i was wiring up some computer fans for my new tank i have just set up and i accidentally wired a 12v fan up to a 240v plug :oops: :oops:

As i plugged it in it went BANG and the fan exploded and bits went everywhere but the worst part was the electric shock that went up my left arm from my hand to elbow and it is still pretty numb

i think the problem was i was doing 3 different things at the same time so wasn't thinking properly

i think next time i do something to do with electricity i will do just that

luckily only 2 bits of plastic made in into my right hand

now to clean up all the bits of fan all over my bedroom

Yow! glad to hear you came away nearly unscathed

reminds me of the time I ordered a power supply for my supercool thermoelectric 12V chillers...

wired it all up, and turned it on... blammo! sparks n smoke! I then found out there was a teensytiny switch to choose between 110/240 :roll: :oops:

when i work in the rubbish pit at work we have to cut cords off dumped appliances for the scrap metal value , one day i found an active sub woofer so i plugged it in and hooked it up to the stereo , it didnt work atll that well so i pulled out the speaker wires from the stereo . then i grabbed a steak knife (my side cutters were on the forklift ) and cut the power cord off to scrap it -- but it was still plugged in --bang ! it melted a groove in the steak knife i didnt get a shock but it scared me

...and the DOH! Award goes to...

You should have wired 20 fans in series and you would have been fine :lol:

Stu

i think the problem was i was doing 3 different things at the same time so wasn't thinking properly

Problem also may have been feeding the fan 20 times the power it's expecting and changing polarity every 50th of a second.

I'm surprised it blew up though, I would have expected it to sit there humming for a second and then melt.

Try 20 times the voltage therefore V²/R means 400 times the power and that's not considering the fault current as the fan failed spectacularly.

Sounds like a cool bang. In my job this sort of thing happens from time to time but usually a little bigger sort of bang (normally 10's of mega-joules in my explosions) Shows the extreme danger of getting electricity wrong eh? Will you do it again, I bet not - at least for a while anyway.

PS: 12V fans will blow immediately when wired to 240VAC as the internal electronics are designed only for 12V (maybe 16-18 max). The components aren't designed for 240VAC so blow instantly.

Yup.. Once you let the magic smoke out, they never work the same again....

Yup.. Once you let the magic smoke out, they never work the same again....

I thought it was magic steam rather then magic smoke?... then again I'm more steampunk then cyberpunk

Stu

I thought it was magic steam rather then magic smoke?... then again I'm more steampunk then cyberpunk

Stu

Once you smell it there is no doubt that it's smoke

Ahhh... The distinctive smell of fried electonics, sounds like a paying job

Ian