Can 440VAC cause arc burns?

[westward10]

Be careful up there on that high horse, the fall might smart a bit!

Still don't buy it.

 

[Specialist]

Hi Martin: Did you have the tags on as well ?.

 

[PEG]

I got electrocuted from a small industrial control transformer about 0.150kVA at 440V. I wanted to test if it was working and plugged it into a UPS 120VAC 300W just as safety to run at lower current(mostly an explosion in case I accidently shorted any leads if its on mains outlet due to large current). I was careless didn't wear safety gloves or any protection and my left arm accidently touched the 440V output when the transformer was powered from the UPS and it was the nastiest shock I've ever got. My hand just went numb and was kinda paralysed for few minutes and the portion where my fingers had touched there was two charred spots, kinda burned smell. I saw a small blue-violet-pinkish arc at the two tips of my finger. So, is it the arc flash that caused the burn or is it the current through the fingers that caused some heating that caused the burn? Was lucky it wasn't the mains or else I wouldn't be typing this now.
Thanks in advance.

...So this entire thread,originates from a ouija board...

 

[Generator]

440 AC ? - that's normally 3phase power with a substantial fault level. At these levels the arcing in a fault will cause huge skin burns, often fatal and copper splatter every where - not to be messed with.
High voltage with low fault current is a shock hazard.
Low voltage with high fault current is a burns hazard ( inc batteries)
High, High will blow your head off!.

 

[HVManiac]

Any residual damage to skin or nerves in that hand? As nothing went across your chest and was just the arm hand area then you wouldn't need a heart trace ECG but be aware of this if you didn't get checked out and feel bad at any point.
You're blessed so be careful from now on.
Separate issue but similar - was changing six new lights for my neighbour and having a general chat, she told me she'd had a funny turn and had to go to the hospital some time in February. Got talking some more and she'd told me that she'd got an electric shock arm to arm in December (2 months previous) when trying to change the halogen style lamp without realising it wasn't switch to off. Two and two together, she probably had a bit of heart damage from the shock which may have caused the funny turn. She hadn't thought of it when she went for the checkup and subsequent ECG.
'Let's be careful out there'

Hi,
There are two burn spots on two of my fingers.My heart just went thumping and fast was when I received the shock and it continued for a few minutes. Guess I was lucky this time.

 

[HVManiac]

Thank you. Sorry that I had to make this my first post. I'll be definitely asking some electrical stuffs. The main reason I asked this is like few forum members have mentioned here about nerve damages etc at HV had me worried that if I need to get medical help or its just normal contact burn and since this is an electricians forum I was hoping for some expert advice.

 

[HVManiac]

440 AC ? - that's normally 3phase power with a substantial fault level. At these levels the arcing in a fault will cause huge skin burns, often fatal and copper splatter every where - not to be messed with.
High voltage with low fault current is a shock hazard.
Low voltage with high fault current is a burns hazard ( inc batteries)
High, High will blow your head off!.

Luckily for me the input was a 120VAC 300W UPS. So it was just High voltage with low current that saved me. With mains its HV-HC. I've experienced LV-HC in the past from a Lead Acid Battery, those electrical short circuit burns are nasty. Far worse than what I received.

 

[HVManiac]

I don't know about 440v ac but very high voltage can cook your arm right through.I remember watching a video at college about a guy who stupidly climbed a pylon tower.As he got near the wires the electricity jumped over to him.He put his arm up and the electricity went through his palm and out through his elbow.He survived the initial shock but the video we watched showed his arm over a few days and the whole lower half of his arm started to decay.Eventually he had to have his arm amputated.
Personally i would get your injury checked out asap just to make sure the same doesn't happen to you.(Much lower voltage so might be ok?)

I too would have experienced something similar had I plugged it into the mains.

 

[HVManiac]

I did attempt a small experiment today of course with all safety precautions in place (gloves& face protection). Connected the same transformer to the UPS. Connected the outputs with an 18AWG wire and held the UPS in test mode deliberately to avoid the overload protector from tripping and attempted to do a straight short. As I shorted and pulled away there was an arc (white-bluish) 10mm long and 4-5mm wide and in a few seconds the tip of the wire was glowing and starting to melt. That stuff even from a small UPS does have indeed plenty of juice to kill a person.

Note: Please don't attempt this as it may cause fatal injury or death.

 

[Rpa07]

I think @HVManiac is Missouri's equivalent to the UKs 'Photoinduction'. Hv - if you haven't checked out our resident nutter but very intelligent experimenter on 'youtube' search for Photoinduction. We like him lots.
Good that you are ok. Be careful though.

 

[HVManiac]

I think @HVManiac is Missouri's equivalent to the UKs 'Photoinduction'. Hv - if you haven't checked out our resident nutter but very intelligent experimenter on 'youtube' search for Photoinduction. We like him lots.
Good that you are ok. Be careful though.

LOL. I'm already his subscriber and I do watch his videos. Yes, he attempts some darings things with HV. Kinda makes me feel scary. The one I liked the most was the 50,000Amp transformer.

 

[HVManiac]

I really like that High Voltage control panel with all those torroid transformers that he uses for most experiments. Looks cool

 

[DPG]

Unfortunately it's not really the voltage that's the dangerous bit, it's the current that can be drawn through the points of contact.

The current passing through your body is dependent on the voltage though (in combination with your body resistance of course). Mr Ohm told me down the pub.