Got Almost Fried Yesterday.

[rajangan]

My biggest zap was when I removed a ceiling fan/light and replaced it with just a light. There was a green wire which was live even with the switch off. Ceiling fans with lights on them are supposed to be black white and blue. The white turns off at the switch but the blue only turns off at the breaker. So it's partly my fault for not going to the breaker, but it's totally their fault for using green instead of blue.

 

[fireground_piper]

I have to assume it is still somewhat connected with the level of caution employed.
I've never had a screwdriver contact a live wire, just a glancing shock from a few live light fixtures.
Oppositely, when I was very young there were a few instances where I had to be pulled off the electric fence.

I think it was more in relation to his experience in how different people react to the same type of situation naturally. When grabbing an electrified object, some people's hands close around the object while others pop away.

 

[anotherbob]

About a year ago I installed a new dryer cord by plugging it in first... I thought I had been struck by lightning.. I suffered no injuries. God looks out for dumbasses.

either that or heaven isn't as great as you were told it is.

 

[Charlie718]

I haven't seen anything like that since I had a tour of the data centre in which I worked in 1978. Three of the largest IBM mainframes in the UK; masses of disk and tape drives etc. so very beefy power feeds from the National Grid (duplicated from two sub-systems in London); a room full of lead-acid batteries to supply full power to the machine room for 15 minutes whilst the standby generators got up to speed (with some contingency time) and enough oil on-site for two weeks. All this in Central London where it was highly unlikely we would lose both direct feeds from the National Grid at the same time; and if we did it would probably mean we had bigger things to worry about!

The connectors from the grid were massive; the switch gear was massive and although it was all in locked rooms it was all sitting within protective cages so it was impossible to accidentally get to it. The first thing I noticed in your picture was no safety cage; call me old fashioned but I don't think a blue 'do not cross this line' line painted on the floor offers much protection in the event of an accident!

I hated that they didn’t cage it and wouldn’t spend the money smh. That blue tape was a leak detector lol

 

[Charlie718]

I should have added the leak detector was dangerous to, a tripping hazard in the worst spot

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My worst zap was in taking the cover off of a hot water heater in a house I lived in many years ago, to adjust the temperature. The ground had come off or was left off. A quick zap, and I had to take a second to reassess what had just happened. It's very disorienting.

 

[briarbuck]

I have more bite marks in my wire cutters than Trev Alberts mistress.

 

[timelord]

I should have added the leak detector was dangerous to, a tripping hazard in the worst spot

Yes I wondered if that was a trip hazard. I'm amazed that they can get away without a cage though; having worked in Europe (EU and non-EU) and Australia I had assumed US would have similar safety laws. (I've worked in the US too but have never been in the guts end of a US data centre; just the offices.)

 

[timelord]

My worst zap was in taking the cover off of a hot water heater in a house I lived in many years ago, to adjust the temperature. The ground had come off or was left off. A quick zap, and I had to take a second to reassess what had just happened. It's very disorienting.

My brother got zapped by a dodgy electric shower at a house in Spain they were renting. Called the plumber via the agency and then with sign language and mime described what happened. Plumber obviously didn't really believe my brother (having checked it out with the power off) but then decided to turn it on and needless to say confirmed what my brother had indicated the hard and painful way - the water tap was live due to a lose wire.

 

[craig61a]

We still have the original wiring in our apartment from when it was built (1930s). Certainly doesn't meet modern standards (even in Brazil) and once it is safe to have tradies in the apartment (a Covid issue rather than anything else) I'm looking for a complete rewiring (hopefully with dual 110v and 220v circuits).

In the meantime; here is our main switch panel:

View attachment 77474

That thing belongs in museum...

 

[LikeDadDid]

I have more bite marks in my wire cutters than Trev Alberts mistress.

New Kleins are my nemesis. I never cut hot wires with my old busted Commercial Electric cutters, but put a new pair of Kleins in my hands and I will cut a live wire within a week.

 

[scloyd]

I'm retired from a electric utility. I've had a few shocks/blasts. The worst was when I was in a basement of a church changing out the electric meter. It was a 3 phase, 120/240v, 4 wire meter. I jumpered out the service and pulled the meter. I grabbed the new meter and plugged it into the socket and BOOM...the new meter blew up right in my face.

The pastor of the church heard the blast and rushed into the mechanical room where I was at. I lost my vision (temporarily) and the pastor called 911.

I was taken to the hospital with burns on my forehead and no more eyebrows.

I spent a couple of hours in the emergency room and went home with my forehead wrapped in bandages and no damage to my eyes. I was lucky...it could of been worse.

The company did a complete investigation and could not determine what caused the blast.

This all happened before safety glasses and face shields became mandatory.