How Do I Get Shocked? Why Am I Getting Shocked? It's Simple.

For Most of us Electricians, we understand WHAT a shock feels like! It hurts (pun definitely intended. Hertz/Hurts. Get it??). But how and why do we get shocked. In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin answers this question.
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Let’s first define a few things. An Electric Shock is “A sudden discharge of electricity through a part of the body”. This would be the standard buzzing shock most of us electricians have experienced at least a few (hundred) times over our careers! Electrocution on the other hand is defined as “Death or Severe Injury caused by electric shock from electric currents passing through the body”. So, electrocution is much more severe, and is not limited to death but can also result in severe injury. An Arc Flash is “A phenomenon where a flashover of electric current leaves its INTENDED path and travels through the air from one conductor to another, OR to ground”. In fact, an arc flash is so powerful that it can VAPORIZE metal (Copper and Steel among them) and severely injure the worker and cause massive damage to property.
Remember from previous discussions that electricity needs to make a complete loop to be able to work. It must leave source on the phase conductor, travel thru the load, and return to source on the neutral (for a single phase 120- or 277-volt circuit) or return on the other phase conductor (for a single or three phase 208-, 240-, or 480-volt circuit). One of the ways to receive a SHOCK would be via series. For a series type shock, you introduce YOURSELF INTO the pathway of the circuit. That can be either on the hot OR the neutral end. Basically, if you were to take the hot conductor feeding some type of load and CUT it, and then grab on to BOTH cut ends, you are putting yourself right into the stream of the current flow. DISCLAIMER: DO NOT TRY THIS!!!!- if you were to touch one end of that hot wire and nothing else, there is no current flow, and you won’t receive a shock. This applies only if you are not touching another hot wire, a neutral wire, a ground wire (or anything grounded), your boots are proper, you are not standing in a puddle of water, or a myriad of other options that would allow that current path to make a complete loop back to source.
Another option of getting shocked would be a parallel type of shock. This type of shock takes place where there is no other load, and you manage to touch the hot wire on one side and the neutral wire on the other side. This results in YOU becoming the load. And since the human body has a super low resistance, it will allow the potential for much current to flow. You can also receive a shock via touching a hot conductor and a ground wire (or something that is grounded). This type of shock is allowing the errant voltage to return to its source via an alternate path (as it is intended to), but putting YOU in the middle of the process, which will result in an electrical shock.
While most electrical process can be achieved with the power OFF, there are a few that require the power to remain ON. Troubleshooting being one of them. We really need the power ON to see what is and/or is not working to be able to diagnose the issue. BUT, if you are to be working on a live circuit, you MUST have the proper training and the proper PPE to do it. Hot gloves are great but are worthless unless you have been trained in their proper usage and care and how to operate with them on (they are very bulky after all!).
We hope this has been insightful in understanding HOW an electrical shock can happen. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed? Leave a comment in the comment section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly adding new content to assist our followers in being the best electricians they can be.
#electrician #electrical #electricity #gettingshocked #getshocked #customers questions #journetman tips

[@Matt10Lawrence]

I've been stuck to a metal equipment cart because my muscles tensed up closing my hands. Up one arm,across my chest, out the other arm. Unable to let go. Couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. I could only make low gurgling noises. The most helpless feeling in the world. It was maybe 30-45 seconds before someone saw me. He looked at me like what in the f are you doing before it finally clicked what was happening. He hit the E-Stop button on the wall dropping power to the whole shop. I took the deepest most wonderful breath of my life when I finally fell off it. Yes, that hurt. I have a very intimate appreciation for GFCI protection after that. And a good healthy fear and respect for never letting that happen again. And that was only 120v!

[@justdrive5327]

You're going to be a very seeable ghost when you die. You have alot of energy inside you. All I get from 120 is a tickle

[@ryans6423]

Me sitting here not expecting this to be a 120V story…. 😰. Note taken

[@Hitman.13.]

@@ryans6423 Most electrocutions happen with 120V, crazy when you think about it.

[@jsb7546]

@@Hitman.13. it's a low enough voltage some take it for granted and don't realize other factors can make even a 120 volt shock way worse than usual it's also the most common voltage.

[@Dave-nm3xc]

Damn. You're lucky to be alive. Glad you lived to tell the story!

[@normILL]

I was working in an basement demoing out old K&T that another electrician told me they had turned the breaker for off. I got to a bathroom plug with one of those old small metal boxes. Same circuit as the lights in that area. I started trying to push the wires out the back so I could pull the box out, but when I pushed the second wire the first one would keep bumping back inside. I had the smart idea to use both my thumbs to push them simultaneously, and that's when I discovered the circuit was still live, and I was just getting lucky with the light outlets up to that point. Needless to say I then slammed every breaker off and went to find that other electrician.

[@justin_other_kayaker]

High school industrial engineering teacher here. Love your stuff man, please keep it coming. Anything you offer is appreciated.

[@c50truck]

My high school electric shop teacher, (decades ago), had a saying over the chalk board. "Electricity is always searching for ground, never let it find it through you". That stayed with me, and kept me safe for decades!

