.

[alton]

Sorry I missed the excitement, glad you are okay. So many times I hear it is only 120 volts? 120 volts will kill you just as well as 14.2K. I believe we are having we are having a Electricity and Water Safety Seminar in November at the November Meeting. Hopefully we have a good showing of MAAST members. We will cover ways how to prevent being shocked and what to do if there is a problem.

[Reefer madness92]

Sorry I missed the excitement, glad you are okay. So many times I hear it is only 120 volts? 120 volts will kill you just as well as 14.2K. I believe we are having we are having a Electricity and Water Safety Seminar in November at the November Meeting. Hopefully we have a good showing of MAAST members. We will cover ways how to prevent being shocked and what to do if there is a problem. thanks and il look into the meeting sounds cool

[allan]

Yeah, I guess I should appologize for making light of this case. Most folks that work around electricity in my field tend to get a bit jaded by it. Primarily because we aren't wet when we do our repairs. Our bodies have about a 100,000 ohms, so a 120 bite is just a wake up. When you're wet or in water your body's resistance drops to about a 1,000 ohms which can make a 120 bite lethal. We also tend to wear grounding bands about are arms, I'm sure they work because each time I get bit, I'm not wearing one.

[Reefer madness92]

So your saying I could have died, wow:eek:

[allan]

Sure. You certainly were open to an electrocution.

[tebstan]

Yeah, I guess I should appologize for making light of this case. Most folks that work around electricity in my field tend to get a bit jaded by it. Primarily because we aren't wet when we do our repairs. Our bodies have about a 100,000 ohms, so a 120 bite is just a wake up. When you're wet or in water your body's resistance drops to about a 1,000 ohms which can make a 120 bite lethal. We also tend to wear grounding bands about are arms, I'm sure they work because each time I get bit, I'm not wearing one.

What's this? Something we'd benefit from while playing with water and electricity?

[allan]

The wrist bands? We typically wear them to prevent an electrical discharge that may damage electronics. Not sure it'd work when dealing with water.

[Sherita]

So your saying I could have died, wow:eek:

Certainly. Like I said, it only takes .020amps (the average home breaker is 20 amps) to stop the human heart in the right conditions. No matter what, getting bitten by Mr. Voltage is not fun.

[Reefer madness92]

Glad I've got a pretty strong heart then

[allan]

Well, it has to find a path through the heart to mess with your circuitry. if the path is from arm to arm (typically it's from your hand to foot or what ever point of your body that is in contact with a grounded object), the path the electricity takes will most likely not pass through the heart.

Remember that a paramedic will use up to 360 joules to either restart your heart or reset it if is not beating correctly. Remember how they place the paddles, so that the juice will find your heart and work its magic. The internal paddles are geared for a much lower voltage because they use that right on the muscle itself.

A minor bump on the neck can paralyze you. A bump to the head can kill you. The thing is you have to be in a particular position under the righty circumstances for this to happen. The list goes on, you can drown in a cup of water, yadda yadda.

The point with the .02 amps is prevention. A grounding wire dropped into your sump should prevent you from feeling the stray voltage. A gfci will trip when these conditions are met. Before something does happen.