Electricity / Water

[Mary S. Lynn]

Here's a question about electric lights and contact with water. Was electrocution a problem as lights popped, leaving raw electrical connections, and their subsequent contact with water? I know the lights in general stayed on as long as possible (due to heroic stoker efforts). Thanks.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Probably. Unfortunately, the ones who could tell us whether or not this was an issue didn't live to tell their story.

 

[Mary S. Lynn]

Well, no, they wouldn't have, would they? I guess my question was more in terms of witness accounts.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Well, no, they wouldn't have, would they? <<

Acting as a resistor for 100 volts at God only knows how many amperes tends to leave one quite indisposed. Unfortunately, if any other witnesses lived to see something like this happen, they didn't choose to say anything about it that I'm aware of. Somebody else might be though.

Any takers?

 

[Mary S. Lynn]

"Unfortunately, if any other witnesses lived to see something like this happen, they didn't choose to say anything about it that I'm aware of."

I'm not aware of it either, which is why I asked.

 

[trevor william sturdy]

Mary,
As with any mix of water and electricity I think that if you are close enough or in contact with one of these fittings as they "pop" you are going to get shocked, obviously somebody dangling there feet off a pier in San Francisco is not going to get a buzz just because the Titanic pops a light bulb. Due to the lack of recorded references to this event I doubt that electrification was high on the list of problems for that night. This does however serve to highlight the state of the art electrics aboard the vessel, the fact that you can have circuits, probably, blowing all through the forward sections of the ship, however the dry areas remained illuminated. A good add for circuit breakers...

 

[Martin Pirrie]

It is the voltage difference which causes the problems! If a live cable fell into the water, anyone in the water would not receive an electric shock because the water and the swimmer would be all at the same voltage for the short time before the fuses blew. Practically however, the North Atlantic is so huge that the relative puny electrical generators on board Titanic would not raise the ocean's voltage a nano-volt! On board, someone touching a live cable and the metalwork of the ship at the same time would receive a shock because of the voltage difference between the cable and the metalwork causes a current to flow through the passenger's body.

 

[Dennis Smith]

Martin,
I agree with your comments about someone falling in the water, but someone getting an electric shock from touching a live cable and metalwork is possibly debatable.

If the return to the Generator ie. the negative side (or vica versa - you can have a positive return) was via a return cable and was totally isolated from the metalwork (Hull) of the ship then you would not receive any shock at all (in theory). As you probably know to receive a shock you must complete a circuit, if the hull is not part of that circuit you won`t get a shock - or better still be electrocuted.

This brings up another point, does anyone know whether Titanic used Hull return or cable return to the generators?? If Hull return was used then Martin is right, if cable return !!!

Best Wishes and Rgds

Dennis

 

[Mary S. Lynn]

I'm glad I asked this question, as it has produced a number of very valid responses. This was actually one of the first issues that came to my mind when I first began looking at Titanic - and that was not very long ago. Some of our (including mine) fascination began with movies as early as the 50's. Images of people running along water-filled corridors with blinking/popping lights and showing no ill-effects brought this question about. Here's a link for the experts.

http://www.copperas.com/titanic/dynamo.htm

 

[Samuel Halpern]

From the statement in 1911 The Shipbuilder, "The distribution of current is effected on the single-wire system, but the returns are carried back and bonded in such a way as to avoid stray currents" it appears that the hull was used as a return.

Sam