[@paaao]

You cannot be grounded at all if you want to touch single hot wires without getting bit. Most shoes will have a low enough resistance to allow 120V and up to pass through the body to earth. Make sure you are on a fiberglass ladder, or have electrical rated mats, etc, if you plan to touch anything hot.

[@KF-zl5io]

Not really....Ill grab a hot wire here and there with my ticker or my meter in the other hand to freak the new guys out. Never been bit from standing with boots. But I'm sure after typing this it will happen next time I do it...gotta love electrical

[@chadg6874]

True story lol. The guy that taught me this, let's just say I made sure he did it first before I trusted him to try it myself. Better make sure your boots don't have holes in them hahA

[@chadg6874]

You do have to be careful though because even though you won't feel anything if you're ungrounded touching 120, higher voltages can cause problems simply from the potential difference of your body and the wire when they touch. Those guys who sit on top of transmission lines coming off a helicopter have a wand that helps them equalize potential

[@Bapuji42]

I mean, unless you have ASTM electric hazard rated boots, safe up to 18kV. Which everyone ignores because they pick their boots by looks, and which "top notch" brands like Nick's and White's don't even offer.

[@blakek1043]

I use to test power by using 1 hand 2 fingers, but I've stopped doing that as I probably shouldnt...shouldn't.... lol good ol days, when you start to care about your health.

[@mattnone1440]

I used to do commercial/ industrial electrical work. I was retrofitting light fixtures in a facility that was still running, so we worked hot circuits. I had been standing on a warehouse rack for access to a group of lights and had been working without issue. Always start by clipping the hot and capping it off then work the rest of the conductors. At one point the ceiling lowered so I sat down on the rack to continue work, without issue on the first fixture. When working the 2nd fixture, I mistakenly allowed my finger to contact the metal of my cutters when clipping the hot. I immediately verified that the racking system was properly grounded and the protection my safety boots offered did not extend to my a$$. He is right about the 2 point connection.

[@jamesalbert4520]

Also, always confirm it on your own that the power is off. Dont rely on "buddy" to make sure its off. "Hey buddy did you turn the circuit off?" Make sure its off. Dont count on Buddy

[@farrieterrisky]

Buddy is never your buddy! Hell even when I turn off power I still check, because I'd rather coffee over a shock to wake me up!

[@bertblankenstein3738]

Verify the power is actually removed also. Don't rely on the wiring to be correct, or the labeling to be correct.

[@brandonreyes5567]

1000 %

[@ramiro9172]

I've been doing electrical work for 17 years And you Have a really good way to teach t in all your videos so congratulations brother keep going

[@raymond3722]

You are so eloquent in demonstrating to us, you are a true Master the way you explained yourself theoretically.

[@ronlovell5374]

AC capacitors will bite you good too, even if source is shut off, it can still back feed to it. Got me a few times!

[@jakesully5402]

Yup. Same here. I’ve felt the love of a capacitor too…

[@goaliedude32]

A young man was killed working on HVAC equipment because of the capacitors still charged. I remember hearing the news story on my way in to work on the news radio. Terribly tragic loss of life.

[@TR4Ajim]

I learned a lesson several years ago. I had to go into an outlet box to make some changes. When working by myself, I plug in an old radio, so I can hear the radio go off when I turn off the right breaker. I went back to the outlet, unplugged the radio, and put the multimeter into the upper plug (THE SAME PLUG THAT THE RADIO WAS IN), verifying no power. I pulled out the outlet, touched the screw on the lower plug and promptly blew off the tip if the screwdriver! Turned out the outlet had been split, and the lower plug was on a different (live) circuit!! Lesson learned.

[@bayrealist4176]

Neutral is supposed to be a non current carrying conductor. I've been hit from neutral to ground when circuit was OFF. Just because you turn breaker off it does NOT mean you are safe to touch wires. NEVER trust your co workers..TRUST ONLY YOURSELF. First time I ever got shocked was due to a licensed journeyman installing the switch upside down..I " turned off" switch and went straight to replacing ballast without checking with voltage tester. Was definitely a learning lesson! Save your own life!

[@user-cv3pk6kq8l]

Yes , so many unlicensed or unqualified electricians will just simply folowing color to color for connections. They even don't realized that was wrong connections too. Hot to neutral and neutral to Hot... OMG why this will happened................

[@allenft8396]

Love your videos and animations! Can you do a quick video on the correct way to pool bond including the deck and surroundings. ?

[@WestonP22]

My grandfather used to casually work on hot receptacles like it was nothing. Always freaked me out that he didn’t turn off the breaker. Turns out he was well educated on this and saw it as no big deal, as he first started doing hot work while being shot at in the Korean War.

[@mesohunt704]

I work on hot receptacles a decent bit. I wouldn’t say “often” but it’s not rare. Sometimes for XYZ reason a circuit cannot be turned off at the time. Of course it’s dangerous but if you know what you’re doing and take your time moving very precise it’s usually fine. I would never recommend anyone do it and honestly it’s stupid that I do it. The older I get the more I find myself not making decisions like that.

