Car Battery

[Diode]

LOL. In this case it's the current not voltage that you worry about. Okay, man among wimps, I dare you to hold that wrench in your bare hand with your face nearby when it contacts ground. We'll quickly see who issues a girly screech.

Before you trick me, not itmeans's battery, a fully charged one.

When we were stupid kids, we used to take a chunk of steel wool and short it across a car's battery using sticks. It would literally explode into fire and each strand would glow and melt. Pretty spectacular.

Like I said, a burn is the only real possiblity from the heat.
550 A x 12V = 6.6kW.

Girly power!

 

[papasmerf]

Like I said, a burn is the only real possiblity from the heat.
550 A x 12V = 6.6kW.

Girly power!

Or about the power of 6 microwaves.

 

[S.C. Joe]

Wanna know what I did to help traction / subwoofers and amps in the trunk for weight

http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=50245.0

 

[Moraff]

Like I said, a burn is the only real possiblity from the heat.
550 A x 12V = 6.6kW.

Girly power!

While I am certainly not afraid of playing with my car's battery, don't you only need to take a few milli-amps to kill you if you take it the wrong way?

 

[Diode]

While I am certainly not afraid of playing with my car's battery, don't you only need to take a few milli-amps to kill you if you take it the wrong way?

Yes...but Current is a factor of Voltage over Resistance.
Since your body(skin) is fairly high in resistance 12 Volts is no danger at all.
I can "feel" voltage at about 48-60V.
110 makes Me jump
240 feels like a hammer to my finger
480 blew me across a room.
And I won't tell you about the 1600 Volt shock.

 

[Diode]

You've been hit by 1600V. Tell us the story!!

Worst I've taken was 240Vac on my arm and it HURT for a while afterwards.

I worked with an electrician that took 600Vac across his chest. He spent a day in the hospital with an ill-regular heartbeat and burns. It was a week before the drugs returned his heart to normal rhythm. The embarrssing part was he lost bladder control when hit. At the same site another electrician was killed by 600Vac as it blew him off the ladder (the fall killed him).

From http://www.pa.msu.edu/sciencet/ask_st/010892.html
- 0.02 amp may produce sensations ranging from tingling to sharp pain
- 0.03 to 0.07 amp will begin to impair the ability of the person to breathe
- 0.1 to about 0.2 amp can cause death by initiating fibrillation of the heart
- >0.1 amp can stop the heart completely

The resistance across your chest above the heart is ~7000 - 10,000 ohms. Therefore 700 volts can be potentially fatal (many variables). If you take a shock from hand to foot or hand to hand the voltage would have to be higher, but either way you would have burns.

Although it's rarely mentioned AC is much more dangerous that DC, especially at the 60Hz frequency used here. As the frequency increases (same voltage), it's not the shock that is an issue, it's the burns that can occur and initially you may not even feel it happening.

Its true. Except the supply had (I'm sure) a fairly high internal R.
Voltage was in stored in a Cap, not distcharged by a saftey ckt.
One hex key vapourized..one Diode on the floor (Witha ripped suit pants)
Second degree burns....somewhat dazed and confused for 12-14 hours.
Went to work the next day.........

 

[Diode]

What was it? Sounds like a TV tube.

It's was a type of Cable.
But you are right about a CRT...The ultor (Anode) can store potential for a while, ..It's usually in the pF range of capatitance.
The flyback transformer while capable of 30kV or so...at almost no current ( say nA) if touched by a grounded human, can give you a nasty 2kV shock.
By the way...never have two hands in this kind of CKT.
Or you can nail your heart.
The 1600 V blast was from finger (Hex Key) to (ground) about midway along my arm.
Leather shoes on a non-coductive floor.
I was fortunate.

 

[Terminator2000]

One question.

If you wear rubber gloves or put rubber material between your hand and the wrench. and wear rubber soled shoes ...

does that protect you from any shock?

 

[S.C. Joe]

For just 12 volts yes, maybe even 120 volts.....really you can touch both pos and neg post of the battery and won't feel a shock.

I put the neg cable on all the time and my ride with all the amps and hot ingition box theres a good spark but I don't feel it. My battery is a dry cell Optima so it safer than a wet cell that has acid water inside.

 

[Terminator2000]

For just 12 volts yes, maybe even 120 volts.....really you can touch both pos and neg post of the battery and won't feel a shock.

I put the neg cable on all the time and my ride with all the amps and hot ingition box theres a good spark but I don't feel it. My battery is a dry cell Optima so it safer than a wet cell that has acid water inside.

This goes for most batteries in general?

Because I'm not exactly sure what kind of battery mine is...

but regardless of what kind of battery...I'm assuming thick rubber material between my hand and the very metal wrench will suffice as more than enough protection...

Its the "Or you can nail your heart." part I'm worried about...

 

[S.C. Joe]

Most are still wet cell but they don't blow as easy as in the past. You really need no gloves, the main thing is if you touch the pos post with a wench and touch the metal body it short out and the wench will start heating up and you could cause some major damage...which is why some say to take of the neg side first and install it last.

The battery will be clamp down too, either from the top or on the bottom, if its old there might be alot of rust. If you are unsure of what to do, best to just let the place you buy the battery from install it. Can't be much fee-if at all and you know it be done right.

Those side post batteries can be tricky, they need to be very tight but not so tight you crack the battery. They can be hard to remove as well. If the side cables aren't good and tight, the car likely will start for a few weeks but then won't.

 

[Diode]

Its the "Or you can nail your heart." part I'm worried about...

You can relax. That was about the 1.6kV ckt...not the battery.