Accidentally brushed those two pins with hand coming off a transformer while trying to inspect and fix this tape player and fuck me mains voltage hurts. My hand keeps spazzing out now lol. Who’s been zapped before?
A few years ago I was working at a company that makes kiosks (like the ones you see in McDonalds). We ground everything to the computer case.
Bought a new batch of kettle leads, plugged one into the computer while it was powered and was holding the computer steady by the case.
Turns out the live and ground wires were swapped in every cable in that batch.
OP go to a hospital. Getting hit with mains can disrup your heart rhythms and cause heart attacks hours later. Go to a hospital and tell them you received an electrical shock and need an ECG.
In future you shouldn’t be messing with electrical if you don’t know what you’re doing, rule 1 is always to make sure something is isolated before you start working on it.
My dad’s mate was a sparky for about 40 years and as he got older he developed what looked like a nervous tick,turns out it was years of getting zapped.
Electrocuted means you died (like executed). You received an electric shock.
But yeah, I’ve had a couple of tingles, nothing that’s left me with hand spasms. I’d probably get that checked.
Yes, a few times. You don’t know the limit of your ability until you arrive at it.
Yes twice, it hurt…a lot.
Yes, a number of times. It’s not too bad if it’s only off a lighting circuit or something like.
Worst one I had was repairing an Energiser for an electric fence down the local livery yard. Clip in one hand, like a moron I picked up the earth spike. I could literally feel it travel up my arm, across my back and down to the other hand. Wasn’t funny, considering everyone pissed themselves.
Several times. One pushing a plug in without the back on, another time in a new rental had wall lamps with exposed wires but no bayonet/bulb attachment. Silly reasons. Hurts like a motherfucker. Never went to hospital, probably should have after reading these replies.
Hand spasms you say…?
Just to add to the ‘holy shit’ factor about being zapped with mains voltage…. It’s not the voltage that get you, it’s the amperage.
75mA can cause your heart to go into VF… that’s 0.075 amps
If what zapped you was connected via a normal 3 pin plug… it’s (possibly) got a 13A fuse on it.
That’s enough to fuck you up 173 times. 😂
Go get checked out… it’s worth it.
Once tried putting a plug in down the back of a cupboard. Had a finger on one of the pins. My hand recoiled so fast I looked like Pete Townsend playing the opening of Pinball Wizard.
Can your feel your heartbeat racing too? I smacked my hand into 2pins on a 3phase plug years ago. Fucking scary.
A couple of times as a child, like ten years old. It didn’t seem like too big of a deal and I didn’t tell my parents in case they punished me for being stupid.
A few times. It stings but not as bad as accidentally touching the back of a CRT monitor.
If you had the tape player disassembled, WHY WAS IT PLUGGED IN?!
Flat above my girlfriend’s flooded, caused some damage in hers, when maintenance came round to assess the damage, I pulled the bathroom light cord (no window in the bathroom), and got a huge zap.
Turns out the plastic cover on the pull switch was full of water, that had also ran down the string, and as the flat had an old school fuse box, it hadn’t fused out tripped.
Arm was tingly for the rest of the day.
I’ve had a few other minor zaps, but that was the worst because my hand was wrapped around the string so it couldn’t jolt away from the shock properly.
Ex electrician. I’ve had a few belts off the 230V mains. A good one isn’t funny at all. Can be fatal of course. I knew a bloke who managed to get caught across 415V (between two phases.) and he said that really was no joke. I met another who had an 11kV shock and was very badly burned.
Be careful folks. Buy a proper two pole tester.
Follow the advice on this H & S pamphlet and be safe
Yep , put a fuse in wrong and got thrown down. Death keeps trying to get me.
Years ago, I had the back off an old CRT TV and it needed to be turned on so I could adjust the borders so my PlayStation displayed on the whole screen without any black borders. I accidentally touched the power supply a few times and got that buzzy sensation in my hand.
My uncle who worked as an electrician his whole life used to tell me to drink beer after you get electric shock as that helps to clear your kidneys form potential blood clots! 😅
I’ve not but have a funny (well to me) story about my father getting electrocuted via mains electric.
He was doing some DIY converting a shed into a storage room adding some electric lights. He flicked the main board switch off in front of my brother and told him he was working on the electrics and not to turn it on. About 5-10 minutes my sister and her boyfriend come in and complain nothing is working. After checking the power in the rest of the house they check the mains box and notice the switch is down.
