just watching the local news and a guy was found electrocuted to death with just a car battery and jumper cables? I know a car battery shock doesn't feel great, but kill you?
It really depends, but taken ACROSS the chest arm to arm it takes a very small amount of voltage/current to disrupt heart functions.... Then with some criminals their head explodes and catches fire before they are dead (Florida)... So go figure.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, maybe he had a sudden heart attack while jump starting a car and they assume he was electrocuted by the car battery? Either way, first I have heard of it. Didnt think it was possible. You know the news, perhaps they have got the story wrong..................as usual.
Human skin (even wet) is a pretty poor conductor. Electrocution with a 12 volt battery seems like one in a million.
You really don't know WHAT the cables might have been HOOKED to........ Yes, I DID buy an old London Fog trenchcoat over the weekend....... *lighting cigar stubbie* "Now, Ma'am....just one more thing...."
That was my first thought was hit someone in the head with it, but maybe the pacemaker theory could hold some water. You can't electrocute yourself with 12 volts. Rob, how have you ever felt a shock from a car battery?
I haven't, but I've set professional grade sparklers off with one and jumper cables only once. I haven't found an online article yet, this was on the TV news. Denton, TX I believe.
Explosion probably killed the person, not electrocution. ... or acid leaked on his eyeballs or something horrific.
It seems unlikely, at least according to prior documented events. I found this paper http://bme.ccny.cuny.edu/faculty/mbikson/BiksonMSafeVoltageReview.pdf Which toward the conclusion says: 12V at 550 ohms is only 22 mA, which is mostly muscle contraction effects (not being able to let go). Basically, the guy has to have been sweating (salty skin), in a humid environment, close to passing out, gotten into an unconscious state while holding the electrodes and allowed the current to persist for several minutes. Perhaps it wasn't the 12V battery. He may have gotten a higher voltage with an unregulated/faulty alternator or he may have contacted the spark plug wiring.
A car battery is not, by itself, going to kill anyone. Just not enough voltage. What can kill you or lead to severe burns at least is the battery being shorted to ground or across both terminals. Many years ago, when heavy gold ID bracelets for men were in style someone I knew was wearing one while working around the battery of his car. The bracelet fell against a battery post and a ground and became a 14K gold conductor. He had a very bad burn around most of his wrist and the bracelet had notches cut into it as if someone had tried a welder on it. He said that it became stuck for a few seconds before he could free himself. A shorted battery is very likely to explode - so you may catch a face full of acid and shrapnel or a fire may start. BTW, don't try this at home but you could hold both battery posts and most likely feel nothing - 12V is just not enough to overcome the resistance of your skin. Of course people with pacemakers, heart conditions, etc could have drastically different results I suppose.
True. Once when I was younger I had a piece of 14 gauge test wire short across the battery terminals. Turned glowing hot and melted the plastic insulation into my palm, that was a painful burn! I've also had MSD drag race ignition get me on the dyno before....I've heard it can kill. Most I got was a "WTF was that!" and then had twitching in my arms and chest for a few minutes. Also had a marine battery for my dyno explode under my dyno counter, thankfully the acid and shrapnel didn't get me. But it did blow the **** out of the cabinet doors.
It's the amperage! Without knowing more of the deceased medical history, I'm inclined to agree with others here that maybe he had a pacemaker. If he did, he should have known better than to mess with a car battery. As a rule, whenever I'm jumping a car or cleaning battery posts, off come rings and anything else metallic. Saw a guy try removing a battery out of a Dino when all of a sudden, heard him yell like a limb was getting amputated. He had scorch-marks on his silver wedding band 180 degrees opposite of each other. His finger hurt for weeks! Heck, don't Tasers work on 9-volt batteries? KevFla
+1000 had several MSD bites over the years, always on used cars with the boxes installed by someone else. those damn things HURT !
Big Tex, Your PM box is full. Can you email me? I have an electrical question... [email protected] GT
Yes and even a 9v battery is enough to produce a nasty burn - I once dropped one in my pocket while doing something - changing the smoke detector batteries probably. Sometime later I'm sitting down and all of a sudden my thigh feels like someone jabbed me with a hot poker. I leaped to my feet, yelled something obscene, and started yanking stuff out of my pocket. Found the 9v battery... and a small pocket knife that was too hot to hold!
It's not the voltage that will kill you, it's the amperage that does it. I don't believe a car battery has enough juice to do the job unless it explodes in your face!
