meburdick
Platinum Member
I've read a couple of different things, not all of which make sense to me (not saying they aren't correct, just saying I don't understand them).
The piece that I don't quite follow is that AC is much more likely to cause heart defibrillation when the path of the current coursing through your body does not pass directly through the heart. And, this would be the case for shocks that don't pass through the left arm.
The piece that DOES make sense to me is that an AC power source is directly grounded to earth. This means that the ground extends all the way out to the torch, and touching a single wire (that's live) can shock you. With DC, you have to "complete the loop" through your body back to the DC Ground.
Either way, there are a couple of principles that I always keep in mind when working with anything electrical..
- Electricity takes the path of LEAST RESISTANCE to ground. If you're welding, and have you have an excellent ground on your work, "you" should never become part of that path (even if you're all sweaty, with no shirt on, lying on your back, on an unpainted steel surface, and you're welding something that's in contact with that surface).
- Shocks through your *left* arm are much more dangerous than those through your right arm because the current passes THROUGH your heart on its way to ground.
The piece that I don't quite follow is that AC is much more likely to cause heart defibrillation when the path of the current coursing through your body does not pass directly through the heart. And, this would be the case for shocks that don't pass through the left arm.
The piece that DOES make sense to me is that an AC power source is directly grounded to earth. This means that the ground extends all the way out to the torch, and touching a single wire (that's live) can shock you. With DC, you have to "complete the loop" through your body back to the DC Ground.
Either way, there are a couple of principles that I always keep in mind when working with anything electrical..
- Electricity takes the path of LEAST RESISTANCE to ground. If you're welding, and have you have an excellent ground on your work, "you" should never become part of that path (even if you're all sweaty, with no shirt on, lying on your back, on an unpainted steel surface, and you're welding something that's in contact with that surface).
- Shocks through your *left* arm are much more dangerous than those through your right arm because the current passes THROUGH your heart on its way to ground.
) rubber boots Let say they touch the person that is having the heck shocked out of them and they wont feel a thing. Now have a third person with the bare feet standing in the salt water come over and touch the person wearing the rubber boots . Now all three persons including the guy wearing the rubber boots are going to get the heck shocked out of them. what is the difference between person number 1 and person number 3 you say? well no current will flow to the boot wearer from touching no. 1 because there is no return path, even tho the boot wearer is energized from touching no.1 guy. so when no.3 guy touches the other side of boot wearer, he completes a path from the source voltage which is no.1 guy THRU boot wearer to the return path of no.3 guy. Savvy?