Pico1
New member
Hey guys,
Yesterday I got my new dual 250 watt metal halide ballast in the mail. I don't have my new tank yet (comes in Friday) so I decided to try and fire my new bulbs just to see what they looked like since I already got my reeflux 12K bulbs and sockets in the mail. I screwed the bulb in the socket, connected the socket to the ballast and plugged it in. Just great, the bulbs wouldn't fire. I thought it would be a good idea to wiggle the bulb to see if I had it connected properly. I made sure I only touched the bottom of the bulb since I knew it was bad to touch the glass with your bare hands. My hand slipped down the glass a bit and I touched the metal part of the bulb...instant electrocution! My muscles in my arms tensed from the electrocution so I couldn't let go of the bulb. So here I was grabbing the bulb rolling around involuntarily as I was being electrocuted for about 30 seconds. I couldn't scream for help or get it off me because the electricity took over. The best way I could describe it is being paralyzed and in extreme pain. I was just thinking, "GET IT OFF!" Once it finally got off I started screaming and my family called 911. The ambulance came and rushed me to UC Davis ICU. I noticed on my thumb that my thumb print was melted off because my skin melted between the bottom of the bulb and the mogul socket. I also have burn rashes all over my body, open wounds from thrashing around on the floor, and my arms were numb. The doctors said I had a seizure! They had me stay the night because I had some muscle deterioration and they wanted to monitor my heart. I had to be connected to a full IV and everything. Also there were about 20 UCD students watching me asking a bunch of questions :eek2: . I guess I'm felling OK now, just the burns feel funny. Use a GFCI!
Now the good part...the pics!
thumb
[/IMG]
hand
[/IMG]
arm
[/IMG]
hand
[/IMG]
loading off the ambulence (sorry it's blurry)
[/IMG]
Yesterday I got my new dual 250 watt metal halide ballast in the mail. I don't have my new tank yet (comes in Friday) so I decided to try and fire my new bulbs just to see what they looked like since I already got my reeflux 12K bulbs and sockets in the mail. I screwed the bulb in the socket, connected the socket to the ballast and plugged it in. Just great, the bulbs wouldn't fire. I thought it would be a good idea to wiggle the bulb to see if I had it connected properly. I made sure I only touched the bottom of the bulb since I knew it was bad to touch the glass with your bare hands. My hand slipped down the glass a bit and I touched the metal part of the bulb...instant electrocution! My muscles in my arms tensed from the electrocution so I couldn't let go of the bulb. So here I was grabbing the bulb rolling around involuntarily as I was being electrocuted for about 30 seconds. I couldn't scream for help or get it off me because the electricity took over. The best way I could describe it is being paralyzed and in extreme pain. I was just thinking, "GET IT OFF!" Once it finally got off I started screaming and my family called 911. The ambulance came and rushed me to UC Davis ICU. I noticed on my thumb that my thumb print was melted off because my skin melted between the bottom of the bulb and the mogul socket. I also have burn rashes all over my body, open wounds from thrashing around on the floor, and my arms were numb. The doctors said I had a seizure! They had me stay the night because I had some muscle deterioration and they wanted to monitor my heart. I had to be connected to a full IV and everything. Also there were about 20 UCD students watching me asking a bunch of questions :eek2: . I guess I'm felling OK now, just the burns feel funny. Use a GFCI!
Now the good part...the pics!
thumb
hand
arm
hand
loading off the ambulence (sorry it's blurry)
