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dxAce · June 17th 09, 07:15 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

BDK wrote:

In article ,
says...
After 61 years of playing with, and working with AC electricity I finely
got mine. On top of a 12 "Aluminum" ladder in the rain I stuck the end of an
un-insinuated wire into a hot 220vAC wire and got the crap stocked out of me
and had to throw myself into space to get away from it.

I hit three flowerpots, and a tree on the way down then landed on a
cement border around the tree.

I'm OK, sore cut up a little but alive. The juice went in my left hand and
out my left knee so it didn't cross my heart or other organs (or pianos) on
the way out. Left hand hurts and left knee is swollen and very sore.

I could feel each cycle of the AC as it went threw me and I could not
open my hand. A smaller or person who was not in as good a shape as I am
would have fried their heart. 5 minutes after the stock/fall my BP was
132/62 with a pulse of 65, that's high for me but I'll take it.

I have had many friends do the same thing and die. Over 33 years as a
telephone man I lose a lot of friends to doing the wrong thing at the wrong
time and today it was me BUT, I'm OK.

So Mote It Be

You were lucky, I knew a guy who died from grabbing the wrong wire.

I have three I remember, the first was when I touched the chassis of my
record player I had when I was 4 or so with one hand, while holding onto
a drill (I was using power tools at a very young age since my dad was
useless when dealing with that stuff) and got zapped really good. I felt
bad for a while, and had a slight burn on my hand where the juice passed
into and out of the drill.

The second, and worst one was in my CB days and I had my linear opened
up and was grabbing my D-104 with my left hand, while using a
screwdriver to make adjustments on the linear when it was keyed up. I
had my index finger touching the shaft, and the next thing I know, I was
flying through the closet door, about 10 feet away. A friend of mine was
talking to me when it happened, and he heard a "ZZZZZZZZZZZT!", and I
was gone for a while. Luckily, I just had the mike loosely plugged in,
so it just popped out when I flew. I think the closet door hurt me worse
than the shock.

The third time was about 20 years ago, I was working on a friend's old
Hallicrafters SW receiver, replacing a lot of rotten caps. I knew
better, but I put my hand on the front panel to turn the radio, and
touched the HV side, and really got zapped good. My hand got cooked a
little, and I actually felt bad enough to go to the ER. By the time they
got me in, I was feeling fine, so it was a waste of a couple hundred
bucks it cost me for the visit.

I wish I had your BP.

Thanks for the story of getting zapped. I really get intrigued by our shared
experiences.