[@mikegrimaldi5844]

Careful with white conductors that are generally neutral and circuit is off and thinking it is safe to work on. If whites are all tied together in a jbox and from DIFFERENT circuits, there’s a chance that that supposed neutral is live (from another circuit). I’m a handyman and couldn’t figure out why I was getting power in the connection box when circuit was off. Your comments about hot neutrals are welcome as I am still learning about safety. I learned to use voltmeter instead odd those on/off indicators when testing for voltage on what I am working on. Your teachings are very helpful-and potentially (no pun intended) lifesaving!

[@claytonfite3197]

Respect the power be aware of all conditions around you. Eliminate the risks .Great video

[@tonyt160]

Great videos. I mostly connect and run wire into hot PPC- load centers.. The Cell Carrier Companies only allow us power shut down from 11pm to 5am. So we build during the day and do the cut overs at night.

[@igoro9898]

Great video! We really should start teaching apprentices with that guide and understanding how it actually works. Be safe everyone

[@mtoohill]

Should be taught senior year of HS.

[@howlongcanimakethisfukingthing]

Thanks for sharing this. I've tried explaining this to so many people. Dont complete the circuit, dont touch 2 things at the same time

[@davidroddini1512]

It doesn’t necessarily have to “complete the circuit” you could get shocked by providing a path to ground and not necessarily back to the transformer.

[@alexbemis2656]

Great content!! I really enjoyed this one Dustin!

[@djromaxtions8328]

bro I like how u incorporate the graphics and small cartoon skits in ur lessons its actuaally interesting lol this channel rocks

[@maddyolive5985]

It helps me understand better

[@alphasaiyan5760]

277 V was the worst shock that I’ve ever experienced. I was on a 12 ft ladder up above a drop ceiling. Opened a junction box the disconnect some lighting and when I took the cover off the box the wires came out from under a wire nut and I touched them by accident. Got hit bad and fell backwards off the ladder through the drop ceiling. Hurt like a bitch lol. I was lucky that I didn’t get injured. The second worst shock I ever got I was changing out a service and the guy I was working with said it was disconnected. And like a dumbass I didn’t double check with my meter before I stuck the Allen wrench in the lug and BAM got hit bad. I felt my heart skip a couple beats and then I was sweating really bad for the rest of the day and felt real nauseous for a couple days. Then after about 3 days I felt better. This happened when I was a younger electrician and made me learn real quick to be more careful and always ALWAYS double check to make sure about things before just trusting someone else’s word. Now I’m fully confident in any situation because I know the steps and precautions to take. 👍

[@ValenceFlux]

Yeah. 277v 30a up the leg out the arm ruined my body. I still wake up seeing flashes on some nights.

[@vince6829]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Much appreciated.

[@workingshlub8861]

great point about tick tester....i work with a guy that always just relied in tick tester and and i got him in the habit of using the meter also....know your voltage never assume anything.

[@frankgrammatico3827]

Exceptional video. Very important subject especially for do it yourselfers. Thank you for your time and energy.

[@braulioojeda5200]

Your videos help a lot to sharp the saw man, ty a lot.

[@freddywohlfahrt8830]

Bro I got shocked barefoot on a patio today and you made me feel a lot better about it and gave me good understanding of electricity. Thank you.

[@glasshalffull2930]

Can you describe in detail what happened please.

[@Bestnightcoreofalltime]

I got shocked once in my life in Germany with 400V and after that it never happened again. Have my Duspol beha ampere at my side every time and mostly shut down the breaker of the circuit I work on. It is not worth it to risk your life.

[@thetruthexperiment]

I really appreciate this because not knowing and being afraid is liable to cause a lot more accidents than when you understand what’s going on. Kids are told not go near electricity and are too afraid as adults to jump a car. Sure, working with live wires a person could get careless but every kid and certainly every adult should understand how and why shocks occur and how and they don’t. Carelessness can cause accidents but confidence (not over confidence when you’re actually ignorant) is invaluable. Most people live in their house terrified of the wires that they use all day long and never actually know what the dangers are. Our modern safety culture is a culture of accidents waiting to happen. There are probably houses that could have been saved from fire if the occupants didn’t have to call an electrician to fix a precarious looking mess left by a braver but foolish previous occupant or some other situation with a simple solution.

[@Mr122397]

Not long ago, I was changing out an electrical panel and our local utility company didn’t have any SOP requiring them to disconnect the service lateral down at the street level. So the utility worker taped up the hots and when I put on the new panel I got a nice arc burn to the face. That was not fun at all but it seemed like one of the hots wasn’t taped up correctly and when it came in contact with the lugs on the utility side it completed the circuit with the service neutral that wasn’t taped up. Needless to say, I double tape it now after they leave!

