The danger of DIY

http://articles.philly.com/1997-01-03/news/25560415_1_electric-chair-electrocuted-life-term

 

How much power could his headphones realistically draw? Maybe a watt? Could that really be fatal?

 

That's really fishy sounding.

Did he home-make some electrostatic headphones in prison?

 

Ikr? Yeah, that's it, it was his, uhhh, Casio G-shock watch, it electrocuted him, yeah.

 

Yeah... It does sound really fishy, as if they murked him and blamed it on some magic cause, which noone looked into, because who cares about that guy etc...

Well they didnt think about the SBAF detectives! 18 years later the truth comes out!

 

We just need someone to measure those cans, just to be sure.

 

Nature finds a way.

 

He must've been powering those things with something from Audio GD, I mean, good lord.

 

Yes, but... this man died well. I mean, when it's time to go, all things considered, it might not be too bad to go with your modded hps on. "His name is Robert Paulson".

 

Maybe he had a pace maker.

 

I'm wondering how extreme this DIY was...

Mono-bloc tube amp built into each earpiece?

 

More likely an electric wire was rigged under his toilet seat by the loving warden or guards.

 

Hahaha

Probably he made an e-stat, and then his hand accidentally touched the stator as he was trying to take it off to start standing up and wipe his buttocks.

Human impedance is obviously less than e-stat impedance, so at the same voltage, his body may very well have conducted quite an amount of charge, which stopped his heart, and thus killed him.

Now... my only "problem" with this story is... if the above is true... the scene of his death must have been... eh...

 

Long time ago, there was a British spoof on TV news coverage called Brass Eye The Day Today. They had a regular American-news spot, complete with overblown colour (was American TV really bright red and green in those days?) and overblown accents. This is just the sort of story they might have made up.

Something like this:

 

Reminds me of the story of the guy who eletrocuted himself with a multimeter:

http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1999-50.html

 

This definitely looks fishy. These must have been some messed up electrostats like Bill-P mentioned. Having some 5-20 V voltage near your head would probably not kill you. If i remember correctly then currents around and above 0.250 Amps are considered potentially lethal. To get this amount of current through your body, there needs to be high voltage or low resistance. Skin resistance is quite high.

https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=6793

Edit.

What i have learned through my own mistakes and from people more experienced than i is the following. As human beings can be very sensitive and complex, it is good practice to be cautious near any voltage sources/ electrical devices. Especially near head and neck region, which are often open skin and not covered with clothing.