angtengchat,
I repair very high power-voltage equipment and so far I've not used gloves/
What i did was to use a ground stick and make sure I discharge the capacitance
voltages that were "trapped" before I actually use my hands to service the
equipment.
I wonder whether you dead short those capacitors or does your ground stick have
some resistance?
However at times, we still need to "check" the equiments while the equipment
is running, thats where the danger lies. Obviously an insulated mat won't
help much.
Actually the insulated mat thing only applies when working with power sources
that have a ground reference. Not that you shouldn't use one anytime you work
with high voltage but I don't think the mat makes much difference if the voltage
in question is floating.
After reading your thread, I guess one just have to be extra careful when
dealing with these high power-voltages equipments. Once is enough!
I think that it is good to understand the risks if they are inevitable, as when
you must take high voltage measurements. Knowing not only the maximum danger,
but the limits to danger can help make the task easier. We don't need
unnecessary stress, that leads to accidents. So does careless haste. The brain
should always be in gear before the hands (and other body parts) are in motion.
The one hand rule is good, but sometimes it's difficult to connect a voltmeter
across devices with only one hand. Well insulated meter leads help. Sometimes
you can connect the clip leaded negative terminal before turning on the power so
that you CAN observe the one hand rule. Actually the only time I ever got
'bitten' in nearly twenty years as a broadcaster was from RF in an antenna
'doghouse'. We had to take the base current readings daily, later only weekly.
The meters have a shorting switch so that they are not in the circuit when not
being read. This is to protect against lightening damage. Anyway I was pushing
the shorting a stubborn shorting switch and my hand got close to a 'hot' metal
plate, RF hot. RF is a whole different animal and the one hand rule often
doesn't work. It will jump to your body whether you are grounded or not. At the
same time you can sometimes take thousands of volts of RF without injury. You
have probably seen the demonstrations of the Tesla coil and the person stands
with a metal rod and giant arcs jump to the rod. The rod is important because RF
can burn the skin, the rod takes the initial hit and distributes the current
across a larger area on the hands.
Jim
