Man dies urinating near electricity pole, Thai police say

[slipperylobster]

Something I will never put to the test.

However, several sources say that you would have to be pretty darn close to the electrified object to get jolted. If your stand further away, your piss separates into droplets, and cannot conduct the electricty. So It depends on proximity, urine flow, and current.

Just piss in the other direction....as it sounds quite painful, irregardless.

[dotpoom]

I was going to post a joke, but thought it in bad taste under the circumstances.

RIP

Liquid and Electricity are never a good combination.

Now i'll resume my visualization and chuckle to myself.

You could even try to locate the mans family......then you could all have a good old knees up of a laugh together (and bring the other posters who are of like mind with you, what a great fun day out you could all have. Is it any surprise the world is the way it is today when there is total disregard for human life abound, as is often displayed in writings on here.

May he RIP and prayers for his family and friends that he left behind.

[connda]

Man can pee anywhere, even on open ground.

I see only dogs prefer peeing on poles and wheels.

It's a quirk of the human male that he likes to pee up against something rather than onto open ground.

I would have done the same if I knew nothing about nothing - poor guy. He should know better than to pee onto the electric box.

Just if you do not know it.

In Thailand to pee on a tree it is an offense to the Buddhist religion....

Peeing on a tree offends the 'Pee' (tree spirit), which offends the Animists, who are virtually all Buddhists here in the LOS (or more correctly, virtually all Thai Buddhist are also Animists).

It has nothing to do with Buddhism. But if you can back that assertion up with a quote from the Tipitaka, I'll stand corrected. Until then, I'll stand and pee on trees. The spirits should be happy that I'm adding urea to the tree's nutrients and making it flourish.

[slipperylobster]

Man can pee anywhere, even on open ground.

I see only dogs prefer peeing on poles and wheels.

It's a quirk of the human male that he likes to pee up against something rather than onto open ground.

I would have done the same if I knew nothing about nothing - poor guy. He should know better than to pee onto the electric box.

Just if you do not know it.

In Thailand to pee on a tree it is an offense to the Buddhist religion....

Peeing on a tree offends the 'Pee' (tree spirit), which offends the Animists, who are virtually all Buddhists here in the LOS (or more correctly, virtually all Thai Buddhist are also Animists).

It has nothing to do with Buddhism. But if you can back that assertion up with a quote from the Tipitaka, I'll stand corrected. Until then, I'll stand and pee on trees. The spirits should be happy that I'm adding urea to the tree's nutrients and making it flourish.

Peeing on an electrical wire offends Thor....the god of thunder (and lightning).

When choosing to whom which one must offend...I prefer the tree spirits.

[retarius]

Easily done if you've been on the beer. RIP

[tubby johnson]

That must have given him an awesome buzz, man.

[soalbundy]

Man can pee anywhere, even on open ground.

I see only dogs prefer peeing on poles and wheels.

It's a quirk of the human male that he likes to pee up against something rather than onto open ground.

I would have done the same if I knew nothing about nothing - poor guy. He should know better than to pee onto the electric box.

Just if you do not know it.

In Thailand to pee on a tree it is an offense to the Buddhist religion....

Peeing on a tree offends the 'Pee' (tree spirit), which offends the Animists, who are virtually all Buddhists here in the LOS (or more correctly, virtually all Thai Buddhist are also Animists).

It has nothing to do with Buddhism. But if you can back that assertion up with a quote from the Tipitaka, I'll stand corrected. Until then, I'll stand and pee on trees. The spirits should be happy that I'm adding urea to the tree's nutrients and making it flourish.

coming back to ladies, being a lady has little to do with social position the poorest farmers wife can be a lady and a baroness a tart.

[Trisha61]

All that space to chose from and he has to go and p*ss on the electrics

Are you taking the p*ss? (Sorry couldn't resist). :0) RIP to the poor fella.

[Mudcrab]

Amazing that Thais just don't understand water(piss) and electricity just don't mix. RIP

To be accurate, relatively pure water such as rain is a very poor conductor. I have connected a tester on a fibreglass rod onto a live 500,000V line in pouring rain (a constant stream down the rod and falling from my elbows) without even a tingle. OTOH many failures occur when a long dry/dusty spell is followed by fog/mist/very light rain.

