death from CRT

[shfifty]

I am aware of the dangers of CRT monitors, and the dangerous voltages that can lurk inside them. But does anyone know or heard of a confirmed case of a death from a CRT monitor accident? Ive heard plenty of stories of people getting shocked hard enough to knock them to the floor, or crap their pants a little, but does anyone actually know of a confirmed death?

I was under the impression that death by electrocution occurs by exposure to high current for extended periods of time. So can the shock itself from the monitor kill you, or is it just a heart attack caused by the shock? And that being said, would a young person die from a CRT shock or is it more likely that an old person with a weak heart will die from a shock?

Finally, please reply only if you are voicing some relevant facts or info. I'm dont care about opinion or speculation, just facts and evidence. Hook me up. 

[BobA]

Tasers give the same type of jolt and they are not supposed to kill but they do.   Depends on underlying conditions and the health of the person being shocked.  Not sure where you would find a definitive answer to your question due to the factors involved.   Did the person die from a weak heart, from hitting his/her head when falling, or from an infection from the cut when arm hit sharp edge of chassis.

Apparently there have been 16 taser deaths in Canada,   Probably alot more in the US.  Due to the type of incident you can get stats.  I don't think there is anyone collecting stats of CRT discharge deaths but even if it does not kill you it hurts like HELL.

[lilshawn]

Amnesty International says that between 2001 and August 2008, 334 Americans died after Taser shocks. The stun gun was deemed to have caused or contributed to at least 50 of those deaths, Amnesty says, citing medical examiners and coroners.

but tasers is't what we are talking about. the taser is a device that is solely to be used on living creatures. it's is designed (supposedly) as such to not cause death but to disable. the electronic circuitry in the gun is designed to start with a high voltage pulse, it uses it to detect that it is indeed "hooked up" to the living creature then switches to a lower high frequency pulse rate to override the muscle control. prolonged contact and use of the gun after submission causes cardiac arrest, ultimately death, since you kinda need that blood pumping to keep you living. it's the --cream-filled twinkie-- police officer that gets a kick out of watching a dude twitch out on the ground that's causing deaths.

a CRT on the other hand is designed to shoot into a picture tube at full blast irrespective of human contact or not.

I would say anybody who is smart enough to remove the back of a TV set SHOULD be smart enough to not stick their hands into the back of a set while it's on. i have touched line voltage before, it's not nice but it's not something i would recommend doing, it could kill you for sure but . but with 1000's of variables the times i have touched high voltage, ive been lucky enough to have been wearing rubber soled shoes and have only had one hand touching it, leaving a very long resistance filled path for the electricity to go through. Had my other hand been touching a metal portion of the monitor, likely the electricity would go straight across one hand to the other (across my heart) and the results likely could be very different.

high voltage is a very strange and unpredictable beast, and even very high voltage even more so. it begins to do some very unusual things.

[Rickn]

Generaly speaking, yes of course it is possible.
Having said that here are a few facts:
- Electrocution is due to the amount of current, not so much High Voltage.
- A picture tube requires anything from 15000 volts (small 14'" tube) to over 30000 volts (Say a 39" tube)
- In both cases contact with the high voltage is not a good idea, trust me I have been hit by close to 40000 volts and my fingers went numb and turned black for about 20 minutes.

What is important is to make sure if you are working on a live board that you use an isolation transformer or that it has a switch mode power supply. This will make sure that return and ground path are separate from the original 120 volt AC input. Dry area, and rubber soled shoes.

If you are unsure, then don't do it!!

If you have any heart condition etc. stay away!! 

[MonMotha]

FWIW, I've personally never heard a corroborated story of someone dying from anything of an electrical nature inside a CRT monitor.  While the HV can certainly give you quite a jolt, the nature of it is such that, if the monitor's off, it's not overly likely to kill you (but discharge the smurfing thing before taking off the anode cap!).  I'm sure it's happened, but I've not heard a story with any evidence.  I would suspect that you have as much chance of dying from physical injury resulting from sudden, forced or reflexive movement as from the electrical jolt itself (due to heart issues, most likely).

Now, if you're working on something while it's on, watch out for any unisolated area of power as rickn says.  While the HV is a concern, it'll stay put underneath that cap unless you go messing with it.  Of more concern is the power input section (or the whole board if it's unisolated in any way).  While I've never heard of anyone dying from anything electrical in a CRT monitor, it is well known that "the wall" can cause death, and that's basically what's present inside that monitor in some places.

I have, however, heard stories involving some degree of corroboration where someone suffers serious injury or death due to the vacuum of the CRT (including a particularly gruesome one where somebody managed to stab themselves in the gut with the neck of the tube by carrying it the wrong way).  There's a lot of potential energy in the vacuum relative to atmosphere.  Don't do anything to compromise it.

[DJ_Izumi]

Under the right circumstances it doesn't take much of a shock to cause ventricular fibrillation or something else.  Death from CRT shock is quite plausable.  The reason you probably don't hear about many deaths is because those who take the things apart know it's dangerious and take necessar precautions.  It's the guy that never heard of such steps and just cracked open his TV to see why the color is too blue who's gonna get himself in the hospital or the morgue.

[qrz]

there are "old" technicians , and there are "bold" technicians .

but,  there are very few "old bold" technicians.....


   RESPECT electricity,  for it will NOT respect you.   

[tyson171]

I personally have never heard of anyone who has experianced death from crt, but I've known someone who was shocked from changing a light bulb after swimming (the bulb blew and they got out of the pool to replace it, and they were still wet), and died a few hours afterwards. 

So my point is to be very very safe in damp areas, (basement with damp carpet).  I was shocked by 120 outlet while on my knees in a basement where the carpet was damp from moisture, and it shocked me like crazy!  It actually scared me, was in fear my heart was going to stop! 

I work around high voltage everyday now, just need to be very aware of all of your surrondings, and think before you act!