[@chadg6874]

I was trained to always treat it like it's hot. Well one day we were tracing out a couple circuits after a demo to leave on for temp power. J man said to find it and come back to the electrical room so he can shut it off while I make it up. I went back and said I found it, then went out and made up two plug feeds in an old box. Came back and said, "ok it's finished, you can flip the breaker back on.". To my surprise, he showed me the breaker still turned on. I had never told him to flip the breaker off, but made the mistake of assuming that by walking into the panel room and saying I found it, he would understand to flip it off. I was quite surprised that even though it was through a mistake, I had just made up two hot joints and their neutrals without even realizing it. If I didn't have the habit drilled in to me about treating everything like it's hot, I could have easily caused an uh-oh there by cutting the whole cluster of wires at once, grounding myself to the ceiling grid, letting two stripped wires touch, etc. Still didn't tick test it like I should have, and learned a lesson about assuming things

[@Rickrolled88]

I've been hit with 120V with a 15A circuit breaker, 240V from source, and 480V with a 5A circuit breaker. Luckily nothing substantial, but the 120V was the most dramatic. The 120V was totally unexpected. I thought I was doing it safely. The 240V, and 480V were just me putting a finger where it shouldn't have been. The closest I've been to getting hit really hard though was with a 480V distribution panel. We were demobilizing a couple of units and had two different panels feeding into our different units from the customer from two different panels. The customer turned off one of them panels and left the other one on. When we came back to unhook the power from our units I took off the safety shield from our breaker panel and was about to go in and disconnect the main power, but something told me(inches away) from getting shocked, electrocuted, killed, to stop and check the voltage. Turns out it was still live. I am so lucky that didn't happen otherwise I either would be a crispy critter, or dead.

[@deang5622]

If you were touching 120 volt either deliberately or accidentally, then you were not doing it safely, you did something wrong, unless you are a qualified lineman and are using techniques to work on live lines

[@leighz1962]

240 has more resistance so "safer" in that regard. Costs more to run it.

[@mclaurinisGODsSon2]

Wow, that's seriously hard to believe. You got to be kidding me? You got lucky. Omg.

[@Rickrolled88]

@@leighz1962 Got Lucky with a finger brush against a live terminal. (stupid mistake) but a learning experience.

[@Rickrolled88]

It's all about how you get shocked and where. The 240V and 480V shocks where a brush against a live wire or post. The 120V shock was more dramatic and could have been bad, but really a lot of luck was involved. The worst part was I felt I was doing the line work safely. @@mclaurinisGODsSon2

[@lukehubbard4915]

Love the visuals and definitions added in

[@charlesmcadory8286]

I do many residential now and when you kill the power you tend to do a neater job.

[@WilliamMcCormickJr]

Every time I have seen a fellow electrical worker get shocked, it was from them inserting their body in series between a cut neutral. Some electronic and induction loads can also cause a higher voltage to the body when the body is inserted in series between a cut neutral returning the hot through the electronics and or induction load.

[@davidsalas7970]

Thank you for this invaluable information Dustin this will save someone’s life

[@jllemin4]

Commenting before watching as a student: You get shocked by hot HV anything, you die from disobeying the one hand rule, and you get shocked by giving a live circuit an overall shorter branch to discharge though(You). In simple terms, HV will bite you, keep one hand in your pocket around anything live, and touch with your eyes before you feel with your hands. Things I'm reminded of while watching: Always wire the ground first, then the neutral, then the hot, and never wire things while they are hot if you can avoid it. PPE is a given. My takeaway: Work in your training and specialty, if you are asked to do something you have not been trained for fall on the OSHA side of things and try to get training for it. Use every resource to prioritize safety above all, this is why we make lots of money: To spend it on PPE and contingencies. The temporary debt, education time, NEC book time, and perfectionism are ALL worth it and what makes an excellent electrician in the end. Kneeling is for suckers, squatting is the way to go. In the end electricity is a jetstream of energy similar to a water jet that moves through conductive material, if you become that conductive material it will vaporize your cells into a nice dry carbon conductor in an instant: don't let it happen.

[@grk608]

Great video! Thanks for sharing

[@D_Spear]

I don’t suggest it but I like showing apprentices a hot wire with my tick tester while on a fiberglass ladder, then proceeding to touch it bare handed. It always blows their mind

[@modernbassheads5051]

You just blew my mind and I’m a 3rd year apprentice I’ve never heard of this phenomenon I always thought the potential is very different even if you’re not grounded you’d feel something. Can you make a video showing how this is possible ?

[@D_Spear]

@@modernbassheads5051 it doesn’t have anywhere to go if you aren’t grounded. You won’t feel a thing.

[@skabbymuff111]

Very informative, brilliant video. Thank you.

[@williambratton8900]

After years of replacing receptacles and switches without turning off the breaker I finally learned my lesson. I was kneeling on a dry wooden floor, after telling myself it was no need to shut off the breaker to wire the plug since I had done this 10s of times with not getting more then a finger buzz. I picked up the romex to open the jacket at the cut off end. As soon as I picked up the romex the end hit me in the middle of my chest giving me the worst shock of my life. It did not knock me down but it hurt like hell. Needless to say I got up and turned off that circuit’s breaker. I will never work with live wire again because it is unpredictable.

