cfaber Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7352362/Man-killed-by-urinating-on-power-line-in-ditch.html :lol::lol: Winning the internet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdisco Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Didn't myth-busters do something on this? Can't remember if it was confirmed or denied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTTuner Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 That's a pisser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdisco Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 found it - busted Peeing on the Third Rail <H3>The Myth A guy is wandering through a railyard drunk and needs to relieve himself. He makes sure no trains are coming and he starts to pee onto the third rail, which is electrical, and a current runs through his urine and kills him. The Test First the Mythbusters must determine if it is actually possible for urine to conduct electricty. They learn that the voltage of the third rail is 650 volts and they determine that the resistance of urine is 10,000 Ohms. Using Ohm's Law they determine that it can resistance 65 miliamps and all that is need to make you stop breathing is 30 miliamps. Now that they know it is possible to be killed through urine, they go about making a body out of ballestics gel and figure out how to make the dummy urinate. After many failures of making the dummy and success with urinating machine, they finally are able to test. They set up the dummy so that it will urinate onto a mock third rail that they set up. The first test shows no results. They decide to make the ground below the dummy wet and try again, however nothing happens. They try removing the shoes and making the ground wet again, however failure. They determine that the stream is not constant because by the time it has hit the rail it has broken up into drops. They increase the size of the tube that allows urine to exit and move the rail up so it is a few centimetres away. They try this time to success. The Result Busted. Although it is possible for someone to kill themselves by peeing on the third rail, it is very unlikely. (Note, this myth is revisited in Myths Revisited) </H3> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfaber Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 "Mr Pimentel said Messenger apparently urinated into a roadside ditch but didn't see the live wire. The urine stream likely served as a conductor, allowing the electricity to reach his body.Mr Pimentel said there would be an autopsy, but burn marks indicated the way the electricity travelled through Messenger's body." Winning the internet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ssej Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 The mythbusters test was primarily on train tracks and electric fences, which carry noticeably less voltage than a downed main power line... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 Electric fences contains a pulsed high voltage (15kV or so, depends on the equipment, and with about one pulse per second) of low current. Uncomfortable but hardly deadly unless you are weak. And you have to time it right. Train tracks are of varying voltage, up to about 1kV but with a considerable amount of current available. Overhead lines for trains contains a lot higher voltage; 16 to 25kV with a considerable amount of current behind. And I know that there are at least three variants there too, DC, AC 50Hz, AC 60Hz and AC 16 2/3Hz. And it's a VERY bad idea to think of peeing on those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfaber Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 Yeah, most overhead power lines carry enough current and voltage to ionize air (which is why they're spread apart) something like 1cm for every 600v or so. Adding a conducting liquid to that would really be a bad idea. Winning the internet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosAngelesLGT Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 Didn't myth-busters do something on this? Can't remember if it was confirmed or denied. The high tension cable vs pig episode is wong as I have been on a RV that someone was severely injured on from a high tension cable breaking. Mythbusters = as much myth as fact sometimes EDIT: RV=research ship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kadesh Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I agree. There has been a few nitwits that take that show as the greatest truth ever, but it isn't. i have a tendency to pee in toilet so i should be ok anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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