kksiu2002

My Feedback: (4)

Can one get electrocuted by touching the ignition component while the engine is running?

BTerry

My Feedback: (8)

Maybe if you wired it directly into your heart. Otherwise, no.

pilotpete2

No, though you will get a hair raising jolt
It take a bit more amperage to kill a person than an ignition system provides. If the jolt from an ignition system was lethal, there would be a lot of dead Saturday morning mechanics out there, including me
Pete

spaceworm

I understand that was true of the conventional non capacitive discharge electronic systems of way back, but I have read that the high energy systems on most cars now can be lethal with a solid contact, and the voltage goes from one hand to the other through your heart. I don't think our magneto or electronic CDI systems used on rc engines are dangerous though.

tkg

My Feedback: (1)

Most of the damaged caused by getting zapped, is collateral. You jump back and step on something (your airplane) or poke your self with something really sharp. The shock is the least of the problems.

C185Pilot

My Feedback: (25)

Just make sure that your heart is timed 28* BTDC.

Mike

bcchi

No it will not hurt you but will give you a start and may make you hurt your self.I throwed a ignition module one day and took me days to find it.
I have also heard the newer high energy ignitions on the cars can hurt you 70KV or more.
BCCHI

MetallicaJunkie

if its anything like the shock from a lawnmower engine no...i remember when i was a kid 20 years ago i had an old school go kart, i got the shock of my life pulling the spark plug wire off with my bare hand...it didnt have a rubber boot

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Many years ago there was a little forklift in the maintenance shop for repairs. It had a little flathead four in it with all the spark plugs and distributor on top. It had the Rajah type terminals.

The was a elderly janitor man happened along and he said that he could grab all thos spark plugs with both hands and choke the engine down.

So he did grab the plugs and I thought it was going to kill him. He looked like one of those pigs in the slaughter house death row when they put the magic wand to his head.

So the little 4 cyl sputtered and finally quit. I don't think he was worth a toot the rest of the day?

Lazer

My Feedback: (27)

Guarantee you'll only do that one time. The shock WILL get your attention.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

My dad could always just reach down bare handed and pull plug wires off one at a time from auto engines to see which cylinder was dead. When it would shock him, he would just flinch a little and say, "Yep, that one bites a little..." He also said he knew an old German mechanic that could stop a four cylinder engine by just laying his arm across the four plugs, and he would hardly flinch. Me? No way!! I have been blown right out from under the hood of cars several times from a shock. Unlike him, I am very sensitive to it.

It is high voltage, but short duration and low amperage. It could be life threatening to some people they say, but it is rare. Might not do a pacemaker much good though under the right (wrong) conditions.

I was working on a telephone connection, trouble shooting it one time, and I just held two of the wires together with my hands and dialed 0. (Old, rotary phone.) Man, I got 10 distinct hard jolts, and they say the phone system is only 12 volts!!

I was working on my nephew's motorcycle one time, and he thought it would be funny to kick the engine over while I had ahold of the spark plug wire. Man, when I got up off my ***** I chased his butt around the house three times before I got tired and quit, and I wouldn't talk to him for the rest of the day! Whew was I mad!

AV8TOR

Don Pruitt

My Feedback: (1)

Back a number of years ago we had a young lad come to the shop to work part time while attending tech school. The previous night at school the lesson had pointed out that wire, (while considered a conductor) did have some resistance.

On the shop floor was a 5000 foot spool of small gage wire. In order to reinforce the previous nights lesson he decided to measure the resistance of the spool of wire. He put his meter on the resistance scale and made a measurement. When he removed the meter leads he drew a half inch arc that gave him a good jolt.

We explained to him what had happened by describing the operation of a car engine's ignition coil. But it didn't help much. After that he was reluctant to make any kind of measurement using a volt/ohm meter.

spaceworm

Hey, maybe you just invented a field use defibulator, or pacemaker. Just need to get the rpms of the engine to about 60 jolts a minute

"don't try this at home, we are what is known as experts" Mythbusters

On a serious note, would a jolt from an ignition system stop or mess up a pacemaker??[]

kenhiraihnl

LOL...I used to work for OSHA...During a routine jobsite inspection, the employer told me that one of his workers recently drilled through a wall, hit an energized line and was electrocuted! WOW. I asked him if he had reported the fatality, as OSHA regulations require. He said, "Nah, the guy was just shocked, and learned his lesson." I educated him that electrocution meant fatal - No such thing as mild electrocution...LOL...Ken

pe reivers

In order to be lethal, the heart must get current in excess of 50mA, not voltage, and it must be sustained. Neither of these two requirements is fulfilled by a spark ignition coil which produces its energy by producing extremely high voltage at extremely low currents, for an extremely short duration.
Unpleasant? Yes. Lethal? No way.

jedijody

My Feedback: (1)

This is the best thread I've read in a long time. I've had my own fun with condensers, capacitors, coils, electric fences, etc. When it comes to our modern model engine ignition systems, if properly installed, you can't even get so much as a tickle from them by touching any part of them while the engine is running. As TKG said, if you are able to a zap from one the only damage to you would come from your reaction, not the minuscule nip from the EI.