My brother at this point is also complaining as his gameboy needs recharging. The boyfriend flicks the switch which promptly trips the breaker. He resets the switches then breaker and switches it all on but it trips again. He repeats this a few times. They are all confused but it’s an old unit so think they’ll just give it a few minutes to reset.
About 2 minutes later my father staggers in from outside holding his arm and lays on the floor holding his arm and not moving much apart from shaking. We call my mother saying something is wrong with him and asking what we should do. Not long later he starts shouting “who the fuck turn on the mains?”. The boyfriend says “me but it’s broken it keeps tripping”. Lots of swearing and explaining he was holding the wires so when it went on it clamped his hands and he couldn’t let go after the first time so he’d been shocked about 4-5 times. It was at this point he tells everyone he’d told my brother (who had watched the whole event start to finish) not to let anyone turn it on.
Tdlr; sisters boyfriend and brother tortured my father with mains electricity for about 5 minutes to the point finally escaped then lay on the floor grasping his arm and randomly shaking.
Yep. As a kid I pushed a paperclip into a mains lead to see what would happen. It blew the fuse in the plug, big pop, sparks – in case you wondered.
Also as an even younger kid school took us to a farm. I remember the teacher warning us not to touch the electric fences because it could kill you if you had a week heart, and me thinking: “well I’d better find out if I have a weak heart”. That was a big ol’ jolt.
Maybe these things explain a lot about me…
In Cuba I used a faulty socket and got shocked by the mains. It was like getting punched in the chest by a heavyweight boxer.
When I was a teen I was helping my sister replace a cracked light bulb fitting…. “Can you turn off the mains?” “Yes, I’ve done that” “Are you sure you’ve turned off the mains” “YES!” “Ok…..<zap>….mother fuc….”
Yup from then on I’ve always personally checked turning off any mains, electric or water, and also got myself an electrical tester.
Lucky I was spry back then and landed on my feet off the ladder.
If you work on an appliance with it fucking plugged in you’re asking for it
Yes, I was about 12, and it scared the shit out of me. I didn’t dare tell my mum and dad, and still never have. It was a feeling I can’t describe, like licking a 9 volt battery with my entire body, then feeling like every part of me was dizzy aside from my head.
While changing a smashed light bulb. I thought the light was off. Threw me across the room. It’s your own muscles that do that and they’re far stronger when your brain isn’t regulating them. No ill effects afterwards though.
Trying to refit belt in washing machine.
First attempt I unplugged it, turned off circuit etc.
Plugged it back in to test, belt pinged off again so I went down the back with a big screwdriver. Something went bang!
Came round slumped against far wall of utility room.
Yeah, I’ve been zapped repeatedly over the years, one of my hobbies was repairing old arcade machines, and sometimes you need to test them with them running.
A quick touch from a mains supply is considerably less bad than getting zapped by the HT on a CRT monitor, but if you’re still feeling effects from it you may want to consider a trip to a walk in centre or A&E.
I was an incredible moron one day as a child and accidently cut through a live cable with a knife – it zapped me in passing and blew the knife to bits, needless to say I am paranoid about checking fuseboxes to this day so life lesson learned
In my secondary school you could take the fuses out of the tabletop plug extensions very easily. Many an afternoon were spent convincing each other to put fingers in, I can’t remember it being that bad.
I accidentally touched the prongs of an IEC C14 lead connector while plugged in when re-rooting some cables at the back of my dad’s hi-fi unit in my late teens. That shock and pain were like nothing else. The only thing that came close to it was when my dentist injected my gums to remove four good teeth as a younger teenager.
Why do you think schools showed us all those JIMMY! movies? For fun? Well, I didn’t hear anybody laughing!
But seriously, get yourself checked out.
I’ve had a few electric shocks in my time but fortunately I’ve never been electrocuted.
you might have more luck using a ouija board
I’ve never had any long term effects after the initial shock, there’s not much you can do, you could get it looked at but other than being treated for burns they can’t really do anything, any damage will hopefully heal naturally
Me – I knocked over a lamp went to pick it up as the whole bulb holder had fallen off and sapped myself
Yeah the other week. Dodgy lead on the back of a guitar amp. Had just put trainers on so with no scientific evidence to back it up I’m claiming that saved my life.
