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by vel0city 381 days ago
> give very healthy respect to anything more than 500 volts

Man, I'd say be very respectful to anything that might be running 120-240V, and be very sure about anything higher than that. Anything <50V can often just be fun tinker whatever assuming you're ok with breaking whatever you're playing with, up to a certain max amperage of your power source. High amperage but low voltage can still cause some serious messups if you don't have the right fuses in place. But I get other voltages are common in Europe.
4 comments
tuatoru 381 days ago
DC, definitely. Above 60V is dangerous.

AC, 120V will 'bite', 240V will make you shaky (remembers id10t maneuver yesterday, first in a decade). And burn you. In damp environments or with corrosion around, much worse things can happen.

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prpl 381 days ago
i’ve been hit by 350V trying to bias a tube amp but it was low current (B+). Woke me up
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moron4hire 381 days ago
Nah, 120v ain't so bad. Hurts less than hitting your finger with a hammer.
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vel0city 381 days ago
I'm not necessarily talking about getting shocked (which can still end up being bad), I'm also referring to the fact a lot of those 120V circuits are probably only protected by something like 12-15-20A of circuit breakers that might take a while to actually blow and unless you're in a kitchen or a bathroom or whatever probably don't have GFCI protection. Messing something up can quickly lead to quite a fire.
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theamk 381 days ago
Lots (all?) old devices have input fuses, and often those are right next to the plug. So most of the mistakes will cause this fuse to blow (unless you recklessly short it, or drop a screwdriver in the unlucky spot)

That said, even something as simple as surge protector power strip is going to have a nice and fast circuit breaker in it. If you want to get fancier, get a GFCI extension strip from home depot. And if you get an isolation transformer, it'll certainly have a fuse or a breaker.

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zevon 381 days ago
I would not want to touch 120V with wet hands, for example...
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cowboylowrez 380 days ago
yeah I just treat any higher voltage like I would a snake, I stay away haha.
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