[@JC-sc9rx]

Hey Dustin. Thanks for the videos. I watch you more as time goes by. I have a question though if you ever have the time. How old were you when you became an apprentice electrician? Im 31 thinking about switching from being an HVAC apprentice to electrician apprentice because I realized that the part that primarily interests me in HVAC is the service / electrical aspects . thanks

[@jrpritchard1622]

great advise Dustin keep the videos going strong

[@RonSch123]

I would add, unplug washer/dryer if working on the laundry circuit right behind the units. Same with working on kitchen counter receptacles with your knee potentially touching a properly grounded dishwasher. And DON'T leave your cell phone in a pocket. Electricians have really fast reactions to the "vibrate feel" of a shock and you can pull your hand from a good position to a bad one in a panel for example. Leave your cell phones on a nearby surface. Ask me how I know LOL!

[@WilliamMcCormickJr]

If you lean against a Formica countertop, you can get a nice buzz through your pants while touching a live wire. I put a furniture pad or blanket on the countertop before working on them. Also, if you kneel, there is enough surface area to create a large enough capacitor to shock you. If you are holding a live wire. Laying on the ground will also allow you to be shocked if you touch a live wire. The large surface area creates a very large capacitor.

[@samuelcrossland1101]

I'm glad you spoke on neutral current. I had a site where workers were saying they were getting shocked stepping off of an aluminum scaffold onto a wooden deck. Odd? The entire scaffold was energized by neutral current and had potential between the detached house and scaffold. I used a ground clamp on the scaffold and connected it to the ground wire from a flood light. No sparks or anything, voltage between the two structures whent from 115 to 0 immediately.

[@w1swh1]

That is quite scary Samuel. Will bear that in mind. I am always a little nervous when I switch on a table lamp where the switch is part of the light bulb holder. Should be perfectly safe....in theory!😨

[@samuelcrossland1101]

@@w1swh1 It's safe, lamps don't have a connection to ground normally. The plugs are polarized ( you can't plug it in wrong because one side is physically bigger than the other) [ Or it is double insulated meaning there is no physical connection between electrical parts and the body of a piece of equipment.]

[@w1swh1]

@@samuelcrossland1101 Thanks Samuel, makes sense.

[@garykintzler4273]

This was great and thank you.

[@w1swh1]

Good video man! You may have saved a few lives. Strange that, generally, people are more fearful of water (burst pipes etc.) than electricity. I guess you can see water and not electricity... until it's too late☹☹

[@glynnandassociatesglynn6317]

Love this video, been waiting for you to do this.

[@joeflanagan354]

Great video and very well explained.

[@bradmironik6137]

Good topic. I have been shocked a few times but the strangest situation was during a gas piping installation on a outdoor furnace. It was wet outside and as I was getting zapped trying to assemble pieces. I had about 15v from piping to ground on the meter. I couldn't figure out what was the cause but quit and came back on a dry day. Maybe someone might have some ideas. This was several years ago and I won't forget it.

[@justinphoenix21]

Is possible that the metal piping had become energized through some fault in the wiring or grounding of the furnace. On the other hand, if you were working from the utility side towards the furnace, it could be that there was a ground fault at the furnace which energize the ground, and your metal pipe was acting as a lower resistance conductor to complete the ground path back to the transformer. Then of course you complete the circuit by touching both the ground and the pipe. I'm sort of guessing this second scenario might have been what you experienced since that could be quite puzzling. Did you report this so an electrician could look into it?

[@MrGatlin98]

I've been wondering this question for years. I understand how to be safe but I don't know exactly how it can go bad.

[@deang5622]

It goes bad when a) you touch something whilst energised which you should not do b) you didn't turn the power off and lock it off so no one can turn it on. It is nearly always the result of incompetence, unless you are a qualified lineman and need to work on energised circuits.

[@Willesden_Rab1_TV]

very well explained , thanks from london uk 🇬🇧

[@englishgator2629]

I’ve started training as an RV technician and I am doing well in most areas but I still just can’t wrap my head around electrical circuits. Im learning little by little and this video helps but I still just struggle to understand it at all😞

[@beanieweenie9543]

I will never forget the day I got shocked for as long as I live. It was some scary shit I literally thought my heart was going to explode.

[@dannywitz]

I’m surprised you haven’t had the experience of “two points” being a hand and your feet. Just brush your fingers with a live conductor (including a neutral with current flow) you’ll feel it!!! In practice it seems like you touched one item (one touch point) and may have forgotten your feet complete the circuit

[@that1electrician]

I've been doing this for 7 years and have hit by 120, 208, 277, 480, 250VDC and 24VDC. Guess which one hurt the most. 24 fkn volts dc hurt the most. I was on top of a liquid filler machine trying to reset a plc module. It was hot as hell in there and i was sweating like a stuck pig and also had a ton of cuts on my fingers and my nitrile gloves were ripped. To this day, I am still baffled that that incident hurt the most. Don't get me wrong- getting hit by 277 or 480 doesn't feel very good either. Edit- no I am not bragging about getting shocked. Thats nothing to brag about. It means you were being dumb and not testing the circuit dead or not wearing your ppe. But a few of those times I was still an apprentice and it definitely wasnt my fault.

