amkdeath said:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/shock.html
yeah - what the link said- [EDIT]: but they fail to mention that the >100ma levels can also result in fatality... or wishing-for-fatality.
Their table here has it a bit better.[/EDIT]
In jr high and high school I used to play with the spare electron or two... including my share of HV.
Old rule of thumb was, 1a) it ain't the voltage, Spike, it's the current! 1b) it takes as little as 15-20ma of current to stop yer flow.
Now, if you want really high voltages from those transformers... try cascading them.
For example (this is from memory, could be wrong, and
don't do this!):
I used to take the output of a 120V->12V transformer and run that 12V to the low side of a 120V->6V transformer... giving me about 240V; which then went to the 6V winding in a 120 -> 6V, 6V, 1200V; which made some way cool (to me at the time) Jacob's Ladder, etc. I had no good way to measure voltage but the spark was about 2 1/2" at the top.
This may not work with "modern" hardware - I was using old WW2 surplus, the real stuff, built like a tank. Really, that multi-winding unit - it's still up in the attic - had armor plate and treads on it! [sub]
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Pushing today's models too hard you could just wind up with hot xfmr innards in your face.
And be careful! I had myself pretty well trained to get my hand out of there in a hurry at the slightest tingle - once threw some pliers about 20 feet that way (thus inventing the first basement electromagnetic pulse launcher). But that was when I was immortal, and people aren't immortal anymore.
Bottom line: keep one hand behind your back; wear dry rubber-soled shoes and preferably gloves; and keep a buddy around to show off to and to perform the CPR.
;-)