A nurse g/f told me about a retarded patient who used to piss on power outlets intentionally. The difference being that the protection would operate before he was seriously injured/killed.

A mortician friend told me about a retard who:

connected a tester on a fibreglass rod onto a live 500,000V line in pouring rain (a constant stream down the rod and falling from my elbows).

Where was this 500kV line?

If you have the physical clearance, hot sticking with 500KV is not out of the question. And to be clear, there isn't too many tasks you could complete on equipment at this voltage except placing testing equipment or ancillary fittings. . Not sure I'd take a run at in the wet, a stick long enough to offset the rain, I'd not be able to see it clearly or stab it first go, might knock a few other places first, and i'm gonna pass on the standing under or close to under it too.

I too have worked with HV systems to check live/dead/live etc.

Our procedures require the fibreglass stick to be wiped down before use.

I think I would sack anyone who worked on any HV line with rain water streaming down the rod and dripping off the elbows.

Correction I would sack them and their supervisor and safety observer.

I do note though in a subsequent post the picture of the Van der Graaf generator with the ladies hair standing up. There is a very big difference between static electricity and power systems.

[DrTuner]

Was obviously touching the pole with his hand while taking a piss. Refer to the Mythbusters sequence where they tested pissing on subway rails, the stream just doesn't conduct that well. Water is a bad conductor.

[Tonawatchee]

The wiring doesn't look good.

Probably neither do the Thai electrical schematics which no doubt the engineers followed to the letter.

[rayw]

snip

It is why we see voltages like 132,000 V or more on grid power transmission lines often high up on pylons, as a lot of power can be transported with little current needed at these high voltage pressures, so thus the cables can be relatively small gauge for such a massive electrical transmission need. But that high voltage is massive pressure and thus very dangerous and why pylons are so high and usually protected from idiots getting killed. What they want to avoid is lost power in high currents heating the transmission cabling thus higher voltage is used to be more efficient for grid transmission of power. ​

Well that is half the story, hence why transmission at higher powers is even more effective beyond 66kV especially with coreless bundled transmission lines. No point wasting all that metal in the cable when it is simply not conducting at all, so multi conductor bundles do a fine job and that is the reason small gauge cabling is possible. This maintains good field stability and cost effectiveness by not wasting money on useless metal and the thermal effects that deadweight causes.

However that really doesn't mean the gauge is smaller really,since they are a strand in the bundle.

[Gringogazzer]

Just as Darwin predicted....uncanny.

[ableguy]

Why was attention brought to left index finger? Had a dog once pee on an electric outlet Saw an arc from outlet to pecker dog never peed inside again but that only 110 versus 220 here. But judging by photo pole is cement not a conductor unless this guy had 20 inches or was peeing from top of a ladder no way he could of had this happen, so must have leaning on pole to steady himself either or not a good idea.

110 volts is more dangerous than 220 volts ;

it's because of that it was abolished about 50 years ago in France

It is not the amount of voltage that results in a fatality but the amount of current. Currents between 100 and 200ma are lethal.

Shocking news, now go back to sleep please.

[xray]

I think what some folk confuse with is that it was the original early DC electrical supply was what was so dangerous and was changed to AC which is easier to generate too of course. With DC it seizes the human muscles meaning you cannot let go of the source of the shock, whereas with AC you are thrown off as the voltage falls and is reversed and the muscles react by immediately reflexing of course.