[@RonyTomo420]

Sounds like you need to find another job

[@noahheck2010]

How did you get hit by 480 and you’re still alive lmao.

[@Silvermeow]

So when you ARE touching only the hot... do you know if the current stops in your body? Or if its stopping at the end of the wire? Furthering this question, if you don't get shocked when the electricity is stopping within you but only once its passing through you? Why? Because you have allowed a path? So less resistance and increase of current?

[@tedlahm5740]

absolutely to part 2 of the question.

[@bertblankenstein3738]

If you only touch one wire, and the rest of your body is insulated, dry, etc, there is no current flow through your body (the circuit is not complete). It is the current flowing through your body that'll hurt you. Think of a bird sitting on an electrical line.

[@okaro6595]

In the series if there is no other load you will not get shocked as the circuit is not closed. The more load there is the less impedance there is. And in series you can get just as well shocked by the neutral.

[@tedlahm5740]

How often do we see AC circuits wired in series as opposed to parallel?

[@glenmartin2437]

Thank you. Viewed your video before. I have worked on electrical wiring since I was about seven years old, starting with replacing wire fuses, then repairing broken and loose wiring. I had watched electricians wire new homes before I entered grade K in Virginia. I still stand by as a safety man when certified electricians work on our home. Over 400 volts AC, no contact is necessary for a shock or electrocution. Just get into the corona about a wire or metal surface and zap! I use my meter, not my fingers. After a while, fingers quit sensing electric shocks and those little shocks can damage your sense of balance. Mike Holt talks about these long term consequences and uses the term sequelae. Thanks, again.

[@wademchenry1560]

I always had rubber mats or a mini pallet to stand on when replacing a meter enclosure or a line side tap.

[@Nicholas-xz6dp]

Bro... I fucking LOVE you.... AND THAT is why I am telling you... you are one of the main reasons I have an amazing career now.. but bro, its "ad nauseum". This is not the first time so that is why I am telling you now lol. Love you mucho thank you for all your hard work.

[@FSAUDIOGUY]

Had to do a breaker change today for a customer. Main breaker off first thing, box was very crowded. I have no interest in tempting fate when it comes to a service panel or a hot circuit. Been bit a few times by 120v, lessons learned. Your heart runs on electricity, don't introduce more juice into your body if you can avoid it. As always thank you for the content, stay well EU.

[@jllemin4]

Hey ElU, dunno if you have a video covering the topic of how to price yourself as an apprentice getting working hours, but I'd like to hear your opinions on how to negotiate those sort of things as someone who is green but also good at the job. Thanks for the content you put out, its very helpful

[@FCES_Electrical_Sol]

He actually does, you should check it out.

[@jllemin4]

@@FCES_Electrical_Sol If only you could link it in the comments. Could you tell me what it's titled?

[@lunalove2259]

What a great video, safety first.

[@PapaGleb]

Love that warning, had to watch it a few times lol.

[@argekay1960]

The problem with electricity is there is a threshold called ‘stick on milli amperage’ above which, you cannot let go of a conductor if you are holding it. Since you don’t know your body’s resistance between the two contact points, you don’t know where you sit on the ohms law equation. Always assume it’s live and you can die. Don’t be afraid, but respect it and have training. Electricity is not a hobby.

[@shawnwaterssw]

Great Video. Keep it up.

[@RichardNickels-ot6iq]

This Is Awesome Program 😄👏

[@silversoozookee2839]

Funny timing this just came up in my playlist Another trade bypassed my LOTO and energized the circuits in the unit I was working on Got a charge felt it from right to left hand Right across my chest.

[@whippitwill4842]

They cut your lockout tagout? Jesus

[@freddybee4029]

Did the bastard get fired permanently?

[@hunter-ie8mv]

One thing to note about completing circuit, with load. Very often if the load is much much lower resistance then your body so it doesn't really add any significant resistance to the circuit compared to you. There are of course exception which pull very little power like turned off electronics. Lightbulb I EU has cold resistance of only 130 ohm, hand to hand it can be from 3k to 200k ohms, very depandant on the skin resistance in your hands.

[@PERTEKofficial]

Someone on my jobsite who isn’t an electrician decided to flip a breaker on and one of my coworkers got shocked. It became the topic of the safety meeting for a few weeks

[@vanderpoolfarmsl.l.c.9983]

Lock out / Tag out is the reason I'm alive. Removing and verification of energy sources is life saving!

[@joshcowart2446]

We used to go to Mexico. Cuidad Acuña to be exact. It’s across from del rio TX. One of the bars called up and downs had an electric chair. You sit in this chair and grab a pole with each hand. They turn up a dial. If you get to 100 you get to sign the wall. I don’t know what 100 meant if anything . In hindsight that’s a stupid goal because it’s not too hard to do so after a certain time period they just paint over all the signatures. I don’t know what the voltages we were experiencing were. Your muscles would tense like crazy. I’m guessing it was fairly low because I’ve been hit by 110 a handful of times and it hurt more than the chair. Regardless it probably wasn’t the smartest thing I ever did.

