# Almost getting electrocuted.



## chslighttech (Feb 22, 2005)

Me and my friend john were up on the catwalks changing the lamps on some 6" Fresnels. We finished it up and went to plug an extension cord in. It was 12/3 gauge and bout 7 feet long, with stage plugs. We plug the male end into the socket on the baten and he goes and picks up the female end. Well we didnt know that the Hot and neutral wires had uncrimped and come off. He picks it up and they touch and flames and sparks shoot out and he drops and I jump back. Once it hit the ground it stopped. We unplugged it and took it apart and realized what happened. Needless to say now we are checking every single cord we have for that problem. Now we check all of our cords when we go to plug them back in. Thank god he was holding it by the plastic part and not anythign else. I'll try to get some pics if I can.


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## propmonkey (Feb 22, 2005)

alot of our plugs on the instruments(still edison) are old and have metal sticking out. i hate touch them, ive got a shock from a fersnel a month ago, not fun.

im going to add a question. has anyone ever heard of a fersnel storing a charge like a capacitor? recently i was helping hanging and focus in our little theatre for the civic theatre. i was adding an old lunch box 200w fersnel for a fill light and i got it up there had it plugged into an extention cord and the extention cord was not plugged in and when i grabbed the instrument i received a mild shock, it was mild but enough to notice it.


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## Peter (Feb 22, 2005)

Wow!!! You two are very lucky! And once again we have another reminder of why to always keep all equipment well maintained!

Just By The Way: Welcome to Controlbooth.com! Be sure to stop by the new member forum and say Hi! I hope to see you arround the forum more!

The official welcome waggon (Part 2.###)


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## SuperCow (Feb 22, 2005)

Ross said:


> Has anyone ever heard of a fersnel storing a charge like a capacitor?



That happened to me onse with a PAR Can.


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## propmonkey (Feb 22, 2005)

ok good as long as im not alone. i was puzzled for a few minutes and then i just assumed thats what happened.


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## Sombra2 (Feb 22, 2005)

would wearning a certain type of glove help protect against electrical shock. I do electrical stuff at home, and other places and after hearing about this I'm thinking about getting (if avaliable) gloves that can protect your body from being electrocuted.


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## propmonkey (Feb 22, 2005)

i just was hanging the instrument, i usually wear them. from then on i always wear gloves even if its not hot.


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## Peter (Feb 22, 2005)

I have gotten VERY mild shocks from various pieces of equipment, but I have always figured that it was more me, having rubbed past the curtains, giving the lights/pipes/etc... a small shock. I have never really heard of devices like a light holding a charge really.... it would seem to me that it would be fairly well grounded out (attached to a pipe...) But someone please correct me if I am wrong.

On the topic of gloves, when working at the farm next to my house, wearing good thick leather gloves has toned down the shock many times when working on the electric fence. You can sill feel it, but it's not nearly as bad as touching it with a bare hand. Just my experience.


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## propmonkey (Feb 22, 2005)

i was also shocked(electrocution is being killed by the way) by the old metal filling cabinet for our gels. we stored this under our old loft in the workroom, i was holding on to the work light for some odd reaosn and i went to open the cabinet. this wasnt a mild shock. at first i figured the worklight wasnt grounded and miswired. but later i was only touchign the cabinet and it happened again. my td and d said its just static electricty stored in all the gels. but one we took down the loft we found that the a circiut in the wall by the cabinet had wires sticking at touching the cabinet(we also found many wiring problems). 

moral of the story always check all possibilities when comes to electricty.


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## Les (Feb 23, 2005)

As far as gloves go, try leather welder's gloves. They are pretty well-insulated unless they get wet. As far as getting a shock from an unplugged instrument, it may have been a different problem elsewhere on the grid. I don't believe a fresnel or any other piece of equipment can hold a charge unless it is just static electricity. And alot of it may have depended on the weather at the time. When it's really dry outside, pretty much everything in out theatre shocks you. Sometimes prety painfully. But its a zap. When it grabs on, that's when you know you have a problem with AC current.


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## SuperCow (Feb 23, 2005)

Yeah, the shock I got was more of a jolt. It kind of numbed my arm for a few seconds, and then it went away. It may have just been static, as you suggest.


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## Mayhem (Feb 23, 2005)

Must admit that I have never known a Fresnel or PAR can to hold a charge. Strobes - yes! In fact, I use to have one that did this quite often. In the end, I just use to ask the lead singer in my band to pack up the strobe at the end of the gig. Problem solved!

With regards to gloves, the only ones that I have found to be comfortable, durable and actually fit my hands are those made by Ironclad. Whilst I would not trust any glove to protect against shocks, I find these safe and practical to use.


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## propmonkey (Feb 23, 2005)

oh yeah ive been shocked by a strobe in middle school, almnost forgot about it. i unplugged and picked it up and that shock really hurt.


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## Mayhem (Feb 23, 2005)

Anonymous said:


> I've got a pair of rubber gloves that are protected from 2000v. They're meant for linesman, and high voltage electrical work. I guess if you're that worried you could use something like these.



Fair point - I was referring to "standard" leather or synthetic gloves that are commonly used in the lighting industry.

Just wondering what the price and dexterity are like in the rubber gloves you describe?


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## darkfield (Mar 1, 2005)

"i was adding an old lunch box 200w fresnel for a fill light and i got it up there had it plugged into an extention cord and the extention cord was not plugged in and when i grabbed the instrument i received a mild shock, it was mild but enough to notice it."

Two-wire or Three-wire connector?

Unless it's a screwy ground issue, maybe there's something stray in either that instrument or another hung nearby.

Only concern about the gloves, you might get a false sense of security. There isn't supposed to be anything live you can touch by hand. (I've held live 120 conductors at low current in each hand and it's a tingle. You brush a live 120 conductor and it stings (and your arm hopefully leaps away on it's own). It's when you become the ground path that things go really bad, and if it's enough current to do you in, the gloves will be just be left smoking along with the rest of you. On the other hand, so to speak, it only takes about 50ma across your heart to kill you.

Meanwhile, I can't remember any shocks from the task of hanging or aiming. (Patch panels, well, don't grip the male end (as if there were many true patch panels out there any more).)

But if you got shocked, even once, without touching something you weren't supposed to, somebody needs to inspect all the equipment that is nearby. I would do that before I worried about the leather gloves.


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## DJErik07 (Mar 1, 2005)

I was lowering a batten yesterday and there were some wires that were stricking out of the wall where we were installing a worklight. The wires were live and we hit them with the batten. The electricity traveled up the aircraft wire of the batten all the way down to the metal base of the fly system where I was leaning. FUN FUN FUN. This was not that bad, because I work for an electrician part time in the summer and I get shocked by 120v all the time. Once I got shocked by 240v when we were installing a subpanel. That was not fun because of the burns you get. I just stick to getting shocked by 120v now!!!


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## avkid (Mar 1, 2005)

Electrical shocks can cause brain damage,so try not to get shocked too often.


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## darkfield (Mar 1, 2005)

avkid said:


> Electrical shocks can cause brain damage,so try not to get shocked too often.



Operative word "can".


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## Sombra2 (Mar 2, 2005)

ok, sort of ironic. But today I was checking to see what color lights needed to be changed. I touched a stage pin right on top of the lights. I barely moved it and spark. It was so lucky I wasn't grounded or I'm sure I would have gotten shocked. After looking closly (once I turned the lights off) I saw it was frayed and the other tech taped it up with electrical tape so it couldn't be used.
Sort of ironic.


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