Lichtenberg electrocution deaths - GIF

Recall the trendy internet-driven fad of "Lichtenberg figures"? AKA "fractal woodburning", which uses high voltage electricity to create attractive tree-like or lightning-like patterns in wood? 33 known deaths have occurred from it since 2017. The mortality rate in Lichtenberg injury cases from 2016-2020 is 71%.

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https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...g_figures6.jpg


Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...ning-gif-54729
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...3492#post78169


More:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...002/emp2.12330
https://www.woodturner.org/Woodturne...g-Burning.aspx
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/n...ractal-burning
https://www.union-bulletin.com/local...b2f3dc175.html

I have never seen or heard of this before. I assume from the video that the surface was wetted with some sort of liquid and then the voltage was applied. VERY dangerous!!! I can see why there were fatalities.

I have heard of this before, I think it has a lot to do with the fact of using parts out of an old microwave oven and not properly grounding/shielding.

Recently a young girl fried all the nerves in her hands when she forgot to switch the current off from her microwave transformer and touched her workpiece. Very sad for her but a clear message that this is not a very safe hobby.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mdhatter3

I have never seen or heard of this before. I assume from the video that the surface was wetted with some sort of liquid and then the voltage was applied. VERY dangerous!!! I can see why there were fatalities.

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Correct, I think a salt water or similar solution is soaked into the surface of the wood. A lot of the DIY versions of this use microwave oven transformers (as noted already) or perhaps worse, oil burner ignition transformers to supply the HV. Unfortunately lots of the people trying this are following instructions they find online and many of those folks are not necessarily very knowledgeable about working around exposed electrical stuff. So they tend to underestimate or just be completely unaware of the dangers and risks. Several of the deaths that I read about resulted from simple accidents like people tripping while they have one of these in process and getting their hands onto the energized piece of wood trying to break their fall. Pretty unfortunate.

I seem to recall that youtube has actually banned posting how-to videos of this process due to the number of injuries and deaths that have occurred.

They do make really cool looking pieces though.

One must be knowledgeable about electricity and especially very high-voltage before doing things like this. The leads used in the video appeared to not be made of high voltage-tested wire, and the battery charger clips are also a big liability. As a tech school student in electronics in the late '70's working on the high voltage power supplies in CRT TV sets etc. there are specific safety steps to follow when working with this kind of stuff. It is NOT something you can watch a 2 minute video and then do safely!

And 2 switches that must be pressed by both hands, as often used on dangerous machines.

Even a very long cord that must be manually plugged into an outlet and unplugged would go a long ways long way towards safety by forcing the operator to stand a long ways away from the hazard.

That would not stop the operator from walking back to the workpiece after plugging in.

There are simply too may things than can go wrong when untrained and inexperienced people mess with lethal high voltage .

Yeah, one of the big problems with electrical dangers is that they are often neither visible (unlike say, rotating machinery) or audible, so they do not present as "scary" or "dangerous" to someone not familiar with what's actually going on or the threat it presents. In the case of making these pieces, it's actually pretty cool to see happening and looks sort of slow and sedate. I'd bet the tendency is to lean in close to see the interesting pattern develop, etc. It's way too easy to get hurt or killed because you overlooked some seemingly minor detail in your setup or simply placed your hand in the wrong place.

I was doing that when my age was a single digit long ago. You just have to have respect for electric current...

When I was about 8YO I had one of those quack medical devices that had neon tubes that were run over the hurt parts and made them hurt more for you... Took it apart and used the HV output for lots of experiments. I used several TV picture tubes for HV capacitors...when they accidently discharged across the basement floor to the drain, Dad made me stop LOL A neon sign transformer works well and is relatively safe. Jacobs Ladder and other cute tricks are fun to watch.

I was making the Jacobs Ladder with a 10k volt neon light transformer. Way fun...

I find Lightenberg art fascinating, but electricity scares the crap out of me, so I don't plan to ever do it myself. I've seen videos of guys wetting dry lumber with a squirt bottle ahead of the arc, rather than wetting the whole block, which seems safer. One guy used it to steer the arc, and he was marginally successful.

Would plugging the transformer into a GFC outlet mitigate the danger in any way? I understand transformers and how the Lichtenberg process works, but as much as I try to understand, GFCs confound me. I built a "metal melter" out of a MOT, with plans to built it into a spot welder. Before I ever used it, I built an isolator out of another MOT (both coils are the same, so no change in voltage).

Would the Lichtenberg process work to make fulgerite? My thought is that the power needed is beyond the average tinkerer.


Neil

A GFC would not help at all in this case. It is the high voltage (with low internal resistance) from the transformer's secondary winding that will get you. Be aware that the normal secondary current is about 250 mA.

One end of the secondary coil is usually connected to the transformer core. Having the secondary circuit (including the core) float may help, as long as you do not touch both ends of the secondary at the same time. You still may get a shock from the current flowing through the leak capacitance between the primary and the secondary side, even when touching with one hand.

A GFC protects you from the mains voltage flowing through you to the earth. (PS I know that voltage does not flow, but otherwise the sentence would be awkward ;-)

That is why I find electricity so scary because you cannot see it.

I turn wooden bowls and built a fractal burner out of a microwave transformer. The metal core is one side of secondary high voltage. I put the transformer inside a plastic electric junction box and made sure it was insulated from the outside. I used high voltage spark plug wires with battery charger clips to hold a nail to touch the wood never touching the work myself. Had the work with sitting on neoprene sheet on wooden table. The liquid is water with baking soda for electrolyte spread with small chip brush. Had a momentary normally open foot switch on the primary side and never close to the work. Had a large indicator light in parallel with the transformer incoming power. Microwave transformers are dangerous Because of high current. Oil burner and neon transformers are less dangerous although nothing is absolutely safe. You just need to understand electricity and respect what it can do. I can show people how it works, but refuse to help build or loan out.

A friend of mine, a Medical Dr no less, got into this a few years ago, after selling many of them he lost interest in continuing to produce them, about the time the deaths started rocketing...