Chad Gilbert lead singer of the band New Found Glory grabbed the mic between songs and discovered he was being shocked and couldn't let go. He survived but it was serious.
Here's the story.
Here's the story.
Musician severely shocked by microphone.
- Thread startergafftaper
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JohnHuntington
Well-Known Member
Interesting, they keep blaming the microphone, but it's quite possible (likely, in my experience) that the mic was correctly grounded but his guitar amp was not...
John
Maybe his bandmates didn't like him, and used one of these:
or
See also the thread http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/sound-music-intercom/11936-getting-shocked-mics.html .
See also the thread http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/sound-music-intercom/11936-getting-shocked-mics.html .
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Yeah it makes more sense that the problem is coming from the amp, although if it was enough of a shock that he was unable to move, that sounds more complicated than just a typical bad ground problem.
I'm definitely not an electricity expert but I seem to recall from a first aid class I took long ago that you aren't likely to get that locked muscle can't let go effect from normal 110 voltage. I guess it's possible judging from this chart I found on the OSHA website, but still seems like something is going on besides a typical bad ground. Here's the full page.
|- style="background-color: rgb (139, 174, 218)"
| align="center" style="width: 23%" | Current level
(Milliamperes)
| width="77%" align="center" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | Probable Effect on Human Body
|- style="background-color: rgb (253, 234, 166)"
| width="23%" align="center" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | 1 mA
| width="77%" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | Perception level . Slight tingling sensation. Still dangerous under certain conditions .
|- style="background-color: rgb (139, 174, 218)"
| width="23%" align="center" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | 5mA
| width="77%" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | Slight shock felt; not painful but disturbing. Average individual can let go. However, strong involuntary reactions to shocks in this range may lead to injuries.
|- style="background-color: rgb (253, 234, 166)"
| width="23%" align="center" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | 6mA - 16mA
| width="77%" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | Painful shock , begin to lose muscular control. Commonly referred to as the freezing current or "let-go" range.
|- style="background-color: rgb (139, 174, 218)"
| width="23%" align="center" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | 17mA - 99mA
| width="77%" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | Extreme pain, respiratory arrest, severe muscular contractions . Individual cannot let go. Death is possible .
|- style="background-color: rgb (253, 234, 166)"
| width="23%" align="center" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | 100mA - 2000mA
| width="77%" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | Ventricular fibrillation (uneven, uncoordinated pumping of the heart.) Muscular contraction and nerve damage begins to occur. Death is likely .
|- style="background-color: rgb (139, 174, 218)"
| width="23%" align="center" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | > 2,000mA
| width="77%" style="color: rgb (0, 0, 0)" | Cardiac arrest, internal organ damage, and severe burns. Death is probable.
|-
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Man! I am so glad you said "Shocked" and not "Electrocuted" !!!!
I don't ever want to live through that again !
I don't ever want to live through that again !
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JohnHuntington
Well-Known Member
It's an interesting exercise to run the numbers using Ohm's law (we do that in our electricity classes at City Tech), metering your own resistance. A sweaty person with a good, low resistance connection on both ends could get blasted pretty bad. Of course, a higher voltage makes it a bit more dangerous... Recall this story:
Baptism Electrocution Lawsuit Settled by Surviving Family - Personal Injury Lawyers
JohnHuntington
Well-Known Member
neotrotsky
Member
As someone who has seen NFG in person quite a few times (Yes, I'm a fan...what of it? ), I have always seen them performing with SM58 vocal mics. There is no way they were "shocked" by the mic without ability to let go. This is just flat out impossible. If the singer was shocked, it was through some other means (such as the amp possibly). In general, the whole thing sounds fishy
), I have always seen them performing with SM58 vocal mics. There is no way they were "shocked" by the mic without ability to let go. This is just flat out impossible. If the singer was shocked, it was through some other means (such as the amp possibly). In general, the whole thing sounds fishy
TimmyP1955
Well-Known Member
That seems to be the only plausible cause. However, if you were media, with no electrical knowledge, and heard that someone grabbed a microphone got shocked, youd say it was the microphone. You wouldn't even think to blame something else, even if it doesent make sense to people with a knowledge of electricity and sound equipment
I have to give the author of the article credit as they do not actually say it was an electrical shock or due to the mic but rather that "it appears the beloved Chad Gilbert has collapsed on stage after suffering an electric shock" and "The band are yet to say anything on what went down but witnesses claim Gilbert suffered an electric shock due to poor wiring from his mic...". It's almost as though they know enough to avoid jumping to any conclusions. It is the performer's tweet that is worrisome since they do seem to assume the problem was the microphone and that going wireless will protect them when as the lead guitarist it is much more likely for the problem to be associated with their guitar and amp and that any low resistance ground path might give the same result. I just hope they don't figure that out the hard way.
Interesting. I didn't know about "death caps" until now. I found this while searching the term...
Death cap - YouTube
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So help me understand the death cap issue a little better. What kind of caps are we talking about? Electrolytic or ceramic disc? I've often seen ceramic disc caps connected from line directly to chassis in older equipment. I've never heard of one shorting out, but I suppose it is possible. If it did, the chassis would be at the same potential as the side of the line that shorted out, so potentially 120 volt. However, I have had electrolytic filter caps short out many times, but they are usually connected to the secondary of the transformer after the rectifier, not line to chassis. If an electrolytic filter cap shorted out, you'd know it; the amp would be NFG (pun intended)!
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
Pastor Electrocuted During Baptism - CBS News
But it was a water heater failure and the mic line was simply a path to ground - not the cause. Lots of good advice for mic and electrical safety if you google "baptism electrocution".(Probably some bad advice too.)
But it was a water heater failure and the mic line was simply a path to ground - not the cause. Lots of good advice for mic and electrical safety if you google "baptism electrocution".(Probably some bad advice too.)
The information I've seen concerns ceramic caps. Check out this thread...
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1043121&goto=nextnewest
This is a job for someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to electronics.
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Okay. so why are the ceramic death caps installed in the first place? They are WAY too small for any kind of ripple filtering. I always assumed they shorted RF to ground to reduce the chance of radio interference. I now understand the importance of removing them, but I'm wondering what the negative consequences might be of removing them. Does connecting the chassis to ground accomplish the same thing as the caps used to accomplish, thereby making them unnecessary when a three-prong cord is added? This is an interesting issue that includes a lot of old equipment from old PA amps to CB radios. I've seen those caps installed in a lot of old equipment, not just guitar amps!
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