working under the dash

[IOPort51]

I just read several posts from people that let the smoke out of their dash gauges.
something about shorting this or that out.
Here is the trick guys.
Disconnect the battery!!

 

[CJ]

That's a good recommendation when working on anything electrical, unless you absolutely need to measure voltage.

 

[54cj3b]

you need a good answer read this just keep reading and scrolling till you see the carnage

Do you remove your wedding ring while working on your Jeep? - JeepForum.com

all I got to say thats gota hurt

 

[IOPort51]

Gold conducts heat and electricity better than anything else on the planet.

you need a good answer read this just keep reading and scrolling till you see the carnage

Do you remove your wedding ring while working on your Jeep? - JeepForum.com

all I got to say thats gota hurt

 

[nitor]

I always take my ring off. I bring it into the house and put it on a counter by the door. When I'm finished and cleaned up, I put it back on. I have a nice ring and want to keep it that way. My wife understands and would prefer I do it that way.

 

[dalefan88]

i think im going to start taking my ring off now

 

[BajaEdition]

you will never see an electrician that wears jewelery during work. Most of their wives have given up about asking them why the do not have their wedding ring on. I could not even tell you what my wedding ring looks like I have worn it so few times.
Losing a finger is common if you wear a ring and work live electricity, a wrist if you wear a watch with a metal band. Here is a few for you, it takes less than a milivolt to electrocute you if applied in the correct place, more people get killed with 120 voltage than any other, and a phone wire can give you third degree burns. Arc flash, the flash that is done when a bad spark happens, releases metals into gas and when you inhale them they can fuse the lungs.
Electricity is nothing to mess with unless you use the proper techniques, and working it live is for the trained professional with proper equipment. What can seem a minor voltage can collapse the chest and you smother if it carries the current across those nerves, and yes 12 volts can do that. Always disconnect the battery by taking the ground off first.

 

[IOPort51]

The damage to the ring will be hardly noticeable, the loss of the finger may be noticeable for the rest of your life.

I always take my ring off. I bring it into the house and put it on a counter by the door. When I'm finished and cleaned up, I put it back on. I have a nice ring and want to keep it that way. My wife understands and would prefer I do it that way.

 

[coldwater]

The damage to the ring will be hardly noticeable, the loss of the finger may be noticeable for the rest of your life.

BAH!... Quit being a skirt, fingers grow back when you lose one.

 

[IOPort51]

Ya maybe, but it takes a really long time.

BAH!... Quit being a skirt, fingers grow back when you lose one.

 

[nitor]

The damage to the ring will be hardly noticeable, the loss of the finger may be noticeable for the rest of your life.

I didn't mean to imply the ring was the only reason I took it off. I like my fingers. They help me do things.

 

[dslywalker]

Another thing is DC current tickles a bit more than AC

 

[coldwater]

Seriously, a standard issue car electrical system isn't really capable of killing you, unless of course you smash your head on the hood when you jump back from letting a screwdriver poke in the wrong hole. (not that I have ever done that) The biggest exception being a battery explosion, which can in fact be fatal. Other than that, you can recieve a pretty good list of injuries resulting from flying bits of arc debris getting into your eyes, and some nasty little burns, jewely related or not, that make you feel really stupid. Your poor car is usually the one that pays the price in the form of toasted relays, melted wiring harnesses, and ruined switches and guages. It's just good form to learn to pull the cables before poking around a cars wiring system, especially when you suck at wiring like I do.

 

[DOUG]

you need a good answer read this just keep reading and scrolling till you see the carnage

Do you remove your wedding ring while working on your Jeep? - JeepForum.com

all I got to say thats gota hurt

Seen this happen to a guy in person. He was removing an alternator on a Dodge van, did not disconnect the battery. Reached around the back of it with his left hand and his wedding ring got caught between the 12V post on the alt, and the mount.
Needless to say, I haven't worn my ring while working on vehicles since that day.

Seriously, a standard issue car electrical system isn't really capable of killing you, unless of course you smash your head on the hood when you jump back from letting a screwdriver poke in the wrong hole. (not that I have ever done that) The biggest exception being a battery explosion, which can in fact be fatal. Other than that, you can recieve a pretty good list of injuries resulting from flying bits of arc debris getting into your eyes, and some nasty little burns, jewely related or not, that make you feel really stupid. Your poor car is usually the one that pays the price in the form of toasted relays, melted wiring harnesses, and ruined switches and guages. It's just good form to learn to pull the cables before poking around a cars wiring system, especially when you suck at wiring like I do.

It's not the voltage that will do the damage, it's the amperage that will kill you. 60A alternator will do it, if it hits you right.

Not to mention Hybrids. All Ford dealers have a great big yellow hook (like the ones seen in Looney Toons), this would be used in case a tech is getting electrocuted while working on a Hybrid, someone can pull them away from the vehicle without the risk of injuring themself.

 

[coldwater]

Seen this happen to a guy in person. He was removing an alternator on a Dodge van, did not disconnect the battery. Reached around the back of it with his left hand and his wedding ring got caught between the 12V post on the alt, and the mount.
Needless to say, I haven't worn my ring while working on vehicles since that day.



