Trifluoroacetic
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Got Juiced By an Microwave oven transformer
Hi guys, I just go juiced by an MOT. I had the voltage quadrupled to 8,000v DC and effectively kcked to 16,000VDC through an inductor. The negative
side of the supply is grounded to the transformer core and earth ground. I wasn't paying attention to where my right hand was and it was touching the
HV+ inductor. While my left hand was touching a not so well insulated momentary switch on the 115 volt mains side. The unit was fused but it didn't
blow. I saw a large orange glow on the pointer fingers of both hands. I now have nice burns. I also heard a nice FWWSSSHHHHHHH type sound. the dead
man switch may have saved me. DO I need to go in and get checked out?
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chemrox
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MW burns go deep. It's not clear to me from your post if you got fried by MW energy or by shorting a high voltage capacitor. In case it was the
former you indeed need to get some treatment or you could lose the hand. That said it really sounds more like you got zapped by the electrical energy
in the transformer. What is an HV+ inductor? A high voltage source or a MW energy device?
"When you let the dumbasses vote you end up with populism followed by autocracy and getting back is a bitch." Plato (sort of)
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Trifluoroacetic
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I took four mocrowave oven capacitors and diodes and built a voltage quadrupler with two MOT HV secondaries on the HV+ side. There was also a HV
capacitor made up of 6 12X12 in sheets of aluminum foil which were separate by eight 6 mil sheats of polyethylene between each aluminum foil sheet.
The high voltage negative side of the transformer and supply was grounded to the earth. I accidently touched the positive side of the HV supply, while
holding a momentary push button switch and closing it. The switch had a little metal from one of the 120V contacts exposed my left hand finger touched
this
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Trifluoroacetic
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It looks like redness is forming on the top of my right hand finger and travels to the first joint. I have an entry wound on the left hand tip of
finger with no burns in between.
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Trifluoroacetic
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HV + inductor? Sorry I meant to say that I had two inductors wired in series on the HV+ side. these were two MOT HV secondaries wired in series
after.
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m1tanker78
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| Quote: | | DO I need to go in and get checked out? |
Make an appointment with the hairdresser? 
Sorry, I envisioned a no-hairspray route to the Einstein do. Seriously though, 2,000V @ a couple dozen mA @ 60 (or 50) Hertz is plenty enough to kill
you dead. You either got hit by a tiny current, you got hit by the line voltage, or you're just incredibly lucky. How bad are the burns and is it only
your fingertips? 240 volts through both hands was more than enough to give me a 'hands on' lesson in electrical safety many years ago...
Working around HV by yourself is risky business. I always tell my wife what I'm up to (helps in case she needs to call 911) or if she's not around, I
invite my neighbor or a friend over for some beers when I'm working around HV or dangerous stuff. Of course, excessive alcohol and HV don't mix well
either but at least there's someone who can assist you and/or call for help if something goes terribly wrong.
Tom
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Trifluoroacetic
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I would say very lucky! I may have gotten both hv and low voltage mains. I have an entry wound on my right pointer finger that must have burned tissue
under the skin right upto the first digit joint . I have an exit wound on my left hand pointer finger. I saw and orange glow around the fingers that
traveled about an inch up. Looked like fire/plasma.
So I am assuming I took a wrather High current. I think I will see a doctor tomorrow. To have my heart checked for any irregular beats. I can't see
myself going to the ER.
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Ramiel
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Could the orange glow be due to the sodium in your pickle-tickler experiencing the "electric pickle" effect?
You're a very lucky person.
Caveat Orator
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Trifluoroacetic
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Quote: Originally posted by Ramiel  | Could the orange glow be due to the sodium in your pickle-tickler experiencing the "electric pickle" effect?
You're a very lucky person. |
possibly!
It looked like an orange plasma engulfed my fingertips.
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smuv
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Cinematic rendering of the event
[Edited on 4-7-2011 by smuv]
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Trifluoroacetic
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nice cinematic rendering of the event. It wasn't that bad though. I was quite frightened though when I realized what I did and I saw the orange plasma
over my pointer fingers. I'm glad I was able to let go of the momentary push button switch and jump back away from the supply. I was thinking because
my hand was touching the positive side of the supply energy must have flown from the mains line through the switch and through my body.
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Twospoons
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When working with HV, or ordinary volts for that matter (>50V) keep one hand in your pocket.
Helicopter: "helico" -> spiral, "pter" -> with wings
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Trifluoroacetic
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YEP! That's a rule typically follow but I didn't on this occasion! This never would have happened had I followed it. The good news is my heart is OK.
Ithink most of the electricity was absorbed by the hands and since it was DC it didn't harm the heart. I looked back at the power supply schematic and
discovered that while I touched a 8KV positive side of the supply I only got about 2kv DC at about 400mA. As well as only half of the AC wave. This
occured because I grounded one leg of the transformer and core and kept that at a negative DC potential. This power traveled through the ground wire
to the Mains AC line filter where it was tapped to two capacitors that were wired in series with the hot and neutral AC line. The power shunted
through the filter capacitors into the mains line and up into the power switch that was in my hand.
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sodium_stearate
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Sounds about like the one time many years ago when I
accidentally got across a 12,000 volt neon sign transformer
I was using as to power the primary of a Tesla coil.
I had left the transformer powered up and reached for
a screwdriver and brushed too close and got zapped.
It knocked me cold and I was out for a few minutes.
Woke up on the basement floor a while later. Had a burn
on one hand...
"Opportunity is missed by most people
because it is dressed in overalls and it
looks like work" T.A. Edison
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