House electric debauchery, crazy things you've seen/done...

[kiwigtx]

Gotta go to work now...the power's not on yet, so should be safe.

 

[PlymCrazy]

The set frequency of supply at 50 Hz...

Ah, it all makes sense now as to why you don't understand me sometimes. We're on different frequencies

 

[Photon440]

This power job is something I wouldn't want.

 

[moparedtn]

GEEZUZ Ed, you ever think of just dying of old age?

Well, that's not in the cards I'm afraid - but that aside, yeah....I'm a lot more cautious than I used to be.

 

[RiverRaider]

There was a lot bad work done a few years ago when house flipping was the big craze. I went with a friend to look at an older house (knob and tube era) that she was interested in that was supposed to have recent updates. There were the usual screw ups like cutting notches in the wide trim to install a double box with two switches rather than just adding a combination switch. Unsupported wires to the water heater, washer, and dryer. Old two prong outlets replaced with modern ones but no grounding. The stuff I seen a lot at the time. But what really caught my eye was the 200-amp fuse box. Someone cut the center of the door out from the old 60-amp fuse box. The part with all the electrical inspection stickers and tack welded that part into the new 200-amp boxes door. They did a good job blending it in on the outside, then painted it grey. But it was easy to see as the door now had the metal pull ring opener from the old-style box and the plastic opener the new ones have. After a little looking she found that no permits were pulled or any inspections done during the time the current owner had remodeled the place. It would not have been a bad house fix up if she could have bought it before the flipper got to it and did their updates.

Have also seen several no blow blade fuses. The ones you find a wire running from one blade to another on the back side of the fuse not visible when installed in the panel.

I found one of the 100 amp "no blow" fuses that I found.

 

[moparedtn]

That feeling you get when receiving a 230 Volt shock is one that stays with you for a while. I have had a few over the years....all by someone else's misadventure, and me failing to test thoroughly

The set frequency of supply at 50 Hz doesn't seem to match the sensation of being shaken by what feels like a ***** Grizzly Bear grappling the last bit of food from your hand.

Yep, totally agree there...
Only thing I can compare it to was the defibrillator first time I croaked, which actually hit harder.

 

[PlymCrazy]

 

[kiwigtx]

Ah, it all makes sense now as to why you don't understand me sometimes. We're on different frequencies

I have to admit - for once the Americans have the better system.

60 Hz is way better - it makes for easy manufacture of clocks and time devices.

We operate on 50 Hz....I don't know why....I guess it was passed down to us by Grandma England many years ago. Although 50 Hz is a better fit with our Metric system.

 

[kiwigtx]

Yep, totally agree there...
Only thing I can compare it to was the defibrillator first time I croaked, which actually hit harder.

One shock I got was when I was standing on a steel Engineering bench holding two neutral conductors -- one in each hand ready to connect. Everything else was connected (mistake #1) ....and my 'supervisor' was standing on the ground yapping to one of the Fitters.... (mistake #2).
He turns the switch on and with a 2kW load for heaters, I became the return path for said load.

The story goes that I was bouncing up & down quite a bit before I managed to let go.

 

[DeltaV]

I moved into a brand new house with my parents in the early 70's. We were placing some items in the attic (a very large unfinished bonus room) and noticed a coiled loop of electrical wiring hanging down from a rafter. Fully exposed conductors and at a height just right to strike your head. Dad checked it with a voltmeter. Yep, sure enough it was live.

 

[moparedtn]

One shock I got was when I was standing on a steel Engineering bench holding two neutral conductors -- one in each hand ready to connect. Everything else was connected (mistake #1) ....and my 'supervisor' was standing on the ground yapping to one of the Fitters.... (mistake #2).
He turns the switch on and with a 2kW load for heaters, I became the return path for said load.

The story goes that I was bouncing up & down quite a bit before I managed to let go.

Holy crap!

 

[kiwigtx]

Holy crap!

Exactly.....everyone laughed.....except the one guy.

 

[Chargerjase]

This is what a Spanish shipyard did when we needed to connect up our 1200 amp shore power supply. Somehow, I don't think the current carrying capacity of the small cable is quite up to it.

 

[Chargerjase]

I once went to an old widowers house as her fuses were blowing in bad weather. After investigating, I realized her late husband had nailed through the cable into the deck joists en-route to the steel tin shed where the supply was intended. The old boy had drilled a hole in the side of the tin shed and ran the cable through without any cable protection. He also did not earth the shed. The jagged hole was already cutting it's way thought the outer sheath of the cable. Luckily for her, the nails through the cable saved her life, because if they did not blow when they did, it was only a matter of time before the shed was going to be live. For sure she would have joined her husband in about half a cycle. By the way, we are talking 230 volts here, not 110 volts.

 

[Photon440]

It isn't just housing, I saw some complicated electrical systems on rail cars. Most locomotives around here run either 36v or 72v systems (hence the need to stock both 36v and 72v headlamps for them) while the traction motors to drive the wheels can be 600volts, either ac or dc.

Passenger cars are more complex, depending on the type of car. In the past, heating was provided by steam (even when using diesel engines, a steam generator sent steam through a dedicated pipe but it's all electric heat now. Of course, the locomotive is a good source of power, but when the car is sidelined but still occupied, passengers still expect all the modern conveniences. Like lighting.
This panel is a battery isolation system, for marker lights, emergency lights and generator starting systems.

 

[kiwigtx]

I should post this on a group called "Sh177y Electrical" .... The Dalton Gang are responsible for this fantastic spelling....

Brace yourself KernDog.......

 

[kiwigtx]

It's no surprise why this Up/Down light didn't work. Obviously the moron who connected it didn't bother testing afterwards.

For those who are not sure what's wrong......both legs of each lamp are twisted together. It will never go.

 

[PlymCrazy]

One shock I got was when I was standing on a steel Engineering bench holding two neutral conductors...

There's your problem. You're an electrician doing someone else's job

I think I found the next hard hat for you...

 

[PlymCrazy]

It's no surprise why this Up/Down light didn't work. Obviously the moron who connected it didn't bother testing afterwards.

View attachment 1546163

For those who are not sure what's wrong......both legs of each lamp are twisted together. It will never go.

It probably had light...for a split second

 

[Southbranch]

I remodeled kitchens for 40 years, saw a pro electrician cap off a live wire stick it back into the hole and pull a piece of wallpaper from another wall and nail it over the hole. Told my boss at the time and he didn't care as the guy worked cheap.