PLEASE CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION
Especially in sound equipment on stage the following information is essential to know.
An electrical shock is caused by voltage and current, actually it is the current that causes the shock.
In practice the higher the voltage the higher the current will be and the higher the shock.
But there is another thing to consider and it is resistance . When the resistance (in ohms) is high between two
poles the current will be low and visa versa.
All three of these; voltage current and resistance are important in determining the effect of an electrical shock.
However the severity of a shock is primarily determined by the amount of current flowing through a person.
A person can feel a shock because the muscles in a body respond to electrical current and because the heart
is a muscle, it can be affected, when the current is high enough.
Current can also be fatal when it causes the chest muscles to contract and cause you to stop breathing. At
what potential is current dangerous? Well the first feeling of current is a tingle at 0.001 amp of current. The
current between 0.1 and 0.2 amp is fatal. Imagine that your home fuses of 20 amp can handle 200 times more
current than is necessary to kill.
How does resistance effect the shock a person feels? A typical resistance between one hand to the other in a
"dry" condition could be well be over 100.000 ohm. If you are playing on stage your body is perspiring
profusely and your body's resistance is lowered by more than 50% ! This is a situation in which current can
easily flow. Current will flow when there is a difference in ground potential between the housing of the mics
and the guitarsynth amps which will be linked by your body on stage.
Imagine a guitar in your hand and your lips close to the mic! A ground potential difference of above l0 Volts is
not unusual. In improperly wired buildings it can possibly be as high as 240 Volts. Although removing the
ground wire sometimes cures a system hum, it will create a very hazardous situation for the performing
musician.
ALWAYS GROUND all your equipment by the grounding pin in your mains plug. Hum loops should only be
cured by proper wiring and isolation input/output transformers. Replace fuses always with the same type and
rating after the equipment has been turned off and unplugged. If the fuse blows again you have an equipment
failure do not use it again and return it to your dealer for repair.
DO NOT TOUCH a person being SHOCKED. You could also be hocked, once removed from the stock have
someone send for medical help immediately.
ALWAYS KEEP THE ABOVE MENTIONED INFORMATION IN MIND
WHEN USING ELECTRICALLY POWERED EQUIPMENT.
Clubmix manual page 18
