From: CFKinsey@military.org.jp   
      
   On Mon, 24 Feb 2020 12:45:55 -0000, default  wrote:   
      
   > On Sun, 23 Feb 2020 20:08:45 -0000, "Commander Kinsey"   
   >  wrote:   
   >   
   >> On Sun, 23 Feb 2020 19:57:08 -0000, default  wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> On Sun, 23 Feb 2020 18:30:55 -0000, "Commander Kinsey"   
   >>>  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> On Sun, 23 Feb 2020 13:15:28 -0000, default  wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> And you shouldn't discount mitigating circumstances if safety is   
   >>>>> involved.  I was working on my boat, hands covered with salt-water and   
   >>>>> figured I'd have no problem with 12V, yet touching the battery leads   
   >>>>> reminded me of every little cut, abrasion, torn cuticle, etc., on my   
   >>>>> hands.  Not lethal maybe, but disagreeable.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> I doubt it was even possible to harm you, even a 9V battery on your   
   tongue just stings.  Mind you if you're up a ladder anything that gives you a   
   fright can make you fall off.  I was painting my neighbour's eaves once and   
   his stupid wife tried to    
   have a bloody conversation with me from below.  It was the only time I've used   
   rather strong swearwords at her.  Her husband found it amusing.   
   >>>   
   >>> The salt water and battery thing wasn't dangerous since there needs to   
   >>> be sufficient current through a vital organ.  (the Navy said 100   
   >>> milliamps - but not how they arrived at that figure)  It was   
   >>> disagreeable enough to make it hard to work on the system.   
   >>   
   >> I heard something I believe is a myth, that someone in the army gave   
   himself a heart attack from a multimeter on resistance mode by holding each   
   end with a cut finger.  No way there's many milliamps from those things.  I   
   think the accepted amount for    
   death is somewhere around what you said the Navy said (hence breakers trip at   
   30 or 50mA).   
   >   
   > Those old hand-cranked "meggers" (insulation testers) were reputed to   
   > give an impressive shock.  I never used one that was the bailiwick of   
   > the antenna people.  At a transmitter site I saw one guy have a spark   
   > jump from his ass to the scope cart behind him when the safety   
   > discharge contactors and his shorting stick failed.  Old WW2 large HF   
   > transmitter. He wasn't killed but did go into shock after laughing   
   > about it, we had to get him off the mountain and to a hospital.   
      
   What a pussy.  Awww were his buttocks sore?  Hospital indeed....   
      
   >>>>> I'm using one of those so-called space blankets (aluminized polyester   
   >>>>> film) to shield the light emanating from a indoor hydroponic planter.   
   >>>>> With all the timers, pumps, lights, and fans, it seemed like a good   
   >>>>> idea to check the conductivity.  One side is an insulator the other   
   >>>>> reads zero ohms everywhere I checked, even 5 feet apart.  The stuff   
   >>>>> isn't totally light proof it just attenuates the light ~80%, so I know   
   >>>>> the aluminum coating can't be very thick.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> One day that will fall down and short something and cause a fire, I'd be   
   careful if I were you.   
   >>>   
   >>> The potential is there.  The lights use a current limiter, but the   
   >>> open circuit voltage is 80 VDC.  Current limiting (300 ma) and the   
   >>> voltage is 30 volts or so.  The pumps are 120 V submersible types and   
   >>> the prime danger IMO.  There is a GFI and 5 amp circuit breaker built   
   >>> in too.   
   >>   
   >> You probably don't need much current to set fire to that blanket.  Is it   
   flammable?   
   >   
   > It is plastic so I expect it is flammable, but from my experience with   
   > Mylar, it takes a high temperature without melting.   
   >   
   > I just tried it.  It wouldn't light readily with a match but the torch   
   > did the job and it sustained a flame once lit.   
      
   If you have one to spare, you could have some fun passing current through it   
   when in your garden, then you'd know if it's a fire hazard.   
      
   >>> It weighs 50 pounds or so with a large footprint and low center of   
   >>> gravity,   
   >>   
   >> My house still has fuses.  I detest nuisance trips.   
   >   
   > My wife's house had plug fuses,   
      
   You say "plug fuses" like that's a bad thing.  All UK plugs have fuses.   
      
   > fabric covered wiring, and no grounds.   
      
   Grounds can be dangerous.  Consider you touch something that you didn't know   
   was live.  Now you need to touch a ground aswell to get a shock.  And if that   
   ground is your knee against an appliance while the live is on your finger,   
   your heart is in the    
   middle.   
      
   > The copper was all black with either oxidation or some coating, and   
   > the enclosed lights had insulation that was falling apart.   
   >   
   > She paid an electrician some $3,000 to bring it to code.   
      
   Why are Americans obsessed with this "code" thing?  In the UK we do whatever   
   we like with our own homes.   
      
   > I thought   
   > that was a good deal considering the amount of work involved.  The   
   > electric range needed 4 wires, and the wall outlets went from 14 AWG   
   > to 12 AWG and 20 amp breakers.  I think the only thing that guy didn't   
   > change were the light switches and light fixtures.   
   >   
   > I've done some wiring in her house, but I didn't want to tackle that   
   > job.   
      
   I'm sure you could have done it for a lot less than $3000 unless it was a 10   
   bedroom mansion.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)