Homeboy almost blew himself up with static electricity

[SetTheWorldonFire]

Full Story

An Australian man built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building.

Frank Clewer, who was wearing a woolen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket, was oblivious to the growing electrical current that was building up as his clothes rubbed together.

When he walked into a building in the country town of Warrnambool in the southern state of Victoria Thursday, the electrical charge ignited the carpet.

"It sounded almost like a firecracker," Clewer told Australian radio Friday.

"Within about five minutes, the carpet started to erupt."

Employees, unsure of the cause of the mysterious burning smell, telephoned firefighters who evacuated the building.

"There were several scorch marks in the carpet, and we could hear a cracking noise -- a bit like a whip -- both inside and outside the building," said fire official Henry Barton.

Firefighters cut electricity to the building thinking the burns might have been caused by a power surge.

Clewer, who after leaving the building discovered he had scorched a piece of plastic on the floor of his car, returned to seek help from the firefighters.

"We tested his clothes with a static electricity field meter and measured a current of 40,000 volts, which is one step shy of spontaneous combustion, where his clothes would have self-ignited," Barton said.

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I wonder what they did with his clothes.

[dynastoned]

haha thats fucking insane. when i was a little kid i used to run around the house in my socks dragging them across the floor. then id shock the shit out of my older sister lol.. but damn 40,000 volts..

[Tanker]

thats just crazy!





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[jukeboxfrank]

current of 40,000 volts
It should read charge of 40,000 volts. I call BS

[smutmaker]

that's total bullshit! LOL

[brizzad]

Originally Posted by jukeboxfrank

current of 40,000 volts
It should read charge of 40,000 volts. I call BS

glad i wasnt the only one who caught this

[BRISK]

Check out the quality reporting and fact checking:

This article says it was 30,000 volts: http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat...c-jacket_x.htm

This article says it was 36,000 volts: http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...5E2862,00.html

This article says it was 40,000 volts: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4252692.stm

[StatsJunky]

Thats dumb. Ever touched a car door after building up some static? You get a nice lil shock. When he went to get in his car he would have got knocked on his ass!

[kektex]

Yep...current is measured in amperes.
Not calling BS, just nitpicking

[VeriSexy]

Wow, new power source???? Find out what kind of material his sweater was made of...

[VeriSexy]

When you scuff your shoes upon a rug on a dry winter day, your body typically charges up to a potential of several thousand volts with respect to ground. In physics this is a well-known fact and is easily verified by meter measurements. Touch a grounded object, and a spark will leap between the object and your fingertip. This kind of electric spark can only exist when a high voltage is present. The tiniest spark requires about 500 volts. Big, nasty, painful sparks require lots more voltage, up to several thousand volts. But even when no sparks are jumping, there is still a high voltage between your charged body and the ground, and you body is surrounded with an invisible electric field.


Their measurements for different clothing and various car-seats give impressively high voltages, and this occurred at humidity levels above 50%. The voltages should be MUCH higher at, say 5% R.H.!

Nylon clothes: 21,000 volts (Yowch!)
Wool clothes: 9,000 volts
Cotton clothes: 7,000 volts

http://www.amasci.com/emotor/voltmeas.html

[Machete_]

BULLSHIT .-- if you belive that you are retarded !!!