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OT - So I did something stupid...

H

Herr Heckler Koch

Guest
When I was in the Navy, back in the days of discrete electronic components, one soon learned to NOT catch the tossed capacitor.

That may have been about the time of the build up to the Yom Kippur War when we sailed with no notice for months of port and report until the fleet of TF-60 and TF-61, with flagship USS Little Rock, built up from four submarines to about a dozen.
 
L

Levi

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Joined
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Tacoma
Herr Heckler Koch said:
When I was in the Navy, back in the days of discrete electronic components, one soon learned to NOT catch the tossed capacitor.
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That game was still going when I got out in '03. We used to set them places we hoped someone would pick them up by mistake. Technically, this is illegal as is violates NAVOSH regulations against "intentionally receiving or causing another to receive an electric shock."

I can neither confirm or deny the number of persons or names of individuals involved when I took a hit from the megger. (Some of them are still active duty.) What I can confirm is that the phrase "ok, you do me" was used. Later, when I was one of the senior guys, I walked in on a group that was doing it. I believe my exact words were "if one of you gets hurt, my name had better not come up."
 
fire suppressor

fire suppressor

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Kitsap County
lol sorry I am not trying to laugh at you but I got a good mental image of what that must have looked like. Yes if you use it you use it you are going to get hit but its better knowing how to deal with it now than letting it surprise you when your life is in danger. I prefer foam over spray it does not go into the air as much but with foam you run the risk of the bad guy being able to throw the stuff back at you
 
S

sirpuma

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Deer Park, Washington, USA
Levi said:
Nope, I did zap myself with a mega-ohm meter though. It puts out 1kV via a hand crank. (Again, a few months at sea, available meter, incurable curiosity...) I don't have any desire to try out the 100kV that a TASER is supposed to do.
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Used to be an apprentice electrician. I've been bit by 110 and 220 and hardly flinched, but the absolute worse was a 14V DC lighting system. Laying up in a drop ceiling in a bank building, in New Mexico, in the hot crawl space, sweating all over the conduits and ceiling girders. Was wiring up a small inverter when my hand slipped on my lineman's pliers and BAM. Bounced me about a dozen times from the girders to the concrete ceiling two foot above me. Damned if I didn't do it again a couple hours later wiring up a transformer in a light in one of the offices, only that one didn't bounce me, just grabbed hold and tried to kill me. Fortunately my journeyman knocked me off the ladder onto the secretary's desk. That stuff hurts like hell. I would much rather be tagged by 110 or 220 AC than that dang DC stuff.
 
Metalhead47

Metalhead47

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South Whidbey, Washington, USA
sirpuma said:
Used to be an apprentice electrician. I've been bit by 110 and 220 and hardly flinched, but the absolute worse was a 14V DC lighting system. Laying up in a drop ceiling in a bank building, in New Mexico, in the hot crawl space, sweating all over the conduits and ceiling girders. Was wiring up a small inverter when my hand slipped on my lineman's pliers and BAM. Bounced me about a dozen times from the girders to the concrete ceiling two foot above me. Damned if I didn't do it again a couple hours later wiring up a transformer in a light in one of the offices, only that one didn't bounce me, just grabbed hold and tried to kill me. Fortunately my journeyman knocked me off the ladder onto the secretary's desk. That stuff hurts like hell. I would much rather be tagged by 110 or 220 AC than that dang DC stuff.
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Um... Is it not SOP in such situations to disconnect the power BEFORE servicing stuff?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
H

Herr Heckler Koch

Guest
sirpuma said:
I would much rather be tagged by 110 or 220 AC than that dang DC stuff.
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That was one of the arguments used between George Westinghouse and Nikolai Tesla.

Sometimes you have to work hot, sometimes you have to work next to hot.
 
L

Levi

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Tacoma
DC is way more dangerous than AC. You can get hit with 4680VAC and potentially live. Get hit with 100VDC and they sweep you into a bag before you can blow away.

Metalhead, in a perfect world, yes. Unfortunately, you cannot always take down a system to work on it. Along with that, an electrical worker may need to work where multiple circuits are and certainly won't be able to take them all down. Hot working is never safe but it's the reality.
 
L

Levi

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Messages
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1911er said:
I am truly sorry for your mishap . But after rolling around on the floor for about 10 minutes I almost wet myself!" Now thats funny I don't care who you are"
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I was the dumbass that did it to myself. Even through the event I realized how funny the whole thing was. Even if it makes me the butt of the joke, it was too good not to share.

I hope is that through sharing, someone will get a real sense of how pepper spray really behaves and that it saves them some grief. I truly hope that someone that carries it around reads this and now has the foreknowledge for indoor or in car usage and can better their situation rather than making themselves more vulnerable.
 
Difdi

Difdi

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Seattle, Washington, USA
decklin said:
In the future try warm milk or warm water to decontaminate yourself. Milk dilutes the Capsacin (spelling?) and because it is warm it will keep your pores open and flush them out.
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Chemically, a better cure is raisins. Get a bunch, and grind them up. They contain an enzyme that breaks down capsaicin on contact. Raisins work better for any kind of pepper decontamination (internal or external) than milk does.
 
amlevin

amlevin

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Feb 16, 2007
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North of Seattle, Washington, USA
Reading your account made me laugh almost as hard as when I convinced my younger brother to whiz on an electric fence.

Good thing the spray didn't contaminate the shower enough to make certain parts of your body burn when you wash them. Think "liniment" in a jock strap like was often done as a prank in locker rooms.
 
H

Herr Heckler Koch

Guest
Orphan said:
amlevin said:
Think "liniment" amlevin You are showing OUR age, most here will not know what "liniment" is or what it was used for. Can you even get liniment anymore except for horses of course.
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Liniments, new and improved, are topical medications in the forms of creams, gels, pastes, powders and sprays/aerosols. They're still just liniments "new and improved."
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Freedom1Man

Freedom1Man

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Joined
Jan 14, 2012
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4,462
Location
Greater Eastside Washington
amlevin said:
Reading your account made me laugh almost as hard as when I convinced my younger brother to whiz on an electric fence.

Good thing the spray didn't contaminate the shower enough to make certain parts of your body burn when you wash them. Think "liniment" in a jock strap like was often done as a prank in locker rooms.
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Like that product, ICYHOT. Put that in your jockstrap and go for a run....

Horse liniment is DMSO that does not burn.

I have used ICYHOT on horses before though.
 
T

Trigger Dr

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DMSO (DimethylSulfoxide) does not irritate (burn) but everything you eat will taste like clams or oysters.
 
H

Herr Heckler Koch

Guest
Freedom1Man said:
I've never had it burn and I've never had that taste problem either.
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Then the DMSO concentration was low and ineffective.

Novak, K. M., ed. (2002). Drug Facts and Comparisons (56th ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Wolters Kluwer Health.. p. 619. ISBN 1574391100.
 
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