Post your biggest RC blunders, mishaps, and mistakes

[What's_nitro?]

Originally Posted by Metallover

I have six 5ah 6s lipos on my bike. It was at 66v when I shorted it. There was a HUGE flash/pop/spark and it scared me like noneother. Thankfully, it didn't hurt as I wasn't directly shocked and I wan't wearing any metal (rings).

The worst part of it was trying to wash the stuff off! It didn't come off until the end of the day after washing my hands vigerously 6-7 times..

The worst worst part of it was that it fried one of the connections inside the pack so I had to open it up and re-solder the joint. I wan't sure if it would hold up at first but it can take the limited 20a the bike pulls.

Wow 66V?! That is actually high enough to electrocute you... I'm sure it was burned into your skin which is why you couldn't wash it off easily. Thankfully I haven't fallen victim to a large discharge like this (yet). I do have plans for a rather large railgun though...

[JThiessen]

Originally Posted by What's_nitro?

Wow 66V?! That is actually high enough to electrocute you... I'm sure it was burned into your skin which is why you couldn't wash it off easily. Thankfully I haven't fallen victim to a large discharge like this (yet). I do have plans for a rather large railgun though...

Electrocution is a result of the current, not the voltage. A 1V high current shot is much worse than a 400V low current shot.

[simplechamp]

Originally Posted by JThiessen

Electrocution is a result of the current, not the voltage. A 1V high current shot is much worse than a 400V low current shot.

Yup, 30-60mA of AC current is enough to cause muscle paralysis (can't let go of circuit and can't breathe) and 100-200mA will fibrillate your heart, which for the most part will kill you unless you are defibrillated. DC current values are slightly higher but still relatively low.

That said the voltage has to be pretty high to overcome the resistance of the human body. However if you are wet that value can come way down.

Given these circumstances I don't think the 66V DC from the lipos could electrocute you. Even if he was wet, standing barefoot in a puddle only about 5mA would flow, and again that's absolute worst case scenario.