Too many times and I should have probably gone to the hospital at least once by the looks of these comments.
If you’re working in old dogey buildings, just assume it’s live until you’ve tested it yourself. Then still assume it’s live until you’ve checked it yourself. Then still assume it’s live until you’ve tested it again.
# Rule no. 1 of electrical work, make sure the power is off, disconnected and then verify that with a test device (not your fingers)
Yes , a few times . Arm and shoulder locked out and my Wife started laughing when I was repairing/testing the tumble dryer . Totally my own fault !! (Remember kids… always check it’s dead with a multimeter!!)
You mean received an electric shock.
Electrocuted means you died from it (like execution). If you are still alive, then it was an electric shock, but you were not electrocuted.
Several times, first time aged 10-11 stuck my finger into a light fitting to determine if it was screw fit or bayonet (it was bayonet).
A few times since, once got a shock from an electric shower, that one threw me across the room. Now I try not to mess with electrics.
1985, I was messing about with my big Sister’s Dansette record player. I’d removed the plug cover, and then I plugged it in. The blast of mains power blew me clean across my bedroom.
My arm wouldn’t move, for about 30 minutes. I waited until things became normal, and never told a soul.
2. I tried to remove a lightbulb which wasn’t there. It was on the landing, so the resultant bzzt sent me flying backwards and downstairs.
3. My friend’s Dad had a lathe in his shed, with a nail for a fuse. Yeah.
Somehow, I’ve survived.
Yeah could taste my fillings for days after.
I got belted from a dodgy immersion heater when clicking reset on it. Fair enough I was using a pair of metal scissors.. That one was weird, it was exactly like the buzzer game that gives you a shock through the handle. Tingled right down to my elbow…
The first time I ever changed the fuse in a plug as a teenager, I decided to test the connections I’d made before putting the cover back on the back of the plug, just to be sure. I pushed it in with the flat of my hand bridging the contacts and got an almighty belt, 20 years later I can still imagine the feeling I got in my shoulder. Thankfully I think I was covering the earth pin too as the RCD tripped almost immediately, leaving me in the dark with a weird feeling in my arm, seriously considering my life choices up to that point.
My worst shock was from a three-phase, 600V system. It packed a wallop.
46 comments
A few years ago I was working at a company that makes kiosks (like the ones you see in McDonalds). We ground everything to the computer case.
Bought a new batch of kettle leads, plugged one into the computer while it was powered and was holding the computer steady by the case.
Turns out the live and ground wires were swapped in every cable in that batch.
OP go to a hospital. Getting hit with mains can disrup your heart rhythms and cause heart attacks hours later. Go to a hospital and tell them you received an electrical shock and need an ECG.
In future you shouldn’t be messing with electrical if you don’t know what you’re doing, rule 1 is always to make sure something is isolated before you start working on it.
My dad’s mate was a sparky for about 40 years and as he got older he developed what looked like a nervous tick,turns out it was years of getting zapped.
Electrocuted means you died (like executed). You received an electric shock.
But yeah, I’ve had a couple of tingles, nothing that’s left me with hand spasms. I’d probably get that checked.
Yes, a few times. You don’t know the limit of your ability until you arrive at it.
Yes twice, it hurt…a lot.
Yes, a number of times. It’s not too bad if it’s only off a lighting circuit or something like.
Worst one I had was repairing an Energiser for an electric fence down the local livery yard.
Clip in one hand, like a moron I picked up the earth spike. I could literally feel it travel up my arm, across my back and down to the other hand. Wasn’t funny, considering everyone pissed themselves.
Several times. One pushing a plug in without the back on, another time in a new rental had wall lamps with exposed wires but no bayonet/bulb attachment. Silly reasons. Hurts like a motherfucker. Never went to hospital, probably should have after reading these replies.
Hand spasms you say…?
Just to add to the ‘holy shit’ factor about being zapped with mains voltage…. It’s not the voltage that get you, it’s the amperage.
75mA can cause your heart to go into VF… that’s 0.075 amps
If what zapped you was connected via a normal 3 pin plug… it’s (possibly) got a 13A fuse on it.
That’s enough to fuck you up 173 times. 😂
Go get checked out… it’s worth it.
Once tried putting a plug in down the back of a cupboard. Had a finger on one of the pins. My hand recoiled so fast I looked like Pete Townsend playing the opening of Pinball Wizard.
