Got a decent Shock! Ouch.

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pogue1000

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Well I was hanging a ceiling fan yesterday and had the switch off but there was another wire that was hot and when i put the bracket up there i got a very nice shock for a couple seconds. It really hurt because i had both my hands on the bracket!

Obviously I am alive and ok... but learned lesson :) I rarely touch electric, i just dont like it.

Just curious if there is any damage i could of had done to myself with this type of shock.

Since I did it I have just been really tired,,, and just felt kind of out of it since then... and chest feels a little funny. Part of me thinks its probably just anxiety and i am ok and maybe i am thinking about it to much, worrying myself.

I didnt get any burns or anything...

Yes i learned my lesson :)

THoughts?
 

Jar546

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Make sure your heart has a steady rhythm by checking your pulse. It should be constant and regular.

Next, hire an electrician to figure out what happened. If your switches were off and you were only hooking up the white and black then this should have not happened.

The fact that it did means that:

1) You had the wrong cap off and was shocked by a feed through hot.
2) You did not have the switch off.
3) The circuit is improperly wired.

If you are sure that 1 & 2 are not the case then get a qualified electrician to fix the problem.
 

Jimbo

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Glad you're OK. Possible "coulda been": falling off ladder, with subsequent additional shock when cranium contacts concrete!

120 volts is a dangerous voltage, in that given "average" human body resistance, it is very possible to have just the right amount of current ( I think the number is aroung 100 ma) to cause V-Fib. Electricians working on very high voltages are often burned but not killed, because the current does not cause V. fib.
 

Ian Gills

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Happened to me once when I tried to fix my first ceiling fan in Malawi.

That time the circuit was off and the capacitor discharged through me. That bloody hurt that did.

I learnt that day that it was easier to do plumbing...
 

Thatguy

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Watch for atrophy.
http://www.nature.com/ki/journal/v73/n10/images/5002668f1.jpg

5002668f1.jpg
 
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pogue1000

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Probably before you reach 115.
Well i have a baby coming in July, sooo hopefully my wife will name it after me if i dont make it :D

My pulse seems fine and blood pressure is fine. I called the on call doctor and he didnt seem to to concerned.

My guess is just probably my nerves.

As for why it happend there is two hot wires up there and one is off of a switch for the light and other is hot all time for the fan which will be controlled by the pull chain. I forgot other one was hot all time, my father usually does the electric :) I will keep it that way!
 

pogue1000

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Happened to me once when I tried to fix my first ceiling fan in Malawi.

That time the circuit was off and the capacitor discharged through me. That bloody hurt that did.

I learnt that day that it was easier to do plumbing...


Thats why i am a computer programmer :) and just a DIYer at heart :) Wife hates it!
 

Jar546

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I am glad that you are OK and realize your limitations. With a few minor changes to your scenario, even with an increase in temperature and more sweat could have lead to a more tragic result.
 

Leejosepho

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My pulse seems fine and blood pressure is fine. I called the on call doctor and he didnt seem to to concerned.

My guess is just probably my nerves.

Possibly, but you could have some muscles that are sore or slightly bruised or whatever from shock-related over-exertion. I once picked up a metal desk lamp in one hand while holding a metal box on the end of an extension cord in the other, and I was actually paralyzed for several seconds and could not move at all until my boss saw something was wrong and unplugged me. A doctor said I was fine as long as I was still breathing, but I sure felt sore and jittery for several days!
 

Cass

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Many people receive shocks and fall over dead hours later even after going to a hospital to be checked out...it is just what damage is done by the flow of electricity through the body and that is something that most times can't be seen...
 

hj

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shock

The path the electicity takes giving you the shock is also a major factor. Touching the hot wire with one finger while another finger on the same hand is grounded is one thing. Touching the hot wire while standing on an aluminum ladder, or touching a ground with the other hand, is something else, because then the electricity passes through, or across, your body and that can cause all kinds of problems.
 

CodeOne

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Had an interesting thing happen one day about six years ago. It was during the summer around late july early august. I had this fellow working for me that made the same mistake in six or seven houses before we found out. As you may have guessed I was an electrical contractor at the time.
Anyway while correcting the mistake in the last house I got in a hurry an didnt take proper precautions and made a careless mistake myself. I got across a hot wire and a ground wire at 120v. The time of year caused me to be extremely sweaty of cource in an attic. It was the hardest I've ever been shocked. Felt the shock up to my shoulders on both arms.
I dont know which came first, I think i pulled off first However the breaker tripped. This is an impossible situation to live and tell about as you probably know. The breaker was a 15A AFCI. Probably why it tripped when I came off the wiring,
Even more interesting I had no pains anywhere in my body for three days. Wouldnt mind that again. However a few factors dont know the duration, amount of sweat, etc. Not going to try and find out either no worth the risk.
Yes electricty is very dangerous. One important factor to remember is not to get in the path of the circle.
Electricity is trying to find its source. Most think its trying to find ground. The only reason that is is because we use a grounded system here in the U.S. Remember stay out of the circle (circuit).
 
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