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Licking 9V

#41
Oh, fun related story...

I work as a rental tech at an A/V company. We rent out a lot of wireless mics, and we are supposed to replace the batteries in them when they come back regardless of whether or not the battery still works. We keep all the good used batteries in a box. Before I worked here, one guy lined up several DOZEN 9-volts positive to negative and touched the ends to see what would happen. Now, keep in mind that this is a bigger guy (I'd say in the 250ish pound range). Anyway, the shock knocked him on his butt while every else was laughing at him.
 
#42
Totally silly. I've never licked a 9v battery. Doing so won't tell you a thing about the battery's condition except if it's completely dead.

That said, I keep all used batteries from smoke detectors (I have six of them) to use in my tuner. If a battery dies, I have one or two more used ones in my gig bag. And even if I didn't have a spare, the tuner is somewhat expendable at a gig.

Note: I always mark used batteries so I can tell 'em from new ones. When stored in a bag, the contacts are protected with masking tape.
 
#43
Uhm...guys
hate to spoil your fun (and it is fun, I've tried :>) but because there are no resistors, or diodes in your tongue, the electricity flies straight through, and wears the battery out sooner, so the less time you spend licking it the better it will be

Moral of the story:

if you're gonna lick, do it quick :P
 
#47
I was always taught never to short out a battery because they can explode :eek:.

However, a couple of times now, I've had the end of my bass lead in my mouth, while rooting around a gig bag for my modded double muff, and then absent mindedly plugging it in and switching it on to test it. Tingly 18v surprise :mad:
 
#59
I used to lick my 9 volts all the time to check them. Tingly, tastes like a lemon soaked in copper.

However, I was taking a class in biofeedback and we were learning about surface electromyography sensors (which provide a direct path for electrical current from the skin, and can thus provide a danger). Anyway, my teacher told me that when he was a student, a guy in his electrical engineering class unintentionally killed himself in class with a 9 volt and two thumb tacks. They were talking about how it would work in class and the student decided to test the theory. He attached the thumb tacks to the battery contacts and then pierced his tongue with the two thumb tacks. Zap... his heart stopped and they couldn't restart it.

While I was never able to find direct verfication that this story was true, I don't lick 9 volts anymore and I'm really careful with the sEMG sensors now. :-)

- Seth
 

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