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#1
02-11-2007, 16:15
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LOS: Land of Stupid
After 7 years I try not to be surprised at the depth of stupidity here in LOS.(5 on a motorbike, passing on a blind curve....) but today in Karon I saw a new low. Some Somchai had the bright idea to place a string of electric lights along the side of the road going from Karon circle to Wat Karon. He hardwired these lights to a junction box on a power pole, no breaker/fuse. Now here is where it gets exciting. He used Romex wire, laid on the ground, to make the connections. The splices are open to air and covered with electric tape and the wire crosses the soi going back to Skylight II bar. It runs through puddles and over a metal grate. The cars, trucks and Tuk Tuk run over the wire and it is all but cut through. I pointed this out to a passing policeman but he didn't care. Someone could die here.
P Romex is a brand name for a type of plastic insulated wire. Sometimes called non-metallic sheath. The formal name is NM. This is suitable for use in dry, protected areas (ie: inside stud walls, on the sides of joists etc.), that are not subject to mechanical damage or excessive heat. Most newer homes are wired almost exclusively with NM wire. There are several different categories of NM cable. 
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#2
02-11-2007, 16:29
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 correct me but doesn't that mean that stepping into that particular puddle of water is an electrifying experience? as we become much lower resistance due to contact with water. but since the puddle is on the floor, and electricity will travel the path of the least resistance, doesn't it mean that it's grounded and will not electrocute us? in order to reduce loss due to resistance, the voltage of overhead cables are extremely high until they get to transformers to convert to higher amperes (wattage) suitable for use. Question is... which one hurts more... high voltage or high wattage. Always wondered about this but have never asked. 
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#5
02-11-2007, 16:59
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Amperage kills.
Much like water in a pipe, voltage is the volume of electricity, amperage is the pressure it is supplied at. I wouldn't lose a whole bunch of sleep over this wire. A circuit breaker is installed to protect the wiring, not the person at the other end. Too much amperage will over heat the wiring causing a potential fire hazard. So it doesn't really surprise me that there is no breaker installed. Obviously, this wire isn't connected to transmission lines or it would have fried itself as soon as it was connected. Of course I'm assuming it is romex as you descibe. That being said, it doesn't seem like they would be very successful in powering whatever they are trying to power for very long.
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#6
02-11-2007, 18:18
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New low wont last for long - sure soon there will be something even more daft to defy belief!
__________________
Its My Life ..........!
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#7
02-11-2007, 18:24
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With a potential of 1 volt it would be impossible to create any significant current through any part of the body. While the voltage potential has little to do with the potential fatality 20kV / 0.5A is certainly 100% deadly. Depending on the path of the current and the health of the person the hazard start around 0.03 Amp (30mA). According to CDC (Center for Decease Control) 0.05A (50mA) through the heart is usually deadly. So if at 10 times that current you only feel a tingle you are more man than most.
__________________
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#8
02-11-2007, 18:56
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Power "failure"
 I think DK made it clear what which makes the power fatal. Lot of things have been misunderstood here. Just some point dow. I was in the car workshop business for many Years and saw that low voltage like 12volt can hurt you badly in some cases. I saw a guy getting out from the underside of a truck as a rocket with a part of his ring finger glowing as a star. He made a contact between his wedding ring to the + side of the alternator who always stay on power to the chassis ground. The ring passed 120amps. he almost lost that finger! It was a horrible view. Else, you can touch a battery like 24volt without any harm. AC power can be tricky. You can drop the LOS trip after getting 230volt from the shaver outlet. You can get 20.000 volt of low current and still smile later on as happened in Norway just two days ago! A high voltage if not with to much current to grill you, make your hearth to compress and start again. 230 or other low size volt can make it to loose it rythm which is fatal. Have a nice day or evening depending on site. Wish I had the evening in LOS
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#9
02-11-2007, 21:44
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Well pmcd8243 as Dorothy said you ain't in Kansas anymore...try using this line of thought that I describe...I find it helps minimise my frustration induced intake of alcohol Call it what you like, but farangs mostly see all likely outcomes of their actions and in general, Thais don't. I think it was from the book "Thailand Fever" where I first got the advice to stop myself from ever saying variations of "it's obvious" to a Thai. Passing on a blind bend is regarded as a bad idea by us. Why? Well to us it's obvious a car might be coming the other way and the manoeuvre might end badly for all. Five on a motorbike, no helmets, drunk etc to us it all has an obvious risk. Not so to a Thai. "Outcome focused" is what a friend of mine called it - Thais see only the goal that they are trying to achieve and not the consequences. You see examples all the time, Somchai is told by his boss to remove the road sign from the footpath, he cuts it off six inches from the ground takes the sign away -job done - the permanent trip hazard he leaves behind - the "obvious" consequence of his actions - does not enter their minds. Your man needed to achieve his goal of supplying electricity, the policeman could not see what the "obvious" problem was....LOL another day in Paradise..as another poster said...a new low will not be far away. Enjoy. __________________ "Heaven holds a sense of wonder...and I wanted to believe..."
