3 ms·

There's not much more than that to it: high voltage, high current and exposed wires. It does not take a PhD to understand what can go bad.

foobarian 4y ago
It actually does "take a PhD." Having insulated wires can still be dangerous with a high enough voltage because of dielectric breakdown. Furthermore even if you don't get electrocuted but have a vacuum chamber with high voltages you can get irradiated. What I would have liked is, "OK this here wire is where the high voltage is, if you touch it you will get hurt and possibly die. If you need to manipulate it use long wooden or plastic tongs. Do not use gloves because of dielectric breakdown possibility." You get the idea. Not "just don't do it."
- krisoft 4y ago
  The very first comment in the thread links to a video which does the exact thing you are wishing for. The video explains why the experiment is stupidly dangerous then gives tips on how one could make it safer. (But not safe.) Note, it has nothing to do with plastic tongs. The main danger, according to the youtuber, is that you turn on the aparatus, get momentarily distracted, and forget that it is on and touch the wood or the electrodes. He offers multiple mitigations: - indicators which show when the transformer is energised. He in fact recommends two separate paralel indicators. An audible one and a visual one. - momentary switches where you physicaly can’t forget them on. Two switch in an “AND” configuration, where you need both of your hands to actuate them, so you can’t accidentally try to adjust an electrode with one hand while the other is energising the system. He in fact goes further and recommends some fancy specialist switches, which turn off if you push them too hard as a result of a muscle spasm from an accidental electrocution. So now you need to make a complicated electronic setup with multiple independent indicators, and specialist switches and yet the project is still not safe! There are still multiple things which can go wrong where a simple and inocous action leads to instant death. It is a thing which is easy to do unsafe, and relatively hard to so safe. At which point can we simplify the advice to the general population into “don’t do it”?
- stephen_g 4y ago
  Honestly, the How To Cook That video that was taken down goes way further into the technical details than I expected it was going to when I first watched it, and correctly explains how the transformer works and how that stops the only protection device (RCD/GFCI) from being able to operate. At the end of the day, for almost all of the viewers of the channel, adding meaningful protection and doing the wood burning safely is simply not within their capabilities. The Big Clive does pretty well of doing a “still don’t do it, but here are some ways that it could be made somewhat safer” explainer.

foobarian 4y ago

It actually does "take a PhD." Having insulated wires can still be dangerous with a high enough voltage because of dielectric breakdown. Furthermore even if you don't get electrocuted but have a vacuum chamber with high voltages you can get irradiated. What I would have liked is, "OK this here wire is where the high voltage is, if you touch it you will get hurt and possibly die. If you need to manipulate it use long wooden or plastic tongs. Do not use gloves because of dielectric breakdown possibility." You get the idea. Not "just don't do it."

krisoft 4y ago
The very first comment in the thread links to a video which does the exact thing you are wishing for. The video explains why the experiment is stupidly dangerous then gives tips on how one could make it safer. (But not safe.) Note, it has nothing to do with plastic tongs. The main danger, according to the youtuber, is that you turn on the aparatus, get momentarily distracted, and forget that it is on and touch the wood or the electrodes. He offers multiple mitigations: - indicators which show when the transformer is energised. He in fact recommends two separate paralel indicators. An audible one and a visual one. - momentary switches where you physicaly can’t forget them on. Two switch in an “AND” configuration, where you need both of your hands to actuate them, so you can’t accidentally try to adjust an electrode with one hand while the other is energising the system. He in fact goes further and recommends some fancy specialist switches, which turn off if you push them too hard as a result of a muscle spasm from an accidental electrocution. So now you need to make a complicated electronic setup with multiple independent indicators, and specialist switches and yet the project is still not safe! There are still multiple things which can go wrong where a simple and inocous action leads to instant death. It is a thing which is easy to do unsafe, and relatively hard to so safe. At which point can we simplify the advice to the general population into “don’t do it”?
stephen_g 4y ago
Honestly, the How To Cook That video that was taken down goes way further into the technical details than I expected it was going to when I first watched it, and correctly explains how the transformer works and how that stops the only protection device (RCD/GFCI) from being able to operate. At the end of the day, for almost all of the viewers of the channel, adding meaningful protection and doing the wood burning safely is simply not within their capabilities. The Big Clive does pretty well of doing a “still don’t do it, but here are some ways that it could be made somewhat safer” explainer.