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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 202
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Quote:
"John, we do a tap test. Tap the wires together before you hook them up...."
Y'all don't cross check with a voltmeter first?
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 141
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Not trying to step on your toes but don't you think that testing it with your meter would be a lot safer? Plus imagine an employee who "tap tests" as was taught or condoned by you and ends up badly burned or dead from an arc flash, think of the liability.
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 680
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Tap test?? Can someone explain that to me?
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,064
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Tap test is when your ready to due the splices, after, I repeat after, you double check everything, you simply tap the two wires together that you are ready to splice with a crimp.
Dnk..
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 141
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Dnk, thanks for the clarification. Is it me or out of habit does everyone tap the wires together before splicing? Kind of like when you touch a bare conductor that you KNOW is dead, I still tap it with my finger. Had my father laughing at me while I was working in his house, he asks if I even realize Im tapping the wires with my finger before I grab them, told him it's a habit.
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 693
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Tap test?? Can someone explain that to me? Imagine jump-starting a car when you can't tell the polarity of the batteries. You connect three of the clamps, then you . . .
Larry Fine
Fine Electric Co.
fineelectricco.com
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 391
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Not to knock anyone's prefered testing methods, but I can't say the idea of a "tap test" appeals to me very much. Seems like you'd still get one heck of an arc-flash if there were a short somewhere.
What about a setup with two alligator clips, and a 5A cartidge fuse and a 12 ohm power-resistor in-line with the alligator clips? Hook one clip to an entrance conductor, and then do the "tap test" with your other clip. At least that way if you have a fault somewhere, the rig might limit the arc-flash you'd see.
-John
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 116
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I tap test 15 to 20 amp circuits. But a service entrance? Heck no! Test with a megohmmeter and/or voltmeter first. And don't forget the PPE.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 335
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I must be missing something here ... we pull the old meter, mount the new meter can near it, use the old SEC (load side) as the feed to the new meter, do a temp tap to the new SEC (load side) within the new meter can then plug the meter back in the old socket and put a plastic blank in the new can to keep hands and birds out. No muss, no fuss, not hot til we plug the meter in. Split bolts are in the new can. The POCO then comes along and either replaces or moves the SEC from old can to new.
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,064
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Steve, what I am talking about is when you have evrything done doing a service.The panel is in, new meter can mounted, Se cable ran, ect...
The last thing I do is install the meter,check voltage, and turn on the breakers...
The second to last thing is making the connections to the utlity line, via bugs, crimps, ect...
This is what I am saying, after making the nuetral splice, I am now ready to make the first hot splice. I strip the wires, then "tap" the one SE wire against the hot utility, before I grab it and make a splice. If there is something wrong, I'll see it before I put a non-reversing crimp on the wires...
Some of you may take this a bit far as exploding in my face, but "tapping" it first, is far better than me grasping it first..
It's an old habit...Keeps me from getting scared and falling off a ladder, or a bucket, or whatever...
I'd be intersted in how many of you, actually break out a megohmeter and test the SE cable before splicing it?
Dnk...
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Posts: 7,382
Joined: April 2002
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