[@andrewfischer8564]

i didnt do it to often but i worked with old timers who would check 110 lines with their fore finger and thumb

[@docferringer]

I only use Fluke meters and leads, mainly because I once vaporized a set of leads trying to probe a light switch and I came away unscathed. :P I work at a manufacturing/office space, so it's smart to check the voltage of lighting circuits before swapping out any fixtures. (And we had several sparkies out for lighting mods previously, so god only knows what they changed.) Case in point, there were a lot of angry pixies hiding out in a light switch of all places. I probed hot and ground to check voltage, since the lighting in that building runs on a mix of manufacturing and office voltages. *POW* the lights for half the building go out. That was...new. I checked the meter and everything was set correctly for a voltage measurement--my Fluke 87V was ready to go. I reset the breakers and the lights come up fine. I perform the same test with everything set the same and I get the standard 277V. To this day I have no idea what happened....other than arc flash vaporizing half an inch off one of my test leads and giving me a sunburn on the inside of my eyeballs. :)

[@joecliffordson]

Took balls to retest aye?

[@gnrfan713]

We had a salt lamp night light plugged into the gfi in our bathroom. They are really not safe as the salt draws moisture and makes that moisture more conductive. My wife went to pull it out of the outlet and used both hands. Got a little shock. I was surprised it didn't trip the gfci. I tested it afterwords and it was working. My only guess is she was getting less then 5ma of current.

[@Scotts_Status]

Dude! You’re the best!

[@snuggie12]

Not sure if you've ever covered this, but I live in a 100 year old house and when I watch your stuff the wires in the boxes are so clean (I mean organized-clean, not the opposite of dirty,) and what not. For example, I have boxes that are an inch and half back from the wall. I'm just a DIY'er so I don't know if this is normal but one thing I see is that there feels like there's way more pig tales and wires in general in the boxes. Wondering if you run into this kind of stuff and could comment on how designing a room's wiring has changed, things you might encounter and possibly ways to improve them or just understand the situation better.

[@willthomsen7569]

I became the load one time working in a basement and I thought the wire was dead and it wasn’t and I accidentally connected hot and neutral through my needle nosed pliers and it locked me onto the wire with 110 coursing through my body. Felt like an hour and I finally managed enough control over my body to lean back, then throw myself forward and the pliers flew out of my hands thank god. I literally couldn’t let go with my hands they wouldn’t move just GRIP. Few minutes to catch my breath I had to go finish the job too… made sure it was off this time

[@kaysonntag74]

My "best" experience was trying to pull off completely wet insulating tape from a phase while standing in a puddle with completely wet work shoes (even inside). That the insulating tape was wet, I could not see due to poor lighting conditions. It dripped water from the hall roof directly on the insulating tape and from there into the puddle. (Oh, the whole thing of course here in Germany, so with our 230V phase to neutral / earth). That was a moment where I would have liked the US - voltage levels.

[@goaliedude32]

you shouldn't have been working in those conditions.

[@kaysonntag74]

@@goaliedude32 You only make a mistake like that once in your life. Afterwards you are wiser. It will definitely never happen to me again!

[@DRH265]

best explanation ever !

[@kennethluedtkejr1903]

At my grocery store I get shocked when touching the metal shelves or the check out counter. I dropped a jar of jelly. I have mentioned this to the store. I did meet a lady with the same problem.

[@Martin4Mary4Ever]

Always use a multimeter, I've worked on busbars where the main shut off did not work. Everytime, I thought, "awwh.. Shit, this thing is going to kill me. Grab a 2 by 4."

[@ronnieettienne6335]

Was welding metal guard rails to the top of a construction site in 95° sun, sweat pouring down my arm,I grabbed the guide wire and everything went all dark and fuzzy.

[@bertblankenstein3738]

Here is another good one: don't rely on flipping the breaker off. It has happened where the hot has made a loop, connecting to two breakers (terrible I know). Flip the breaker and verify the power is off. Mislabeled breakers, and kitchen plugs where there are two circuits to one plug (Hopefully those breakers are ganged up).

[@submittedbymail]

Sounds like you learned the hard way.

[@Leeproeun]

Thanks 🙏

[@america0014]

First time I really had a question. Okay so say you touch the hot wire and that electricity always want to go back to the source, theoretically therefore would you only be hit by 120V instead of the full 240V? My thought being that ground and neutral will be bonded at the main panel and if you were to touch a hot wire and have current flow through one's body...then wouldn't you only be being shocked with 120V since ground is bonded to neutral? Also I should mention I have been shocked with by a single phase 460v airconditioner, but what probably saved my life was that my pinky had been touching a grounded plate so I could feel it go through my hand pretty violently. I should also mentioned that this could had been avoided if I had double checked my operator's powercord connection. She had wired in a 14/3 powercord used only for testing purposes (cord used for a 3 phase wye system) instead of a 14/2 (leaving a live wire dangling on the back of the unit we had been testing. Even thought L1-L2 are being used, L3 will still be energized). In this theory, I believe I had been shocked with 266V (460 divided by the Sq. Root of 3 equalling 265 and some change) since I had been grounded through the back plate of the unit. The main point of my long winded story is you might have done everything by the book, but always double check the electrical situation of another person working on the same electrical job as you. If felt like one of those zombie dogs biting my hand and violently shaking my hand. I tried to move my hand and it felt like a thousand rubber bands holding my hand down as I tried to move it in a upwards direction.

