Light Pole Hand Holes Beware!!

[jeremysterling]

Now I see. When we repair street/parking lot lighting,we don't ever open up the hand holes.
Why would you?

:-?

Obviously, you open up the hand-hole to expose the shoddy workmanship of the installer. Awesome photography opportunity... and an opportunity to ingratiate yourself with the Wal-Mart management.:grin:

On the off-chance this question is not rhetorical, opening hand-holes is a convenient way to install, terminate, test and troubleshoot pole-light circuit conductors without a bucket-truck.

We may never know what actually occurred to leave the wires in this dangerous condition. mcclary had a ha-ha suggestion that may not have been too far from the truth. This may have been an effort to test the circuit while terminated. When the lights came on, management may have told the electrician he was through, over his protestations that he needed to return to re-terminate the conductors. Should he return on his own-time to re-terminate? At the least he should have documented the facts in an affidavit or service ticket.

iwire voted for 1st year apprentice, but the black conductors lead me to believe these were pulled after the original install.

Yeah, wire insulation deteriorates, but I use to put on leather gloves and pull these wires out. Wirenuts can loosen over time so exposed conductors are always a possibility. After seeing these pictures, I'll look much closer. It is difficult, in bright winter sun, to see inside the handholes, so I'll use a bright flashlight.

 

[Teaspoon]

Was doing some troubleshooting at a walmart here in NE Ohio, Tracing back the circuit I had turned off trying to find which pole it was fed from. The one pole I looked in before I stuck my hand in was this one Good thing! 480 volts across these wires. Was this done to cause a problem, Hurt someone, or someone is just stupid. This was done a few years ago during a major remodel of the store, found it last week! Just want to warn anyone reaching into a handhole without looking.
Jason

I have saw this same problem in the Residential sector. Not in hand holes.
In junction boxes & wall boxes where wires were made up.
We all know we can't be to careful.

 

[Mr.Sparkle]

I vote they were made up by a first-day apprentice with no supervision.

Absolutely, although I've had helpers in the past that were on the job for months and still doing that type of stuff if no one was looking their work over...

 

[boboelectric]

Anyway ,I wouldn't try to repair a light in a parking lot without a lift. I'd be wasteing time looking in the base handhole.

 

[iwire]

Now I see. When we repair street/parking lot lighting,we don't ever open up the hand holes.
Why would you?

Anyway ,I wouldn't try to repair a light in a parking lot without a lift. I'd be wasteing time looking in the base handhole.

Ah I open them up when there are shorts I have to isolate, not sure what I could do at the top about a short between poles.

 

[480sparky]

Anyway ,I wouldn't try to repair a light in a parking lot without a lift. I'd be wasteing time looking in the base handhole.

So if one of the bare conductors shown in the OPs images was shorting out, you can be locate them by opening up the fixtures at the top of the poles?

Wow, you're good!

 

[Cow]

Anyway ,I wouldn't try to repair a light in a parking lot without a lift. I'd be wasteing time looking in the base handhole.

Like Iwire said, it'd be pretty hard to troubleshoot a circuit with a short or open condition by not using the handholes. Sorry, but I'm not going to boom up to the top of the pole just to check power. You can do what you like, but I know it only takes two minutes to get into a handhole.

I also shine my flashlight into handholes first before grabbing the wires. Some of those connections can be scary, it's not uncommon to find wirenuts that are split from overtightening.

 

[peter d]

Anybody think this was done intentionally to zap a possible copper thief?

 

[hunt4679]

Could be I dont know the pole for some reason had yellow electrical tape wraped around it. The weird thing is it was in the first row outside the store in camera view? I just wanted to post this just to warn everyone look before you reach into a dark hole you never know what is inside there!

 

[jaylectricity]

Anybody think this was done intentionally to zap a possible copper thief?

I don't think a copper thief, but I think IF it was done intentionally, maybe there had been a problem with people tampering with the lights, and the electrician didn't think his cunning plan all the way through when he decided to "protect" the wiring.

The testing while terminated theory sounds good, but do you need 3 or 4 inches of bare wire for that?

 

[danickstr]

If wal-mart doesn't want to do anything, fine but I would talk to the inspector and see if he remembers which company did the work. I would want to talk to them myself, in case it is a disgruntled employee going around doing dangerous stuff.

 

[480sparky]

If wal-mart doesn't want to do anything, fine but I would talk to the inspector and see if he remembers which company did the work. I would want to talk to them myself, in case it is a disgruntled employee going around doing dangerous stuff.

The inspector doesn't have to remember anything. Permits are public records.

 

[hunt4679]

I know who did the remodel but if it like any other I have seen they pulled people in fron the temp services or off the bench at the local hall. They were an out of town contractor

 

[hunt4679]

Good Idea im going to contact them anyway

 

[boboelectric]

Parking lot # 89 not lit. #90 lit .check hand hole in pole #45.

 

[boboelectric]

:-?

Obviously, you open up the hand-hole to expose the shoddy workmanship of the installer. Awesome photography opportunity... and an opportunity to ingratiate yourself with the Wal-Mart management.:grin:

On the off-chance this question is not rhetorical, opening hand-holes is a convenient way to install, terminate, test and troubleshoot pole-light circuit conductors without a bucket-truck.

We may never know what actually occurred to leave the wires in this dangerous condition. mcclary had a ha-ha suggestion that may not have been too far from the truth. This may have been an effort to test the circuit while terminated. When the lights came on, management may have told the electrician he was through, over his protestations that he needed to return to re-terminate the conductors. Should he return on his own-time to re-terminate? At the least he should have documented the facts in an affidavit or service ticket.

iwire voted for 1st year apprentice, but the black conductors lead me to believe these were pulled after the original install.

Yeah, wire insulation deteriorates, but I use to put on leather gloves and pull these wires out. Wirenuts can loosen over time so exposed conductors are always a possibility. After seeing these pictures, I'll look much closer. It is difficult, in bright winter sun, to see inside the handholes, so I'll use a bright flashlight.

when I contract lighting repairs I turn on all lights to assess the problem and mark the lamp fixtures that do not light.that when I can mark the stands with cones.

 

[Ken9876]

I've always check hand holes, too many things to get hurt with: fuse kits installed incorrectly, wires exposed, fuses staying in the wrong end of the fuse kit when removed...

 

[jeremysterling]

when I contract lighting repairs I turn on all lights to assess the problem and mark the lamp fixtures that do not light.that when I can mark the stands with cones.

If performing a lighting service, you are right. You show up with a bucket truck and a dozen 400W pulse start lamps, 6 ballast and caps, 2 mogul sockets, 50 black high-temp wire nuts and 10 blue high temp tie wraps. Perhaps a handful of #8 self drill screws, plumber's tape and a rag to wipe the lenses. That's a good day's work and usually enough to hold 'em off till next time.

Last year, paving contractors repaving the Bastrop, TX Wal-mart parking lot, dug up an 1-1/4" PVC conduit and destroyed three lighting circuits (six #8 conductors plus ground). Now, with the above material and a bucket truck, tell me how you would "contract lighting repairs"?

You could not! We used PVC, glue, fishtape, blue wire-nuts, #8 THWN. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention the 7/16" nut-driver used to remove the, that's right, HAND-HOLE cover. Pole lights are much brighter with electric supply.

To be fair, we did bring our crane to lift one of the poles where we fed the wires. But we pulled from the other pole's handhole.