HunkaJunk

According to my cardiologist and a few pacemaker technicians, there is a slight chance that electric shock from spark ignition, or tasers can "cause problems" such as erasing the programming in it. I have had a pacemaker for 3 years now and my only restriction is "no contact sports" per my doctor. My pacemaker was top of the line 3 years ago and it is supposed to be very effectively shielded against such problems.

There are a few documented cases of people with pacemakers being tased with no effect on the pacemaker, I think a pacemaker that was 7-10 years old and near the end of it's useful life may have problems.


[/quote]


Hey, maybe you just invented a field use defibulator, or pacemaker. Just need to get the rpms of the engine to about 60 jolts a minute

"don't try this at home, we are what is known as experts" Mythbusters

On a serious note, would a jolt from an ignition system stop or mess up a pacemaker??[]
[/quote]

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Yeah, speaking of electric fences, I heard once of a kid that urinated on one. Oh man, I bet that would get your attention!!

I once held two pieces of metal together for one of my welders to (Mig) weld up for me. Unfortunately, the two pieces didn't have good electrical connection, and he just happened to try to start the arc on the piece that was not grounded. I felt the current go through one arm, across the back of my shoulders, through the other arm, and out. Only 24 volts, but at 120 amps! My shoulders ached for serveral days, and my arms felt kind of numb.

I was working on a magneto equipped Homelite yesterday. It was a complete powerhead that I was testing to see if the engine was in good enough shape to convert for an airplane. While holding the powerhead when it was running, my arm leaned against the rubber spark plug boot. I didn't get a real good shock, but I definitely felt it...

AV8TOR

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

It is possible for a person with preexisting heart trouble to die from exposure to the electrical shock of a model's ignition system. Even static electricity developed while walking on carpet can trigger a cardiac event, but we are talking about people that are very close to expiring from heart trouble in the first place. Not normally healthy folks. I've always considered it wise not to test this hypothesis regardless of how good you think your health is to begin with. Sometimes various foodstuffs can create an arhythmia that would normally pass unnoticed, but which can be compounded and worsened by external stimuli. No, I'm not a medical professional. I gathered this information from personal experience. Do with it what you please.


Ed Cregger

pe reivers

Hey Ed, I know you have a hard time with health stuff. That makes you more of an expert than most of us.
I also know the certificate requirements of health appliances (let's call 'm that). It is hardly likely that a power surge (ignition pulse spike) would cause damage like deregulation/reprogramming on heart monitoring apparatus, inside or outside the body. It is too easy to design hardware that absorbs this kind of low power abuse. I know of high power high frequency abuse that indeed would kill patients. Believe me.
I also know from experience how the low power HF radiation can upset electronic appliancies like battery chargers. But these do not have to pass the very very stringent medical requirements.

bookmaker

My Feedback: (24)

My dad said that when he was a teenager, he and his buddies could kill a 6 cylinder car engine by spreading their fingers out over the plugs. This would have been in the 40's.

He said he could do it, but one day when he was leaning over the fender and laid his hands on the plugs, well, a spark jumped from a spot "kind of tender" to the fender. [sm=omg_smile.gif] He never tried it again.

Kwikfli

As a teenager one of the worst shocks I ever got was when I was playing around with a old Model T coil. Touched the wrong post on that little wooden box and boy did it light me up. I still have the darn thing. Won't hook it up though. Once was enough.

stangman67

My Feedback: (1)

I did quite a stupid thing while checking for spark on my dad's 91 mustang drag car. We were pretty certain the fuel pump was to blame but I did the old screwdriver and coil test to check for spark, unfortunately I forgot to isolate myself from the screwdriver with a glove. Ouch, certainly taught me a (painful) lesson. Turns out the ignition was fine, and the fuel pump was the culprit.

flyingagin

Yeah, speaking of electric fences, I heard once of a kid that urinated on one. Oh man, I bet that would get your attention!!

I remember doing that as a kid, oh man I tell you that hurt!
Never repeated the mistake.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I have a defibrillator/pacemaker

The warning that came with it is to not look under the hood of a automobile engine when it is running and to not put the cell phone in your shirt pocket

I've never been shocked by my defibrillator but they tell me that I will not forget it if I am.

Mine has a 60 day data log. That woman can tell if I ate a slice of bacon last month and what day I mowed the grass. It shows your body's conductivity which can be influenced by eating salty foods. Activity can be judged by heart rate, etc.

I'm coming due for a new battery which means a new defibrillator..