Can your feel your heartbeat racing too? I smacked my hand into 2pins on a 3phase plug years ago. Fucking scary.
A couple of times as a child, like ten years old. It didn’t seem like too big of a deal and I didn’t tell my parents in case they punished me for being stupid.
A few times. It stings but not as bad as accidentally touching the back of a CRT monitor.
If you had the tape player disassembled, WHY WAS IT PLUGGED IN?!
Flat above my girlfriend’s flooded, caused some damage
in hers, when maintenance came round to assess the damage, I pulled the bathroom light cord (no window in the bathroom), and got a huge zap.
Turns out the plastic cover on the pull switch was full of water, that had also ran down the string, and as the flat had an old school fuse box, it hadn’t fused out tripped.
Arm was tingly for the rest of the day.
I’ve had a few other minor zaps, but that was the worst because my hand was wrapped around the string so it couldn’t jolt away from the shock properly.
Ex electrician. I’ve had a few belts off the 230V mains. A good one isn’t funny at all. Can be fatal of course.
I knew a bloke who managed to get caught across 415V (between two phases.) and he said that really was no joke.
I met another who had an 11kV shock and was very badly burned.
Be careful folks. Buy a proper two pole tester.
Follow the advice on this H & S pamphlet and be safe
[https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/gs38.pdf](https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/gs38.pdf)
Yep , put a fuse in wrong and got thrown down. Death keeps trying to get me.
Years ago, I had the back off an old CRT TV and it needed to be turned on so I could adjust the borders so my PlayStation displayed on the whole screen without any black borders. I accidentally touched the power supply a few times and got that buzzy sensation in my hand.
My uncle who worked as an electrician his whole life used to tell me to drink beer after you get electric shock as that helps to clear your kidneys form potential blood clots! 😅
I’ve not but have a funny (well to me) story about my father getting electrocuted via mains electric.
He was doing some DIY converting a shed into a storage room adding some electric lights.
He flicked the main board switch off in front of my brother and told him he was working on the electrics and not to turn it on.
About 5-10 minutes my sister and her boyfriend come in and complain nothing is working. After checking the power in the rest of the house they check the mains box and notice the switch is down.
My brother at this point is also complaining as his gameboy needs recharging.
The boyfriend flicks the switch which promptly trips the breaker. He resets the switches then breaker and switches it all on but it trips again. He repeats this a few times.
They are all confused but it’s an old unit so think they’ll just give it a few minutes to reset.
About 2 minutes later my father staggers in from outside holding his arm and lays on the floor holding his arm and not moving much apart from shaking.
We call my mother saying something is wrong with him and asking what we should do.
Not long later he starts shouting “who the fuck turn on the mains?”.
The boyfriend says “me but it’s broken it keeps tripping”.
Lots of swearing and explaining he was holding the wires so when it went on it clamped his hands and he couldn’t let go after the first time so he’d been shocked about 4-5 times.
It was at this point he tells everyone he’d told my brother (who had watched the whole event start to finish) not to let anyone turn it on.
Tdlr; sisters boyfriend and brother tortured my father with mains electricity for about 5 minutes to the point finally escaped then lay on the floor grasping his arm and randomly shaking.
Yep. As a kid I pushed a paperclip into a mains lead to see what would happen. It blew the fuse in the plug, big pop, sparks – in case you wondered.
Also as an even younger kid school took us to a farm. I remember the teacher warning us not to touch the electric fences because it could kill you if you had a week heart, and me thinking: “well I’d better find out if I have a weak heart”. That was a big ol’ jolt.
Maybe these things explain a lot about me…
In Cuba I used a faulty socket and got shocked by the mains. It was like getting punched in the chest by a heavyweight boxer.
When I was a teen I was helping my sister replace a cracked light bulb fitting….
“Can you turn off the mains?”
“Yes, I’ve done that”
“Are you sure you’ve turned off the mains”
“YES!”
“Ok…..<zap>….mother fuc….”
Yup from then on I’ve always personally checked turning off any mains, electric or water, and also got myself an electrical tester.
Lucky I was spry back then and landed on my feet off the ladder.
If you work on an appliance with it fucking plugged in you’re asking for it
Yes, I was about 12, and it scared the shit out of me. I didn’t dare tell my mum and dad, and still never have.
