Implents of Electrical Destruction (IED)

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Bacchus

Member
Location
East Coast
This guy was one hell of a plumber but makes for a lousy electrician. (See attachment)

I Found this when I was an apprentice. They had trouble with fuses that kept blowing so they permanately fixed it with 5" copper pipe. It's been so long so the details are shady but we ran some new ridgid pipe in the ground to the box, which controlled a motor 60 feet behind the building. I think it was 3 phase but over the years I lost the other permanent "fuses."

I kept this because I wanted to share it with someone as an example what crazy things people do. I'd would love to collect pictures and other crazy IED implements of electrical destruction on a board, kind of like the boards you see in every prision (I watch a lot of 'reality' shows) where they have a collection of shanks.
 

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mgookin

mgookin

Senior Member
Location
Fort Myers, FL
I've seen people use rebar in the meter can after poco pulls the meter for non-payment.

Once poco finds that they cut the service drop.
 
S

SceneryDriver

Senior Member
Location
NJ
Occupation
Electrical and Automation Designer
fmtjfw said:
Bussman sells them:

http://www.cooperindustries.com/con...al/products/accessories/neutrals_.htmlhttp://
Click to expand...

I've used fuse replacement slugs to repair a 3-phase motor install. The contractor had installed a fused disconnect between the VFD and the motor. The disconnect was for service work, and no argument that it had to be there. The problem was with the fuses; if a fuse popped, chances were it would damage the output side of the drive. Solution was to replace the 60A cartridge fuses with slugs, and add an AUX switch to open the control circuit for the drive. MUCH cheaper and faster than replacing a 40HP rated disconnect.

The slugs definitely have their uses - corner grounded delta systems, neutrals, fixing contractor oopsies, etc... - but they're not OCPD, for sure! I think it's a wonder that there aren't more fires attributed to shoddy wiring. The myriad of ways wiring can be screwed up is vast.


SceneryDriver
 
Jraef

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
Anyone who does a lot of irrigation pump panels will attest to the fact that farmers, or farm hands, will resort to just about any scheme of conductive component insertion in order to prevent the loss of a crop when a fuse blows. I have seen copper pipes, EMT, bolts etc., but the absolute worst was a stick covered in aluminum foil! From the residue that was welded to the fuse clips, it was obvious that they had to experiment with the number of wraps on the stick before they found an amount that did not burn. Absolute idiocy from our standpoint, but as the farmer put it, it was either that or a $200k crop of potatoes. I don't know if it's still the case (maybe some else in here can answer), but in the inland agg areas of Washington State, there was a group of 3 or 4 local inspectors who would red tag any pump panel that used fuses instead of circuit breakers for that single reason. The Bussman and Shawmut people would protest their heads off, but they never prevailed. The inspectors' position was that regardless of what SHOULD be done, having fuses in that situation had lead to several severe fires and even deaths, because the temptation was too great.
 
K8MHZ

K8MHZ

Senior Member
Location
Michigan. It's a beautiful peninsula, I've looked
Occupation
Electrician
Jraef said:
Anyone who does a lot of irrigation pump panels will attest to the fact that farmers, or farm hands, will resort to just about any scheme of conductive component insertion in order to prevent the loss of a crop when a fuse blows. I have seen copper pipes, EMT, bolts etc., but the absolute worst was a stick covered in aluminum foil! From the residue that was welded to the fuse clips, it was obvious that they had to experiment with the number of wraps on the stick before they found an amount that did not burn. Absolute idiocy from our standpoint, but as the farmer put it, it was either that or a $200k crop of potatoes. I don't know if it's still the case (maybe some else in here can answer), but in the inland agg areas of Washington State, there was a group of 3 or 4 local inspectors who would red tag any pump panel that used fuses instead of circuit breakers for that single reason. The Bussman and Shawmut people would protest their heads off, but they never prevailed. The inspectors' position was that regardless of what SHOULD be done, having fuses in that situation had lead to several severe fires and even deaths, because the temptation was too great.
Click to expand...

In Michigan, farms are totally exempt from any electrical rules.
 
Besoeker

Besoeker

Senior Member
Location
UK
Bacchus said:
I kept this because I wanted to share it with someone as an example what crazy things people do. I'd would love to collect pictures and other crazy IED implements of electrical destruction on a board,
Click to expand...
Are self portraits permitted?
I'm sure many of us here have had our "magic moments".
 
G

ggunn

PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Occupation
Consulting Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
K8MHZ said:
After what I have seen done on some farms, I am not so sure....maybe the cow DID jump over the moon.

:D
Click to expand...

With the right sort of stimulation applied to a sensitive enough part of her anatomy, maybe so. :D
 
Barbqranch

Barbqranch

Senior Member
Location
Arcata, CA
Occupation
Plant maintenance electrician Semi-retired
From what I studied in physics, the "laws of physics" are often merely recommendations. ie, Newton's laws of motion. Works great in a limited way, but as knowledge and tools progressed, they became a subset.:p


 
G

greenspark1

Senior Member
Location
New England
Bacchus said:
This guy was one hell of a plumber but makes for a lousy electrician. (See attachment)

I Found this when I was an apprentice. They had trouble with fuses that kept blowing so they permanately fixed it with 5" copper pipe. It's been so long so the details are shady but we ran some new ridgid pipe in the ground to the box, which controlled a motor 60 feet behind the building. I think it was 3 phase but over the years I lost the other permanent "fuses."
Click to expand...

I experienced my first install of this sort a couple of years back. The kicker is it was a federal facility run by NAVFAC, our tax dollars hard at work. I was blown away, luckily not literally.
 
Besoeker

Besoeker

Senior Member
Location
UK
Barbqranch said:
From what I studied in physics, the "laws of physics" are often merely recommendations. ie, Newton's laws of motion. Works great in a limited way, but as knowledge and tools progressed, they became a subset.:p
Click to expand...
A force of one Newton gives a mass of 1kg an acceleration of 1m/s^2.
Under what practical circumstances would this not hold true and where you wouldn't be able to apply it? Where would you or I find a situation where its application would give us erroneous results?
 
G

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
Besoeker said:
A force of one Newton gives a mass of 1kg an acceleration of 1m/s^2.
Under what practical circumstances would this not hold true and where you wouldn't be able to apply it? Where would you or I find a situation where its application would give us erroneous results?
Click to expand...
Well, if the 1kg mass is already moving at .99 times the speed of light, the acceleration would not be what Newton's laws predict.
A more practical example is the photoelectric effect, in which we find that photons interact as if they have momentum, but no rest mass and have quantized energy which depends on frequency.
 
Besoeker

Besoeker

Senior Member
Location
UK
GoldDigger said:
Well, if the 1kg mass is already moving at .99 times the speed of light, the acceleration would not be what Newton's laws predict.
A more practical example is the photoelectric effect, in which we find that photons interact as if they have momentum, but no rest mass and have quantized energy which depends on frequency.
Click to expand...
But do you have to use either in any practical circumstances?
 
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