Zapped!

[Knightmare]

No, I'm not talking about the "classic" Scott Baio movie from 1982.

Yesterday I was running around with the Ready 8 (A submersible pump) pumping out rain water and runoff, and also pumping out a clarifier.
The very first thing I have to pump out is an underground box that contains some valves. I lower in the Ready 8, place the hose that comes out of it into a clarifier, and grab the power cord to plug it in.

I open the cover to the outlet. I grab the end of the power cord and plug it in.
Zzzaappp!

Picture me jumping up and down saying "Owie! Owie! Ouch! Ow! F**k! Son of a b***h!" Some other choice words also came out of my mouth.

After I got the feeling back in my left hand, and the tingling stopped, I called the lead operator and told him I'm claiming workman's comp. He laughed and asked what happened. I told him and his reply was "You can't claim that. You're still walking around. Claim hazard pay." All the while he was laughing.

It took about an hour for my hand to feel normal again. Needless to say, I didn't use that outlet again. But that's what I get to do today; look at the outlet and see if it needs to be switched out.

Electrocution isn't fun!

[draggar]

I once had to change an electrical outlet at a store I was working at.

Me: 'Is the power off'

Owner: "Yes"

Me: "Are you sure the power is off?"

Owner: "Yes, I turned it off myself"

I unscrew the cover and take it off.

Me: "Are you positive that the power is off to this outlet?"

Owner: YES! Stop asking!

I grab the outlet to pull it out

ZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP

I wasn't laughing.

[Gurndigarn]

Over a decade ago, I was working on this game called Twister. Now, any more, most games use a basic power supply to turn 110 AC into 5/12/3.3/-5 DC. The same type of thing you can find for a computer. This game, however, was a throwback to the old days. It had a board with transformers, bridges, a few capacitors, and whatnot on it.

After I accidentally ran my hand across it, we had to ship it out for repairs (and my hand looked like a claw for an hour, too.) When it came back, the part on the form where they describe the damage was real simple: "blown up".

(Sadly, they could have made the whole thing real simple. Run the entire game on 12V, and all you need is a step-down transformer, a bridge rectifier, and a voltage regulator. But that means the engineers can't try to think up new and funner ways to complicate circuits beyond all reason.)

[Geek King]

Ow. I feel your pain, Knightmare. When I worked games at an amusement park, part of my duties was to empty the coin bins on the arcade machines. Most have little platic bins that just slide out, but pinball machines have bins that have to be lifted up, then pulled out. Well, one of the machines had (unknown to anyone) a stripped wire, and as I lifted the bin up, the back of my hand hit that wire. Five minutes later, I woke to several worried co-workers and wondered why the hell I was sitting on the floor. Apparently, pinball machines have quite a bit of power runing through them.

Glad you weren't hurt worse.

[draftermatt]

Did this one at my grandmother's. Her barn has the old fuses. I blew one, so I went to change it. I forgot to turn the power off first. It didn't really hurt, but I felt my arm starting to pulsate, and I couldn't let go at first.

[Gurndigarn]

Ow. I feel your pain, Knightmare. When I worked games at an amusement park, part of my duties was to empty the coin bins on the arcade machines. Most have little platic bins that just slide out, but pinball machines have bins that have to be lifted up, then pulled out. Well, one of the machines had (unknown to anyone) a stripped wire, and as I lifted the bin up, the back of my hand hit that wire. Five minutes later, I woke to several worried co-workers and wondered why the hell I was sitting on the floor. Apparently, pinball machines have quite a bit of power runing through them.

It's only 50V DC (assuming you're doing anything from the last 20 years or so) tops. Reasonable amperage, but still...

Um... why was the power interlock switch on the door activated/disabled?

[Geek King]

It's only 50V DC (assuming you're doing anything from the last 20 years or so) tops. Reasonable amperage, but still...

Um... why was the power interlock switch on the door activated/disabled?

It may not have been, the wire was hanging low from a light or bumper on the main play area (they decided to fix it for some reason ). I think it was an old late 80s-early 90s board. The score was electronic, but not a full LED readout like the newer machines. Thinking back, for some reason I want to say it was a Black Knight machine, but I could be wrong.

[Kilamon]

Thinking back, for some reason I want to say it was a Black Knight machine, but I could be wrong.

Would it be reasonable to assume then that your electrocution was only a flesh wound?

[Gurndigarn]

It may not have been, the wire was hanging low from a light or bumper on the main play area (they decided to fix it for some reason ). I think it was an old late 80s-early 90s board. The score was electronic, but not a full LED readout like the newer machines. Thinking back, for some reason I want to say it was a Black Knight machine, but I could be wrong.

If it knocked you cold, it wasn't from a light or bumper. It was from the flippers.

And those were the days when the flipper mechanisms had a capacitor wired into the EOS line, so you probably got all the zap store up in the capacitor, in addition to the zap coming down the line.

I so prefer having the voltage regulated on the main board set. And I really appreciate not having high voltages running through contact switches.

[JustADude]

Would it be reasonable to assume then that your electrocution was only a flesh wound?

I find it ironic that I was drinking Camelot Mead when I read that and laughed so hard it went up my nose.