Musicians' Electrical Hazards ... and how to improve safety

  • Since one of my best friends recently almost got electrocuted when he got stuck to his guitar for over a minute, I decided to start a series of videos talking about electrical hazards for musicians. Maybe this is of help for some of you guys ... so let's start with part 1 right away. :)


    Cheers

    Martin


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  • Thanks for sharing this! Good topic and great explanation with the basics in it. Cool thing :thumbup:8)


    Just to add: Naturally all of this is also true in those parts of the world where electricity is operated with 110/120V rather than 220/240V.


    Stay safe all :)

  • And here's a follow-up to the first video:

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  • On 4 separate construction incidents I've seen men killed by electricity and on 2 occasions lost arms and legs to it.

    One night grounding problems on Mic's got me good.

    While holding my strings on the neck I touched my lip on the mic while saying Good evening ladies and FUCK!!!! right in the kisser.

    The audience was convinced I had tourette's syndrome.

    Running wireless spared me one night when the whole band got zapped. The steel player's bar welded to the strings and he got knocked out.

    I use wireless when ever possible now.

    It's hard to watch a band mate get all lit up again.

    Thank You lightbox for sharing your knowledge, you have potentially saved some lives here.8)

  • Thanks very much for these videos Martin. I learned a lot from the second one especially, as I was blissfully unaware bootleg grounding was a thing. Sketchy! I take a basic socket tester with me to venues that checks for earth and whether the mains pin-out is correct. My question is, would this be able to tell the difference between a good earth and a bootleg earth connection? Presumably it’s lighting up good when there is no resistance, so a bootleg connection to neutral would fail this?

    I’ve checked my (UK) home fuse box has RCDs as well as resettable fuses, as I’d not thought to use an RCD at home otherwise. I have a couple of in-line RCDs that I usually take for gigs and work trips. I’ll change this to ‘always’. I appreciate your advice.

    Ed / Audio Systems Engineer / Kemper Stage + Fender fan

    Edited once, last by EdwardArnold ().

  • I take a basic socket tester ... My question is, would this be able to tell the difference between a good earth and a bootleg earth connection?

    • A basic socket tester will not detect bootleg ground at all (and not a reverse bootleg ground).
    • Another device like a SureTest Analyzer can detect bootleg ground BUT it can't detect a reverse bootleg ground (which is a VERY dangerous situation). A reverse bootleg ground is basically a bridge between protective earth and L instead of N.
    • To detect reverse bootleg ground you'll need something like the Amprobe Voltprobe.

    Regarding grounding / earthing there's various systems used around the globe and I can't get into full detail here. But one thing they all have in common: Protective earth and Neutral must never be bridged in or after the main switchboard.

    For further reading on the various systems used, I recommend the corresponding Wikipedia article as a starting point.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system


    As always with this critical topic ... if you're not 100% sure what you're doing, get in touch with a professional electrician, please :)

  • And here's the 3rd and final part focussing on the situation on stage


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