Safety first

[adorshki]

Alcohol intake perhaps?

Why do they always blame it on the alcohol?

 

[Nuuska]

Wow. Just wow.

I am struggling to follow the convoluted trail of logic that led to this decision to invite electrocution to the party.

Actually as long the folks in pool are not touching anything conductive outside the pool they are safe. Same idea as birds sitting on 500kV wire.

 

[adorshki]

Actually as long the folks in pool are not touching anything conductive outside the pool they are safe. Same idea as birds sitting on 500kV wire.

So they're stuck in there for life, then?

 

[davismanLV]

So they're stuck in there for life, then?

Well, till someone pulls the plug. Which in their case might not be that far off.....

 

[Rocky]

Well, till someone pulls the plug. Which in their case might not be that far off.....

On the power, or them?

 

[davismanLV]

On the power, or them?

Could be both, I think....

 

[Opsimath]

Actually as long the folks in pool are not touching anything conductive outside the pool they are safe. Same idea as birds sitting on 500kV wire.

Nah, they're toast.

 

[adorshki]

Nah, they're toast.

Burnt toast.

 

[GAD]

Actually as long the folks in pool are not touching anything conductive outside the pool they are safe. Same idea as birds sitting on 500kV wire.

Nuuska's comment got me thinking about this, and though we've all got images of someone with a toaster in a bathtub likely floating in our heads, he's probably more right than we might think.

Assuming there's no GFI outlet but the extension cord does have a ground and the outlet's ground is in good shape, if the extension cord submerges and shorts then the quickest path to ground is still through the extension cord.

If there is no functioning ground and no GFI and the extension cord gets submerged, then the path to ground is more complicated, but fresh water isn't as good of a conductor of electricity like salt water is, though a high chlorine content would add conductivity to fresh water.

Interesting discussions about this pic here and here. I still wouldn't get in that pool, but it was interesting to think about.

As for the aforementioned "toaster in the bathtub" scenario, in old houses there were outlets without grounds and the drain in the tub would have likely been a path to ground in a pre-PVC world with the holder of the toaster acting as a nice juicy low-ohm (compared to the water in the tub) resistor for that path.

 

[GGJaguar]

Science is fun!

 

[Neal]

Nice Juicy Resistors.

Great name for a punk band.

 

[Opsimath]

Soooo ... we have electrical safety features because people kept taking kitchen appliances into the bathtub, necessity being the mother of invention and all.

 

[adorshki]

Soooo ... we have electrical safety features because people kept taking kitchen appliances into the bathtub, necessity being the mother of invention and all.

I use my chicken decapitator in there, easier clean-up.

 

[Opsimath]

I use my chicken decapitator in there, easier clean-up.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind when the time comes.

 

[adorshki]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind when the time comes.

Yep, Beats layin' down tarps in the kitchen, and I never could figure out what to do about the walls and ceiling.

 

[GAD]

Soooo ... we have electrical safety features because people kept taking kitchen appliances into the bathtub, necessity being the mother of invention and all.

Probably not far from the truth. I’m sure people have died having a radio by the bath that fell in. Or a lamp. Or someone used a hair dryer in the tub. It is often said that safety regulations are written in blood.

 

[Opsimath]

Yikes!

 

[adorshki]

Yikes!

Shocking.

 

[GGJaguar]

 

[zulu]

The sofa looks terrified