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Ahh how time flies! I remember back in my later elementary school days the Janitor used to get me to help him with small electrical jobs in and around the building like passing him up lamps and running around to turn on and off the breakers and timers feeding lighting circuits... Also took the time to show me how some of the mechanicals of the school and how they worked such as some of the big fans, underfloor H/W heat, incinerator and the mammoth marine style boiler that shook the building every time it fired up.. Even showed me the innards of it when it was opened for inspection and cleaning...

A.D

Stories like that really make me about to lose my breakfast. Granted, most kids are fundamentally ignorant of just how dangerous those humming pots really are, but the school should have been more viligant in keeping the bloody doors locked!!

My High School had an old style oil switch located outside the metal/auto shops. It controlled the primary of the indoor dry transformer serving the entire east side of the campus. Despite being in a fenced, (but close-fitting) chain link cage, it had failed violently TWICE when pranksters opened it under load. (It did have a sign posted , "DO NOT OPEN UNDER LOAD", but who in H.S. other than oh, me, knew what that meant?) The handle could be reached through the gap in the fence and it wasn't locked in the on position.

The H.S. finally enclosed it fully behind a cinder-block "bunker."

eew , did the perp survive the blast to get a hot seat in front of principal, PoCo reps/lineman and maintenace foreman?



[This message has been edited by Av-guy (edited 09-03-2006).]

It's is quite surprising how casual some schools seem to be regarding electrical safetly within the school area's.

Regardless of the LV voltage with a high fault level and explosion danger like in these switch rooms there is HV as well which school kids have no idea off regarding MAD's.

I'm supprised that no one got killed in those pranks where they got tied to within a foot from bare bushings on those Pots.

The aluminium ladder in a switchroom like this is very dangerous, even for skilled staff, should be wood at least.
I certainly would not be happy to use it, while changing a lightbulb, with those bare bushings next to me.

In the situation I mentioned, the school officials finally took action a few weeks before Christmas vacation. The psychos that were doing this stuff suddenly disappeared - we never saw them again for the remainder of the school, and even after that (good riddance to them). The school also began securely locking the doors to the stairwell which led to the basement boiler room. I'm assuming that the transformer room was also somewhere in the basement - I remember seeing the overhead power lines going underground at a pole near the back of the school.

Thinking about it now, I imagine the school wound up in some very hot water when the POCO eventually discovered that the room was not secured.

Mike (mamills)

My high school was beyond vigilant. There are TWO basements. To get from the stage craft area (only real electric danger is in the dimmer room, but the only ones who go in the basement know why it is kept locked [basement is only open to stage folks]) to the switchgear area you have to go upstairs, through a locked door, and down a second staircase. Pain in the butt for maintenance, but nice for safety. This is how it was built circa 1950.
Switch to: my college. The cutoffs, etc. for the whole building (lang. arts) are on a creaky platform accessed (no security AT ALL) by a narrow, hand-built, old ladder. There is no LOTO available, and anyone can get to ANY breaker for the building. This is how it was UPGRADED circa 1970.

Edit: grammar

[This message has been edited by trobb (edited 09-04-2006).]

First, I should clarify the "violent" in the failure mode. Both times there was only the expulsion of oil, not flaming, but very smelly (and probably PCB to boot). I don't recall the make of the switch, but it looked a lot like one in a post on here some time ago. (If I locate the thread I'll link it.)

One instance, the kid was caught when mom came to the school office to complain about the nasty stains on her son's clothes.

The second instance, no perp was caught.

Another dangerous example of kids messing with things they shouldn't happened when some kids broke the lock on the POCO's GOAB (Gang Operated Air Break) pole-mounted switch. It was NOT set up with arcing horns, and the resulting phase-to-phase flashover blacked out a large area. Now there's some kids whose mom had to deal with some nasty laundry!! They weren't caught either.