Electric Bikes - electric bike electrocution and safety

I have an ebike myself. However, a few months ago one of the leads hit a zipper on one of my gym bags and ZAP/SPARK shot out. Everything is fine, and I continue to ride the bike on a regular basis. However, having a 2 year old toddler in the house, I'm curious how safe are these bikes and what do people here do to secure them?

Is it reasonable to assume that a person, much less a toddler, could incur some serious injuries/death if they touched one of the charged components (for example a lead from a cable that's connected to a battery)? While securing ones bike may be a common sense action, I'm curious what SPECIFICALLY do other folks here do to protect their loved ones from accidentally getting the shock of their life (if that's even possible)?

Thank you!

Never let a child near a battery of any type.

Even a simple AA battery has enough electricity to kill someone.
9v do too.

Never let a child near a battery of any type.

Even a simple AA battery has enough electricity to kill someone.
9v do too.

Ive never heard of that before...that one AA battery has enough elecgtricity in it to kill a human being.

R you sure this is true ? amperage is what usually kills people..and 1 double A battery surely does not have enough amps or volts to kill a a human...now maybe if a human tryed to swallow the battery and choked to death...

Last time I checked, voltage warnings were not even required on anything less than 30V.

Sounds like you need to check the leads are properly insulated.

Some one told me as many as 40 amps can be pumping through my bike at any given time. That combined with the fact that this past week (several months after the zipper incident) I saw my 2-year old todder enamoured by the reflectors on my bike got me to thinking about what would happen.

Clearly, I'm going to be securing the bike and batteries in a way that will keep him safe, but I was wondering if anyone else here has ever had similar thoughts (ie. electric bike safety for our children and ourselves).

Exactly how may people have died or been hospitalized by having their skin touch both battery terminals or leads at the voltages common for ebikes? I think you will find the answer is zero.

Don't confuse the excitement that happens when there is an accidental dead short through a conductor with what happens when these same leads touch an insulator. This is not to say you shouldn't avoid ingesting a battery :) but let's get real about the risk here...

I'm sure you could manage to give yourself a real good jolt, if you set your mind to it. There certainly is enough amps to kill somebody on your average E-Bike.

However, DC current is much safer than AC. It's AC that you really have to worry about.

I'm sure you could manage to give yourself a real good jolt, if you set your mind to it. There certainly is enough amps to kill somebody on your average E-Bike.

However, DC current is much safer than AC. It's AC that you really have to worry about.

It isn't the current that flows through the ebike motor circuit that you need to worry about. If it was 100 Amperes, that wouldn't matter. What matters is the current that flows through YOU and this is determined by a multitude of factors, including the voltage potential your are exposed to and the impedance to current flow from your skin etc.

I just connected my ebike battery directly to my fingers with alligator clips. This is a 50V LiPo pack capable of delivering 50A continuous and 100A burst. No matter how hard I squeezed the clips I didn't feel as much as a tingle...

Actually it only takes 65mA across your heart to kill you.
That's .065A

That's correct but not particularly relevant to the real-world safety issue raised by the OP.

rscamp's little experiment really shows that there isn't too much danger with these packs. However... If he has put those aligator clamps into his mouth... =P But even then, it would have given him a nasty burn and nothing more. The current would need to travel across your torso before you drop dead. Arm to Arm. Arm to foot.

This is extremely difficult to achieve with DC power. AC on the other hand, would shock you dead.

rscamp's little experiment really shows that there isn't too much danger with these packs. However... If he has put those aligator clamps into his mouth... =P ...

LOL. I know enough not to do that... :)