It's not the voltage that will do the damage, it's the amperage that will kill you. 60A alternator will do it, if it hits you right.

Not to mention Hybrids. All Ford dealers have a great big yellow hook (like the ones seen in Looney Toons), this would be used in case a tech is getting electrocuted while working on a Hybrid, someone can pull them away from the vehicle without the risk of injuring themself.

A bald eagle will kill you, IF you hit it while riding a motorcycle at high speed, but the odds are pretty heavily stacked against that going down. my point being more based on the probability that your cars standard 12 volt electrical system will kill you is pretty remote, and there are most likely other, better things to worry about. With my horrific inability to do wiring, I think I have been hit with just about every possible stream of electricity a car can attack me with, including big alternators and hot coils. Don't get me wrong, It hurt like hell, there was plenty of cursing, and body part crashing trying to escape the wrath of whatever was attacking me, but I'm still breathing. As CJ owners, we generally don't see to much computer controlled massive power cell technology under the hood....yet...I'm usually more worried about the damn hood falling on my head than I am about being electrocuted. I worked more than a few years as a journeyman power lineman for Duke Power,first as a distrabution lineman, then as a Transmission lineman, so I do have a healthy respect for electricity, and It's sometimes odd behavior. But I'm usually not to skeered of my jeep.

 

[BajaEdition]

Seriously, a standard issue car electrical system isn't really capable of killing you,

that is one bad thing to surmise, 12 volts can easily kill you. If applied to the correct place 12 volts will cause you to have your lungs collapse, and you will die.
I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I am very well trained when it comes to electricity, (IBEW) and I know that a cars elelctrical system is as dangerous to you as high voltage if applied to the correct place. Never take electricity for granted.
Voltage is force and yes the higher the voltage the more dangerous it is at lower amperage, but a Battery in a jeep with 600 CCA ia capable of lighting you up real easily. That is the same potential is 120 volt at 60 amps.

 

[coldwater]

OK, probably understated, but the LIKELYHOOD of being electrocuted by a 12 volt automotive battery are profoundy remote, and the most unlikely set of perfectly aligned circumstances would need to be in place. like a straight blood path across the body. Probably causing ventral fribulation (sp?.. A likely cause of a hard enough electrical hit, straight through the upper body mass, causing the heart to come out of sync and thus, not flowing blood) While I'm not an electrical engineer or scientist, I am bare hand certified on 44,000, and have worked 100k Transmission lines, and 4160 - 13.8 14.4 hot nearly every day for 10 years before moving to Transmission . Lots of highly unlikely things can kill you, but I tend to choose to play the odds where the likelyhood of me being killed is so slight. Capacators and banked batteries have my FULL attention, and I have seen some pretty nasty results from an improperly discharged cap bank being removed from service, and the poor groundman not following protocall. You could hear the crack from a few hundred feet away. Like I said, I'm more worried about a Transmission falling on my chest during a clutch swap than my battery killing me. In theory, yes, but likelyhood? I do pull the cable most of the time, but It's because I have ruined a lot of stuff on my Jeep, and even nearly set one on fire. (another story) but not due to my being worried for my mortality. Hell, I have a friend that to this day swears that swallowing chewing gum can cause horrible problems to your body,, I guess It could if you choked on it.... But, to each their own.

 

[BajaEdition]

we had a member, not even a wireman, but a low voltage installer, had one knee in the dirt and leaned back had a telephone line poke him in the back, that was all it took. He was repairing that line.
I would never use my personal area of comfort to compromise the safety of another, it is correct to remove the threat before working on the electrical system. For good reason these practices have been developed. Safety is not something to be taken lightly and I would feel real bad if I told someone that he could do something as the chances were small and see him injured or worse. If told not to bother, are you sure an ACCIDENT would not happen?
Safety first means always, now when convenient.
I work stuff hot all the time, but I would never tell anyone to do it. I am trained to, they are not.

 

[dslywalker]

Its all about being grounded or getting in series with the flow.Ever break a neutral wire under load,used to be the # 1 killer in electrical deaths.Its a neutral it can't hurt you.
Coldwater, my Uncle did the same thing you did.He used to tell me the static charge in a 2 mile Transmission line being installed would hurt you more than a live one.

 

[coldwater]

Its all about being grounded or getting in series with the flow.Ever break a neutral wire under load,used to be the # 1 killer in electrical deaths.Its a neutral it can't hurt you.
Coldwater, my Uncle did the same thing you did.He used to tell me the static charge in a 2 mile Transmission line being installed would hurt you more than a live one.

They can carry some huge voltage, but luckily, not amperage. None the less, It'll unload on you like a hammer when you get between it and a ground. When I took over running crews, I actually found some of the A lineman sending cap banks to the ground still loaded, and letting the groundmen drain them. I put an instant stop to that dumb <-BAD WORD-> practice. I would never even suggest that an untrained man go up and work a 900 amp, 795 line, not from a bucket or a baker board, but not many guys will go recieve high levels of electrical training when they install a CB radio in their jeep, and I'm not gonna be the one to call them out for doing it.