Now, this HURT !!!

[John K Jordan]

Two, maybe three lifetimes ago I was remodeling some lawyers' offices. Two story building circa late 1800's. The upstairs had not been used in decades, but the client wanted it finished out. There was a Romex just line hanging down and running through the upstairs that had to be cut in order to frame out the area. We shut off all power to the building since we couldn't really trace back to the fuse box.
My cohort held a flashlight while I used a hacksaw to cut through it. KAPOW!!!
At some point they'd tapped directly into the incoming 220 line and bypassed the fuse box.
I went home to change my pants.

Yikes. I use one of these circuit testers, always, before working on wiring even if I know the power is turned off:
https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/...ters/fluke-2ac

In fact, I'm so paranoid I carry two and test each with a live circuit just before use to make sure they are beeping. Then I check all cables leading to a box and all conductors in the box, even those supposed to be ground and common. I can't tell you how many times I've run into a circuit that was wired incorrectly.

[Brice Rogers]

I must have had a guardian angel watching over me. When I was a teenager, I was working on a "live" HF transmitter (...ah...I'll never do that again....) and I got an arm to arm shock. About 1000 volts DC. The next thing I knew I was on the floor on my butt about 5 feet from where I had been standing. I sat there for about a minute trying to regain my composure.

I learned a lot in that fraction of a second and haven't done anything quite that stupid since.

[Dave Sabo]

It might be cheaper to add a couple GFCI breakers instead of a bunch of GFCI outlets.

I prefer the breakers , but I have never seen one from any manuf. that is less expensive than a GFCI receptacle. Either will protect the downstream receptacles.

[Tom Bender]

Hey Clarence, glad you're still on the green side of the grass.

Understanding the details lets us learn more.

My guess is that you had the drill in one hand and the metal door in the other so the shock ran from hand to hand.

Or you were wearing shoes that were not insulating well, flip flops maybe? Hobnailed boots would be another poor choice.

To dry out that basement you may need to start outside with the roof and driveway drainage. Then drain the soil. That will give your sump pump a fighting chance.

GFCI for sure but a humid basement brings more problems than electric shock.

[Bill Dufour]

A gfci will trip with 5 miliamps, lungs function fails around 75 milliamp, 100 milliamps and the heart stops. So a 6 amp drill is plenty. You are very lucky and good thing you did not tough it out and keep working.
Bil lD

[Matt Day]

Skip the GFCI’s and all that, and first just pay attention to the tool you’re working with.

Could have been a lot worse.

[Doug Dawson]

There I was in the Basement, putting a metal and rubber door sweep on the wood screen door that leads up to the Bilco Door. So, I THOUGHT I WOULD MAKE THINGS EASY FOR ME !! Just grab the electric 6 Amp drill, and screw that door sweep into the bottom of the wood screen door. The first screw went in and then a horrible tingling feeling went up my arm almost to my elbow ! Dropped the drill on the concrete floor and said several choice words!!!


Took a look at the drill. Saw nothing wrong. Then I looked at the cord. .. OH, boy!! Big bare spot with bare wires exposed. That is what must have got me. Being in a damp Basement didn't help either.


Who have thought a 6 Amp drill could give such a shock !!

Sounds like you need a new drill.

[Wade Lippman]

A gfci will trip with 5 miliamps, lungs function fails around 75 milliamp, 100 milliamps and the heart stops. So a 6 amp drill is plenty. You are very lucky and good thing you did not tough it out and keep working.
Bil lD

What's important is how much current goes through YOU, amperage of the tool is irrelevant. People may have a lot or little resistance, depending on conditions.

15 years ago I pulled an outlet through some new drywall and got 120v from one hand, through my chest, and out the other hand to the neutral. It was the absolutely worst possible situation; usually it goes out your feet to the ground, which has a huge amount of resistance and virtually no current. I jumped back a few feet, but nothing else happened. I did some extensive googling and found that most years nobody is electrocuted by 120v. The unusual exceptions are when you can't get off the hot wire; because you fell on it, or you are in water. There is a possibility that someone has a heart condition that just needed a bit to be fatal.

I assumed the person I was helping drywall had opened the breaker; he didn't think it was necessary.

[Alan Lightstone]

A gfci will trip with 5 miliamps, lungs function fails around 75 milliamp, 100 milliamps and the heart stops. So a 6 amp drill is plenty. You are very lucky and good thing you did not tough it out and keep working.
Bil lD

It's actually more complicated than that. Sometimes more is safer than less current. And there are issues of microshock vs macroshock (delivering very small amounts of current, for example, directly to the heart via a pulmonary artery catheter or a direct stimulus can easily cause an arrhythmia or stop it. 100mA is typically quoted for the potentially fatal level of macroshock, but 20mA of microshock can easily cause ventricular fibrilation). And if a current is of the proper amplitude to prevent your muscles releasing the object by causing a tetanic stimulation, really bad things happen. We routinely deliver tetanic stimuli in the operating room to detect the level of neuromuscular blockade (paralysis) caused by neuromuscular blockers. The frequency of the stimulus is important as well. It's impressive watching the wrist clench and not release. "Let-go" current is typically quoted as 10-20 mA.

And, of course, tissue injury with large amounts of current can be devastating. They are truly horrible injuries, that are usually hidden on initial examination. Current will flow through the body via the path of least resistance until it finds ground outside the body. Typically highly vascular tissues, muscle, organs, etc... Lung injury from electrocution has been reported, but it's very rare. I've never seen it.

Of course, avoiding all shocks is really the goal. Be safe out there. Don't forget that Edison electrocuted Topsy the elephant with AC (he really was a jerk, but I do like having lights).