It was a feeling I can’t describe, like licking a 9 volt battery with my entire body, then feeling like every part of me was dizzy aside from my head.
While changing a smashed light bulb. I thought the light was off. Threw me across the room. It’s your own muscles that do that and they’re far stronger when your brain isn’t regulating them. No ill effects afterwards though.
Trying to refit belt in washing machine.
First attempt I unplugged it, turned off circuit etc.
Plugged it back in to test, belt pinged off again so I went down the back with a big screwdriver. Something went bang!
Came round slumped against far wall of utility room.
Yeah, I’ve been zapped repeatedly over the years, one of my hobbies was repairing old arcade machines, and sometimes you need to test them with them running.
A quick touch from a mains supply is considerably less bad than getting zapped by the HT on a CRT monitor, but if you’re still feeling effects from it you may want to consider a trip to a walk in centre or A&E.
I was an incredible moron one day as a child and accidently cut through a live cable with a knife – it zapped me in passing and blew the knife to bits, needless to say I am paranoid about checking fuseboxes to this day so life lesson learned
In my secondary school you could take the fuses out of the tabletop plug extensions very easily. Many an afternoon were spent convincing each other to put fingers in, I can’t remember it being that bad.
I accidentally touched the prongs of an IEC C14 lead connector while plugged in when re-rooting some cables at the back of my dad’s hi-fi unit in my late teens. That shock and pain were like nothing else. The only thing that came close to it was when my dentist injected my gums to remove four good teeth as a younger teenager.
Why do you think schools showed us all those JIMMY! movies? For fun? Well, I didn’t hear anybody laughing!
But seriously, get yourself checked out.
I’ve had a few electric shocks in my time but fortunately I’ve never been electrocuted.
you might have more luck using a ouija board
I’ve never had any long term effects after the initial shock, there’s not much you can do, you could get it looked at but other than being treated for burns they can’t really do anything, any damage will hopefully heal naturally
Me – I knocked over a lamp went to pick it up as the whole bulb holder had fallen off and sapped myself
Yeah the other week. Dodgy lead on the back of a guitar amp. Had just put trainers on so with no scientific evidence to back it up I’m claiming that saved my life.
Too many times and I should have probably gone to the hospital at least once by the looks of these comments.
If you’re working in old dogey buildings, just assume it’s live until you’ve tested it yourself. Then still assume it’s live until you’ve checked it yourself. Then still assume it’s live until you’ve tested it again.
# Rule no. 1 of electrical work, make sure the power is off, disconnected and then verify that with a test device (not your fingers)
Yes , a few times . Arm and shoulder locked out and my Wife started laughing when I was repairing/testing the tumble dryer . Totally my own fault !! (Remember kids… always check it’s dead with a multimeter!!)
You mean received an electric shock.
Electrocuted means you died from it (like execution). If you are still alive, then it was an electric shock, but you were not electrocuted.
Several times, first time aged 10-11 stuck my finger into a light fitting to determine if it was screw fit or bayonet (it was bayonet).
A few times since, once got a shock from an electric shower, that one threw me across the room. Now I try not to mess with electrics.
1985, I was messing about with my big Sister’s Dansette record player. I’d removed the plug cover, and then I plugged it in. The blast of mains power blew me clean across my bedroom.
My arm wouldn’t move, for about 30 minutes. I waited until things became normal, and never told a soul.
2. I tried to remove a lightbulb which wasn’t there. It was on the landing, so the resultant bzzt sent me flying backwards and downstairs.
3. My friend’s Dad had a lathe in his shed, with a nail for a fuse. Yeah.
Somehow, I’ve survived.
Yeah could taste my fillings for days after.
I got belted from a dodgy immersion heater when clicking reset on it. Fair enough I was using a pair of metal scissors.. That one was weird, it was exactly like the buzzer game that gives you a shock through the handle. Tingled right down to my elbow…
The first time I ever changed the fuse in a plug as a teenager, I decided to test the connections I’d made before putting the cover back on the back of the plug, just to be sure. I pushed it in with the flat of my hand bridging the contacts and got an almighty belt, 20 years later I can still imagine the feeling I got in my shoulder. Thankfully I think I was covering the earth pin too as the RCD tripped almost immediately, leaving me in the dark with a weird feeling in my arm, seriously considering my life choices up to that point.
My worst shock was from a three-phase, 600V system. It packed a wallop.