[@jimjjewett]

If asking whether a circuit is off, it might help to say "it claims it is" instead of "yes". Because sometimes the label lies.

[@hliz8818]

What happens if a service wire accidently touches the panel..?? Always been curious about that.. like in a swap out.. where some electricians don't take out a meter..?

[@Sparky-ww5re]

Having worked in both residential and commercial, my multimeter is always within arms reach, right along side my screw drivers (electrical rated) and lineman pliers. Never trust colors. in residential it's common to run a 12/2 NM to a NEMA 6-20R, for a larger window air conditioner. the white is supposed to be re-identified as hot, but I've seen many instances this isn't done. In commercial working in a three phase panel, not only do I need to check whether the power is shut off and locked out, I also need to know, if I'm dealing with a 120/208Y, 277/480Y, or a 120/240V Delta with high leg. The high leg on a delta is 208V to ground and is supposed to be marked orange, and it's very easy to mistakenly place a single pole breaker on this high leg and you just wiped out thousands of dollars of equipment because you thought you were getting 120 volts.

[@shawnwaterssw]

Keep my fluke 101 with me at all times.

[@notredo]

Wish you would have shown cutting the neutral in the circuit you were demonstrating. Touching the neutral returning from the light( or any load) and completing the circuit to the other neutral or ground will give a shock. Learned this 50 years ago and is one of the first things I tell new or wannabe electricians.

[@WelcomeToLoco]

What kind of boots do you use? I’ve been looking for a pair of lightweight electrically insulated boots.

[@peterford9369]

I'm not an electrician but I do thing's like panels, sub panels etc as a remodeling person. I have friends that are electricians that say that's part of electrician school is to hold a live 110 ? So to understand that sometimes the reaction can cause more harm than the initial zap. True or false? I've burned up linesman pliers cutting a hot that a probe said was not. And I've been ticked by a 110 slip grounding. And it's always,pull away. It's hard to figure training your brain to hang on to something that hurts. Like touching a hot stove or slice of cuban bread 😂. I just wondered. I've watched your videos for a long time. And appreciate your teachings.👍👍

[@fjl05]

I've never been electrocuted but i have been shocked many times. A person once asked me what it feels like to get shocked. I thought about it and realized that from my experience, I've never actually felt pain from a shock. So i told them that it doesn't hurt but that its a very VERY *VERY* uncomfortable feeling that will make you react very fast. Lol

[@bertblankenstein3738]

I've had it both ways. One time I'm holding on to alligator clips with 120v thinking "yhea this is uncomfortable, I should let go." and another time I got a good jolt and was white for the afternoon.

[@neilmarsh1904]

"Most mistakes get made because somebody got in a hurry." True in every trade and profession.

[@kuessebrama]

I am now more serious about it too. I think nearly every electrition get to a point where he get's a bit to comfortable and think "yeah i just but it away" or "i am carfull but i don't want to put the fuse out" and then get shocked because of that. It happend to me a few times too, but now i am really carefull about it and always shut the curcuite down, i mean it is not worth it, if you are only touching the wire for half a second or so there will be nothing bad happening probably, but you never know if you are unlucky. Now it did not happen for a few years, execpt three or four month ago because i was drilling a hole in a lantern to fix the lightning protection and i was always drilling at the time place in every lantern but on that one the electriction had a bit more cable and put it on the other side where i was drilling, yeah and i was leaning against the lantern, it was raining and i drilled in the phase, i think that was the hardest shock i ever got... Since then i always have the key to open the lanterns with me to look for the cables.

[@volkov956]

Changing fuse on transformer 250v unit. Properlly removed from source and drained capacitors after inspection but had a derp moment when going to change fuse reconnected unit to power (testing voltages) but grabbed fuse live rocked it out but ended up just sitting there holding 1 end unable to move till i heard a breaker trip then i could let go. Was 13 yrs ago when I was pretty green

[@steveguzman19]

Depending on the the square footage of the house how long should it take you to rough a house, how long should it take you to trim a house??

[@mannynemer5316]

However long it takes. As long as ya bust ur ass

[@thomasdado7770]

While I was in South Africa, and staying on a ranch, i would get shocked doing everything in the kitchen - from the appliances. Cooking, fridge, toaster oven, the washing machine was in the kitchen, and when I pulled the clothes out. So I never was able to go in the kitchen when power was on without having my bluntstone boots on. Everything in the area was 220 who would I mention it to that landlord? He just laughed and said “if that’s my biggest worry about having a good time in Africa.”

[@kidkv]

Left hand in your back pocket, when working with high voltage!

[@garden_therapy_nj]

I work for a company where we have to work on hot wires. It’s actually critical that the power stays on.