Both DC and AC are potentially dangerous. Residential AC (110v or 220v) can cause a person's muscles to 'not let go', which is why electricians recommend 'touches' be made using the back of ones hand, rather than with the palm of the hand. Touching a live point with the back of the hand, the arm muscles will cause the hand to pull away, whereas touching with the inside of the fingers or palm or grabbing a live point (such as a shower water knob that has become live, or a malfunctioning electric instant water heater in a shower) can cause a person to involuntarily grab the live point and be unable to let go. Both DC and AC have the ability to cause this to happen. The alternations and voltage falls associated with AC are measured in fractions of a second - not enough time to allow a person to 'let go'. Some links to online information for your consideration (excerpts below each link):

http://www.bassengineering.com/e_effect.htm

"The current is the controlling factor for Electrocution and Electrical Shock. The threshold for perception is about 100 microamps (0.0001 Amps). Also See Microshock Electrocution Hazards for currents less than 100 microamps. The National Electrical Code (NEC) considers 5 milliamps (0.005 Amps) to be a safe upper limit for children and adults hence the 5 milliamps GFI circuit breaker requirement for wet locations. The normal nervous system reaction to any perceptible electrical shock may cause a person to injure themselves or others, therefore the so called safe limit does not assure freedom from injury.

The more serious electrocution and shock hazards occur above the let go limits. 99% of the female population have an let go limit above 6 milliamps, with an average of 10.5 milliamps. 99% of the male population have an let go limit above 9 milliamps, with an average of 15.5 milliamps. Prolonged exposure to 60 Hz. currents greater than 18 milliamps, across the chest causes the diaphragm to contract which prevents breathing and causes the victim to suffocate...All of the current limits referred to in this article are based on power line frequencies of 50 or 60 hertz."

http://sound.westhost.com/articles/electrocution.htm

"With anything that you suspect, never touch it with your finger tips - if it's live, you may grab it and be unable to let go. If no test equipment is available, use the back of your hand. Because the skin is softer, you can feel quite low voltages this way, but if it's potentially lethal, your hand will pull away from the faulty appliance. You may find that you can detect as little as 1mA quite reliably by using the back of your hand - this is considered to be about the minimum we can feel, although some people will be more or less sensitive."

[stickylies]

He probably didnt wai before peeing.

Solly solly...

[LisuLover]

Here in the UK we like to do things slightly differently, we are partial to accidentally filling a building with Gas and then lighting a cigarette.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I've never pissed on a pole before, at least that I can recall.

But I also wouldn't expect to be fatally electrocuted if I ever found myself in that situation.

Sad to say but -- Thailand, the Hub of Where You can Get Electrocuted Doing Almost Anything.

[speedtripler]

Was obviously touching the pole with his hand while taking a piss. Refer to the Mythbusters sequence where they tested pissing on subway rails, the stream just doesn't conduct that well. Water is a bad conductor.

Drop a hairdryer or something into the bath and tell us how it felt

[smotherb]

Have you ever peed without you index finger on your hardware ?

Why was attention brought to left index finger? Had a dog once pee on an electric outlet Saw an arc from outlet to pecker dog never peed inside again but that only 110 versus 220 here. But judging by photo pole is cement not a conductor unless this guy had 20 inches or was peeing from top of a ladder no way he could of had this happen, so must have leaning on pole to steady himself either or not a good idea.

Of course, I prefer a lady holding it.

you mean a woman, there is a difference between a lady and a woman, you don't find too many ladies here.

I find plenty of ladies in Thailand. Too bad you don't. Perhaps you should look for females whose virtue is not negotiable. Something you may wish to contemplate--ladies like sex too.

[xray]

Electrical Conductivity and Water

http://water.usgs.gov/edu/electrical-conductivity.html

Pure water is not a good conductor of electricity. But, most water we encounter in daily life is not pure and will conduct electricity to varying degrees. Water can make a dangerous electrical situation a deadly one.

[Basil B]

The very thought gives me the willies...

[xray]

When Mythbusters supposedly debunked the 'electrocution by urination' claim, in regards the railway tracks, I was wondering what kind of a ground the Mythbusters had created when they ran their test. I don't remember seeing data from them on this.

In any event, the electrocution of the man in this case did not involve a railway track and I haven't seen mention of the voltage involved in this case. It may have been in excess of that in the Mythbusters railway track test.

A drawing about two thirds of the way down the page linked below shows how electrocution can happen via a downed power line without the victim doing anything other than standing on the ground. In this example the power line is 2400v. There is allot of interesting info on this website:

http://www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/electricCircuits/DC/DC_3.html