Re: The effects of high voltage on the body..

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Terry Fritz" <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>

Hi Ben,

Electric fences are "pulsed" with high voltage for very short pulses like
once every few seconds.  So you have plenty of opportunity to turn in the
other direction and leave.  

Both AC and DC can kill easily at say 120 volts.  Many people have been
killed by both but perhaps DC is a bit better.  A friend at work got locked
onto DC till the 2 amp "fuse blew" and he lived.  The real problem is you
may not be able to breath and you can't wrench yourself free.  There were
people near him but he could not call out for help.  His body temperature
raised 5 degrees from the event that lasted minutes...  I think AC would
have killed him long dead...  "I" think "DC" may be a bit better but DC
sources tend to be less current limited which "really" matters.  There are
so many variables, it is like trying to figure out the best way to crash a
car into a cocreate wall at 40MPH...  You just have to hope "you" do it
right if it happens to you...

Cheers,

	Terry


At 08:58 PM 4/17/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi Terry, all,
>   On the subject of getting zapped.. I had a friend argue
>with me the other day that AC is much more dangerous than
>DC (and according to him, that's why they use DC in
>electric fences.. ).. I always thought it was the other way
>around.. when you grab DC, your muscles lock and you can't
>let go.. with AC you have somewhat of a chance (due to the
>60Hz.. ).. Am I correct in my reasoning?
>
>Coiling In Pittsburgh
>Ben McMillen
>
>snip...