__________________
"Heaven holds a sense of wonder...and I wanted to believe..."
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#11
03-11-2007, 07:13
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I am not an electrician, but those power lines making noises concern me. Not like home.
Also don't really like the power lines(guessing that is what they are ) hanging low on the sidewalks. Bumped into one and still here thankfully. Not surprised by this rigging of electricity in LOS.
__________________
Spoiled Boston Sports Fan.  
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#12
03-11-2007, 09:20
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You're right to make the point MrDK though I think he was just pulling the numbers out his ass to illustrate that it's the current that's dangerous so let's not be too hard on him. 5mA is around where you might feel the tingle and 50mA where you might not be able to let go...
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Actually 0.5A is survivable - there's a weird effect of a sweet spot between 100-200mA that will send your heart crazy and kill you stone dead every single time, but up at 500mA and above the effect of your muscles is so severe that it can act to clamp the heart and stop it fibrillating. It will burn the hell out of you, knock you out and stop your breathing but you can just about survive it with medical attention
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#13
03-11-2007, 09:58
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Examples of survivability of high current is where the exit point is near the entry point, i.e. a bent elbow. This can (in rare cases) fry the lower arm, but not kill the person. On a limited scale a perfect example is putting you tongue to a 9V battery; you feel a serious tingle and the current is not insignificant, but little (if any) travels through your body. I have personally witnessed a fellow engineering student getting stuck between a grounded antenna and a TV chassis for more than 5 seconds. Don't know the current nor the conductivity of the person, however, that was viewed as a miracle that he survived. ... It did ruin his day. As a reference, by US electrical code (NFPA) a safe Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) activates at 5mA (0.005 Amp) The example given earlier of a ring causing burns when touching a 12V source is not a matter of electrocution, but rather a "simple" burn from the heat/melting of the highly conductive ring. Short circuit a car battery with a standard wire and see it melt. There is no way touching a 12V source in it self can be of any harm. BTW the definition of "low voltage" is 48 volts. In today's world that is the voltage that when touched will not allow enough current to be harmful. The original definition of 48 volts as being low voltage is more arbitrary. It is the voltage on a telephone line when the phone is ringing. If you want to do a "mostly" safe experiment, rig up you land line phone so you can touch the wires and have someone call you. You will surely feel the tingle.
__________________
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#14
03-11-2007, 10:05
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#16
03-11-2007, 10:33
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#17
03-11-2007, 20:51
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I think the resistance on a human is up in the 500k - 1 mil Ohm range with dry skin but it crashes down to 1k (!) with moist/wet skin and even lower internally or if the skin gets burnt off. The numbers kind of tie in with the 9V on the tongue trick.
Was reading some info on the Electric Chair earlier - it's pretty horrific I'm amazed it doesn't constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
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#18
03-11-2007, 21:08
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really....is this (or any) safety gear used here? i know this type of scene freaks me out each time i see it......would be a bit comforting to know it's safer than it looks....
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#19
03-11-2007, 21:33
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__________________
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#20
04-11-2007, 01:56
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5555 What are you talking about?
It may be about professional job performed by thais? 555555555555555555555 And remember that they want to build and manage a nuclear reactor !! 555555555 ...I mean... 
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#21
04-11-2007, 08:15
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I did take a closer look and cannot see that he is wearing gloves, but did notice that he is wearing a woolley hat, which is probably a welders hat so he must be safe and know what he is doing. Was driving through Kamamla a few months back and a crowd had assembled below the electricity pylon, and some guy was lowering a dead guy down. Looked very much like the guy in the picture, so perhaps his luck just run out, or maybe that guy in the shop sold him a dud welders hat!!!!!
__________________
If I havn't done it already, then i'm gunna do it today.
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#22
04-11-2007, 16:28
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Hmmm, OK MrDK, I concede my figures are inaccurate and from a little googling, you are correct. If anyone needs a specific part of their anatomy, tingled, fried, or just completely toasted, we now know who to PM. Thank's for that. lmao
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#23
04-11-2007, 17:28
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