OT I got lucky tonite

[super99]

Enos on the Dukes of Hazard said," God looks out for fools and drunks, and I don't drink". I don't drink either but God was watching over me tonite. I got grain bin wired up and was wiring new breaker into main fusebox for bin and hadn't shut off main. Trying to push wires into place to hook up last wire and the T handle allen wrench I was holding touched the wrong thing and there was a loud band and sparks. I didn't feel a thing, shorted neutral to hot and tripped main breaker. Needless to say, that allen wrench isn't any good anymore. Said a thank you prayer and then finished hooking it up and turned the power back on. Everything works, me and the bin. Yes, I know better, don't know why I didn't turn off power but I will next time. Chris

 

[John T]

One safety tip taught to our electricians was to NEVER have both hands in a panelboard etc at once cuz that provided an opportunity for current to pass right past the old ticker if the opposite hands got across an energized voltage source OUCH. If only one hand was in the panel a short might pass through the hand only. Arent you glad there was a return current path available which allowed the circuit breaker to trip n clear the fault instead of ONLY your body being energized and current trying to get through it (maybe past your ticker) back to the source OUCHHHHHHH

Yall BE SAFE

John T long retired electrical engineer

 

[RobMD]

I bet you were trembling and shaking the rest of the night.

Sure makes you think.

I am GLAD you are OK, SIR!

God is good.

 

[Howard H.]

A guy sure has to be careful!

I was working on a center pivot sprinkler one time - hell-bent to "get it fixed", waded out into about 6 inches of water and went to cut into the main 4 strand copper supply line with my pocket knife to repair a short...

It knocked every last piece of dust off me - there was still a live line of 480 volt 3 phase that had been wired around in the disconnect box the previous winter and we all forgot about. I felt like I'd been dropped off a cloud for the rest of the day!

I was in the same boat as you! Thanking the Good Lord and my lucky stars!

Just a few months before that in a nearby town - they found a fellow dead at the sprinkler pivot in almost exactly the same scenario...

Glad your OK!

Howard

 

[Bob]

I've done that TWICE, in the same 200-Amp panel, about 30 years apart.

It will NOT be happening again!

 

[Walt Davies]

Boy with that title I thought we were going down a path that we don't like here on the tractor list.
Glad it only an electrical problem.
Walt

 

[Spook]

Seriously, glad your ok. I try to watch myself around electricity, only times I got shocked was when I got complacent.

 

[Goose]

I worked in aviation electronics in the Marine Corps, and that was one thing they drilled into us. "One hand in the box and the other behind your back". To this day, when I work on electical wiring, whether it's hot or not, I work with one hand and have the other behind my back out of habit.

Also, we were one group that weren't required to wear dog tags while we worked. It's not real desirable to have dog tags on a metal chain around your neck fall into a couple thousand volts, even if it current is in the area of milliamps.

 

[S. Crum]

Saw a maintenance man reseting a thermal overload in a 400 amp 480 volt panel just Monday night, with the power still on!!! AND worse yet with a Craftsman screw driver! Gave him h**l, he told me to go to h**l, Told him he was going to beat me there. 'SOooo Mr Know-it-all, what do yo suggest I use?'. So I pulled the disconnect and reached in with the butt end of a fiberglas hammer handle and reset it. Closed the panel and turned the disconnect back on. DUH I've got a LOT of respect for electricity, especially big electricity.

 

[shannon from ohio]

Go read up on "Electrical Flashover"? Yep, your lucky..... "This Time"....

 

[Anonymous-0]

Yep, put the other hand in your back pocket.

 

[Mark]

Yeah Walt...hate to think somebody might mention something some folks can't do any longer. Might hurt their feelings. Yep...gettin' lucky is a taboo and unnatural thing in the first place....a dirty and disgusting subject, something terrible people like our parents engaged in and then, only behind locked and closed doors, the windows down, the curtains yanked closed, with all the lights off, after the kids were asleep and only after assuming the missionary position (for the sake of reverence) and not lingering more than 5 minutes.....anything more was gross indulgence.

I sure am glad this was just about not being electrocuted...and not something filthy.

 

[souNdguy]

Reminds me of 2 situations i got into when i was younger. knew better both times.. but couldn't get outtta the work..

1st was i was helping a friends family add a breaker box to an older ( much older ) house that had a fuse panel and get this.. NO service disconnect! Old panel was so old when yuo slammed the doors circuits would go on and off.. and there would be arcing and smoke from the fuse box now and then. When my friend showed me this, i called another electrical buddy of mine. We went over with a salvaged breaker box and set up to wiring it up. (family was poor.. )so couldn't afford an electrician.. and house was in good shape but old.. looks like some of it may have been converted fromthe old 'tubes in the wall' type non insulated wireing, to more 'modern' ' 2 prong plugs with no grounding lug.

in any case.. we pulled the service line and then added the box, and then added a pull out disconnect. Did it by candle and lantern and big rubber gloves borowed from a lineman.. took a big risk.. but I didn't worry about their house burning down after that.

2nd time was more recent.. say.. about 10ys ago.. I was working for this entertainment company doing sound and lighting for concerts.

Another company had hardwired in some big followspotlamps right into a breaker panel, and then their sparky left when the rest of their company did cleanup. The rental guy showed up to pick up the 2 spotlamps and found them still wired in to the panel and live... and wouldn't touch them.

It was after the show and i had been an A-1 that night, and got a call from my boss asking me to see if i could do anything about it. Not many people left on the set except for stage hands, security and a few A-2 /gaffers/grips.. etc.

I grabbed one of the new guys, my tool bag, and said.. lets go look at that panel. once we got there and looke dit over, i felt better.. it was only a 240 setup.. not a 480 panel.

No room to work in there, so i se my tools out, and then looked around and found a broom, and handed it to the a-2, and said here, hold this, and my cell phone and keep ane eye on me. I started popping breakers off the bus, and then the young guy finally asked me.. 'Uh... I'm not sre what i'm suposed to do with this wooden broom?' I said.. 'If I get electrocuted, knock me away from the panel, and then call 911.. the kid turned white.. Anyway.. nothing to the rest of the story.. I pulled the breakers and undid the power lines from them and pulled them out of the electrical room and let the rental guy do the rest... That kid quit shortly after that.. I think I scared him a little!

Soundguy

 

[Lanse]

Hey, were both real lucky! Probability stated I should have been killed a dozen times by now....