I was in the process of trying out some pushbutton receptacles to my floor lamp light section, always making sure pulling out the wire from the wall o utlet before doing this when i attach the 2 wires to it. I must have tried this at least a half dozen times, always making sure about the wire plug. Finally, at the last attempt, i got the proper fit and added the bulb, turn the little switch on the wire to test if the connections worked. It did, a nd then to my surprise, I noticed that last time I did not bother to ever r emove that wire from the outlet. I thought, how come I did not get electroc uted or at the least some shocked?
There must exist a path for the electricity to flow *through* your body (or, some PART of your body). I.e., a place where it comes *in* and a place where it goes *out*.
The easy way to get a shock is to let *both* wires come in contact with your body. Note that one of the wires (the "neutral") is (theoretically) bonded to the "safety ground" (third wire) back in your electrical panel. So, you *should* be able to hold this wire and the "safety ground" with no problem.
However, there is often a "potential" (voltage) across these two (technical reasons not worth describing here). And, the safety ground may *not* be connected properly. Finally, the "hot" and "neutral" wires may be swapped, incorrectly. Bottom line, do not try this. :>
(there are other ways this can fail)
Because the neutral is connected to the safety ground (earth), grabbing the *hot* and touching anything that is also connected to "earth" (e.g., a water pipe) is effectively the same as grabbing hot and safety ground (which we said was the same as hot and *neutral*) so you'll get a shock.
Depending on the type of soil you have (and how recently it has rained, etc.) standing barefoot on the dirt can have your feet acting like a connection to "earth" so letting any part of your body touch "hot" will result in a shock.
To get a shock, you need enough electrical potential (voltage) to overcome the resistance of your skin. Typically, this is about
40 volts. As such, 110VAC qualifies!
[Note that you can get a tingle from a 9V battery if you hold it to your tongue as there is far less resistance to overcome at your moist tongue than at your dry hands!]
But, the voltage isn't what kills. Rather, it is the current -- the "amount" of electricity (flow rate) passing through your body (from the "in" point to the "out" point). If your *heart* happens to be along this path, then, chances are, it will stop beating and that will be the cause of death. One technique to minimize the chance of this sort of path developing (assuming you are wearing insulated shoes) is to keep one hand in your pocket while working on electrics; with just one hand exposed to an electric circuit, there's less chance of the "second point" being established for the current to flow *through* your body (esp if that second point was YOUR OTHER HAND -- with heart directly between them!).
[I.e., with one contact point, you're a bird perched on a high tension wire -- safely!]
The length of time that you are exposed to the current also plays a factor. For events where you *can* dislodge yourself (i.e., pull your hand away from the "shock"), there is typically less risk than for events where the muscles involuntarily contract, grabbing the conductor even tighter (so the shock persists indefinitely)
If very high currents are involved (like grabbing onto a "high tension" wire), then your flesh will actually *cook*.
Currents as low as 30mA (AC) can lead to fibrilation and, thus, death. AC is harder for the body to cope with -- and our 60Hz is a particularly bad frequency, in that regard. By contrast, DC currents need to be considerably higher (an order of magnitude) to be of significant concern.
[GFCI devices are designed to measure the amount of current going "out" one conductor and returning back "in" through the other. Any imbalance means there must have been some OTHER path for the electricity to follow -- most likely through some *body*. This "imbalance" is what causes them to trip.]
button receptacles to my floor lamp light section, always making sure pulling out the wire from the wall outlet before doing this when i attach the 2 wires to it. I must have tried this at least a half dozen times, always making sure about the wire plug. Finally, at the last attempt, i got the proper fit and added the bulb, turn the little switch on the wire to test if the connections worked. It did, and then to my surprise, I noticed that last time I did not bother to ever remove that wire from the outlet. I thought, how come I did not get electrocuted or at the least some shocked?
Just a guess. If the bulb was out, and the switch was on the neutral side, you might not have been working on a hot wire.
What is a pushbutton receptacle? Never heard of it/them! You should never pull a wire from any outlet, you pull the plug that the wires are attached to if you want to disconnect the electricity from an outlet.
Just curious why 60hz is particularly bad, and where you got this onfo?
I believe a welder (stick welder) operates at around 24v. I learned real quickly that it can really tingle if a person is standing on wet soil, and the shoes are damp. It's Low voltage, but it still can zap a person. I always stand on a piece of dry plywood if I weld outdoors now, (if the soil is damp or wet).
I have a bucket heater, which is merely a 115v heating element, which is similar to a smallish water heater element. I have used this thing for years to heat a small amount of water. But I can not use it on a GFCI. Even though the water is in a plastic bucket on a dry floor, it trips the GFCI within seconds. I've learned to just plug it into a standard outlet, and it works fine. Obviously there some electrical leakage in this device, so I know not to stick my hand in the water to see how hot the water is, without unplugging it first. Even if I'm on a dry floor, and not touching any sort of ground with my other hand or another body part.
Thanks guys..as for what is a pushbutton receptacle....Its been around for years and used mostly on lamps. You either turn it off/on. There are also ones that have a small chain. If your still not familiar...google it.
receptacle....Its been around for years and used mostly on lamps. You either turn it off/on. There are also ones that have a small chain. If your still not familiar...google it.
Receptacle, synonym with socket. A couple holes, typically flat holes, used to power a plug.
What about my still not familiar? If my not familar.... what?
If you're still not sure of the definition of "receptacle", please google it.
No, on a lamp the pull chain, push button, or twist key IS the switch, but it is part of the socket. The OP said ".Its been around for years and used mostly on lamps" and he called it a "receptacle".
He's talking about the lamp socket or "socket lamp holder". Look at:
r lamp light section, always making sure pulling out the wire from the wall outlet before doing this when i attach the 2 wires to it. I must have tri ed this at least a half dozen times, always making sure about the wire plug . Finally, at the last attempt, i got the proper fit and added the bulb, tu rn the little switch on the wire to test if the connections worked. It did, and then to my surprise, I noticed that last time I did not bother to ever remove that wire from the outlet. I thought, how come I did not get electr ocuted or at the least some shocked?
I have a guess why you didn't get a shock or at least a spark.
I didn't understand what you were doing until others posted photos. You we re changing out the socket/receptacle that the bulb fits into. It has a pu shbutton. You needed to attach wires to the little screws inside the, well , let's call it lamp holder, I think that's a more understood term. You un plugged the cord from the wall receptacle, er, outlet, each time, as you sh ould. Except one time you forgot, but you didn't get a shock or spark.
Here's what else you have in that original post. "turn the little switch o n the wire" I have several lamps that have a little turn switch on the cord itself. That is the switch for the lamp. If that switch is turned off th ere should be no power to the lamp, even if the cord is plugged in. In the ory.
It is still better to unplug the cord, because that switch usually only swi tches the hot leg, and if the cord is plugged in wrong or the outlet is wir ed wrong it might switch the neutral instead. That would turn off the lamp but leave one of the wires hot.
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