Re: BIG DUMMY Accident

[Terry Fritz <twftesla@uswest.net>]

Hi All,

As this thread winds down, I thought it would be a time to mention the
three known people who have been seriously killed by Tesla coils...  An
expert, a bystander, and a child...  Be darn carful out there!!...

------------------------
This list of known deaths is as follows:

Henry L Transtrom - Electrocuted while working on a stage and using a
large Tesla coil.  He inadvertently allowed a power arc to go from his body
to some metal framing that was part of the stage backdrop.  He authored the
following book:

 "ELECTRICITY AT HIGH PRESSURES AND FREQUENCIES"
Henry L. Transtrom, originally published: 1913, second edition
1921, Joseph G. Branch Publishing, Chicago; Reprinted 1990, ISBN
1-55918-054-4, Lindsay Publications, Bradley, Illinois, 60915.
Paperback, 247pp, Lindsay # 20544, $ 11.95. Excellent technical
book; useful in calculating and designing coil control systems,
coils, inductance, field strengths, capacitance, etc.. Classic
transformer construction and reference text, but the Tesla
coil/capacitor designs are primitive by today's standards.

1992 - Graduate student intern working at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis.
A Tesla coil was being used to test aircraft parts against the effects of
lightening.  The person got too close to the tank circuit and either bushed
up against it or a spark left the circuit and stuck him.  He never regained
a heartbeat despite excellent CPR and paramedic responses.

March 29,1998 - An unsupervised 14 month old boy wandered into the poorly
made AC line wiring of a Tesla coil.  He was found some time later but
could not be resuscitated...