Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I knew

Neo-Geo, Arcade, Portable, & Every Other Platform
Ivo
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by Ivo »

Funnily enough, the only time I got a serious electrical shock was due to the AC power to my MegaDrive. The adapter was inconveniently shaped and somehow I put my fingers in the metalic parts of the plug while it was halfway in.

That must have been one of my highest jumps as a kid. Power-up!
Frag Mortuus wrote:However, I couldn't let go of the cable. The way I remember it was that I opened my hand but the cable seemed to be stuck to it. In actuality I probably wasn't able to open my hand.
(...)
Weirdly enough, now I seem to carry a large amount of static electricity in my body. I will kiss my wife and shock her lips. I will grab a doorknob and get shocked. Getting in and out of my car shocks me. It's just enough to be annoying, but I still find it strange.
You probably couldn't open you hand and this is indeed one risk associated with electrical shocks, because the shock causes your hand muscle to contract and you won't be able to let go (which keeps you in harm's way).

On the other issue, this is actually rather normal depending on where you live and what you wear. In areas with low humidity, if you use shoes with rubber soles and particularly if you use garments with wool, you will discharge static electricity like a champ. I have this issue frequently and can give some tips.

1. Enjoy the show: if it happens in the dark you can actually see small spark in some of the larger discharges.

2. The shocks you feel more are the ones where you are only discharging through a small area (kissing your wife, discharging on a doorknob because you reached with fingers). You can avoid feeling it as much by using something else to discharge. Grab scissors or a knife for example, touch with your palm on the metal parts, and then touch the tip of the scissors/knife on the door knob / metal sink. Or just touch metal first with the back of your hand to discharge, before reaching with your fingers.
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Luke
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by Luke »

Frag Mortuus wrote: Weirdly enough, now I seem to carry a large amount of static electricity in my body. I will kiss my wife and shock her lips. I will grab a doorknob and get shocked. Getting in and out of my car shocks me. It's just enough to be annoying, but I still find it strange.

Carry a dryer sheet (unscented if possible) in your back pocket. Not kidding, it helps a lot.
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winds
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by winds »

Ivo wrote:Funnily enough, the only time I got a serious electrical shock was due to the AC power to my MegaDrive. The adapter was inconveniently shaped and somehow I put my fingers in the metalic parts of the plug while it was halfway in.

That must have been one of my highest jumps as a kid. Power-up!
I have quite a similar story for the one and only time I was shocked. In College I had my macbook plugged in. When the class I was in finished, I knelt down to unplug it, it came about halfway out and just wouldn't budge any farther. Instictively, without thinking how much of a dumbass I was, I thought i'd grab between where the plastic from the charger ended and the 3 metal prongs that go into the outlet begin, so I could get a better grip and really yank it out. Bad decision... I received one hell of a shock. Like some peoples stories here, my hand completely froze up for about 3 - 5 seconds and I couldn't let go of the charger no matter how much I willed it to be so. It was punishment for being so stupid, I had to just sit there and take my 5 second electrical torture, haha. I remember feeling pretty darn scared though. The shock went all the way up my arm and I felt tremendous pain there and on the left side of my chest for about an hour or two afterwards.

Now electricity scares me.
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TSTR
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by TSTR »

I remember getting shocked in the mouth by microphones multiple times back in my early band days. One time it made my lips numb to the point where I couldn't sing the rest of the song we were playing. Made sure to invest in my own mic gear to carry to gigs after that; never had another problem.
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Stark
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by Stark »

Just read this, crazy!! Glad you're ok!
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samsonlonghair
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by samsonlonghair »

Glad you're still in the land of the living, Mike.
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by SpoonyBard »

Everything in this story sounds like something I would've done. Right down to the "why don't you just unplug it" part. Scary stuff man. Glad to hear you're okay.
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8bit
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by 8bit »

Good grief dude. I am glad you are okay. At least this experience gave us all something to learn from... especially you who will be working on many more arcade units in the future. Live and learn I guess!
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noiseredux
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by noiseredux »

8bit wrote:Live and learn I guess!
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ninjainspandex
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Re: Monitor shock is real; or how learned what I thought I k

Post by ninjainspandex »

Mike I want you to walk into a tattoo parlor and tell the artist you want a barbwire tattoo on your arm and then when he pulls out the book to show you the different designs look at him and tell him completely seriously "No, i want the word barbwire written repeatedly around my arm" :lol:
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