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#143771 09/07/05 10:00 PM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 4
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
Guys,
A couple of interesting bits from the recent Electrical accidents report:

Quote
Voltage: 10,000
Result: Electric shock
Location: Commercial
A surveyor received an electric shockwhen he contacted an electric fence with his head while bending over a fence. The shock knocked him to the ground and he was taken to hospital for observation.
The electric fence installation was checked and no faults were found.

Quote
A plumber received an electric shock when he touched the refrigerator and hot water cylinder in a residence.
The refrigerator was plugged into the range socket outlet, which had a live earth connection.
A homeowner had installed the range, connecting one of the two supply phases to the frame of the appliance. When the plumber touched the refrigerator and the earthed metal body of the hot water cylinder, he received
a hand-to-hand electric shock.
He was admitted to hospital for observation.
The installation was made safe by an electrician, and a report sent to the
Electrical Workers Registration Board (EWRB) for action.

Quote
A fire in the bathroom of a flat started in a makeshift extractor fan installed by the occupant.
Moisture in the windings of the motor caused arcing and overheated the wiring.
The vacuum cleaner motor used was not suitable for the purpose

How much sillier can things get?.

{Sorry about the way that the formatting of these quotes went.} [Linked Image]



[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 09-07-2005).]

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#143772 09/08/05 03:57 PM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 47
G
Member
Are electric fences legal in NZ, Trumpy? If so I would think warnings have to posted.

About the worst I have seen was when I lived in a low income apartment. The folks (being nice here) next door had their electricity turned off for non-payment, so they had someone run a wire from the outside stairwell lamp to the inside. the wire was covered with
a small decoration to hide the handiwork

It didn't take more than a microsecond for the property owner to catch on and they got a visit from the police.

Not at all surprised at the "Damage It Yourself" stories.

============================================
I'd like to add one that really competes for first place, but it's outside the electrical
trades. A building inspector in Washington State wrote about this experience. I hope your jobs are far safer.

When people do not keep up their property, they get a visit from the police or fire department. One city manager thought it would
be "friendlier" if the building inspector made such calls.

The city manager could probably sell refrigerators to eskimos, as it somehow made sense until said inspector made his first call.

A house owner had closed his second hand furniture shop and had furniture all over the
yard, plus a few out of code makeshift sheds.

He walked up to the house and was about to knock when the door opened slightly and a shotgun was pointed at him. The voice growled
from behind the gun, "what do you want?"

"I'm the city building inspector, and..."
"I don't care who you are, get off the property!"

He did, went back to the city manager, and told him, "never send a boy to a man's job"
as he handed the case over to the police.


[This message has been edited by GeneSF (edited 09-08-2005).]

[This message has been edited by GeneSF (edited 09-08-2005).]

[This message has been edited by GeneSF (edited 09-08-2005).]

#143773 09/13/05 04:36 AM
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 354
K
Member
Trumpy, what was that plumber doing touching that fridge ? ! [Linked Image]

If he was called in to fix the hot water then he shouldn't have been touching the fridge. Was he trying to steal a free feed ? [Linked Image]

Just kidding [Linked Image] I've been watching WAY too much "TARGET" on the telly.

Seriously now though, non electricians disconnecting & reconnecting ranges to the old hard-wired system is a major worry. Flooring contractors are one of the worst offenders when they have to replace kitchen vinyl and need to move the range.

A colour-blind vinyl layer mate of mine was routinely disconnecting & connecting ranges right up to the point where I threatened to knock him over and report him. He found that home-owners were only too happy to pay the extra $50 to have the range done properly.

His colour-blindness only meant that he couldn't tell orange from brown and I doubt if I could have knocked him over anyway [Linked Image]

#143774 09/13/05 04:59 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 4
Trumpy Offline OP
Member
kiwi,
Quote
what was that plumber doing touching that fridge?!
He must have thought there was some beer in there.
Quote
His colour-blindness only meant that he couldn't tell orange from brown
Damn, what an affliction to have, you couldn't tell Orange juice from Beer.
That would be a real shame, put the guy in Hospital. [Linked Image]

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 09-13-2005).]

#143775 09/14/05 10:20 PM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 288
Y
Member
"The refrigerator was plugged into the range socket outlet, which had a live earth connection.
A homeowner had installed the range, connecting one of the two supply phases to the frame of the appliance."

Found something similar in bathroom of a 1915 house during a pre-purchase inspection. The switches for the bathroom lights were tapped off the original knob-and-tube circuit with romex. The DIYer had used an old 3-way switch in place of a single-pole. Since it had no ground screw and the installer had no clue what to do with the (floating) ground wire, he connected it to one of the traveller terminals. Result was: handle up, light on. Handle down, floating bare conductor energized. I disconnected the ground wire and added this atrocity to my long list of scary violations in this house.

Maybe later I'll describe the subfeeder!

#143776 09/17/05 10:16 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
Member
Quote
Since it had no ground screw and the installer had no clue what to do with the (floating) ground wire, he connected it to one of the traveller terminals.

[Linked Image]

At least he could have wired the common to the light so the bare wire was connected to the neutral when switched off! [Linked Image]

#143777 09/17/05 12:08 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,476
Likes: 3
Cat Servant
Member
These accidents, like so many, are caused by a combination of ignorance, arrogance, and hysteria.

Electric fences are pretty obvious. The jolt they give is also regulated to prevent actual harm. Maybe the surveyor will now respect those funny wires with insulators at every post. (Incidentally, the 'live' wire is usually neither the highest nor lowest on the fence).

For a number of reasons, "hot" refrigerators aren't that unusual. Almost always there's some handyman involved- and a missing ground.

Bath fans are cheap...very cheap...someone sure went through a lot of work to "save" a few pennies. Even with there being a fault in the motor, I would not be the least surprised were there additional practices that contributed to this fire. Small wire, sloppy conections, absent over-current protection, etc.

As in the story posted by Gene, "Attitude" seems to be at the root of these stories. My pics about the "hack job" are from a place where the guilty party had attitude to spare.

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#143778 09/17/05 02:01 PM
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,803
Member
A near neighbor, one of the cockiest ignoramuses, ( or is it ignorami? - no, that's Japanese Paper Folding for cretins), it has ever been my misfortune to cross paths with, once asserted in a loud voice that "Aluminum doesn't conduct electricity." Wherepon my youngest lad, then sixteen, handed him a knitting needle and told him; "Here. Poke this in that lamp socket, then!"
Another gaffe from this moron: One night I got a phone call as I was off early to bed.
"HALLEY BOP!!", bellowed a familiar voice.
"Eh? What? Who's this?"
"It's me! Halley Bop, New Comet, just arrived in the solar system, go and look on the horizon, due east! Bloomin' Marvellous." Click.
So Joe Muggins goes into the garden, freezing cold in shirtsleeves and scans the bloody Universe from one side to the other for ten minutes before realising that the plonker had been looking at the floodlights of our local soccer pitch! Mind you, he was probably warmly tucked up in bed by then, so who was the biggest fool?
When the real Comet turned up months later, after entertaining Trumpy and Co. in the antipodes, it was a bitter disappointment. The floodlights put on a far better show!

Alan


Wood work but can't!

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