Tap Live

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"The Insul-Eater is fully insulated without an external cover or tape. As long as the tap conductor is not under load, the Insul-Eater can be installed directly on energized feeders"
 
It's not "so obvious" to me. Please explain. No exposed metal is in contact with the conductor teeth.


Yes absolutelty. But they are asking if wd can do it live. And we may need to chage out lugs in the disconnect so I think it could be dangerous. Well that's what I'm asking.....is it dangerous?

I was referring to working LIVE in general. Wasn't talking about the connector you would use if the circumstances warranted working live.

My point being, no it is never safe to work hot. That is what I was saying was obvious. The person who does this work should not have to ask if it's safe. They should already know that they are about to do something extremely dangerous.
 
I mean electrically. With no tap load, there is no current or arcing.

How would current in the through conductor alter that hazard?
It is not something that I would ever think of doing live, no matter what the instructions may or may not say. I can't imagine any of the safety departments in the plants I have worked in permitting me to do that where the run conductor is live.

The current on the run conductor would not actually alter the conditions, but if they want to say that, they need to change the language. Not sure how you would write it, as there is no possible current in the tap conductor until you make the connection.
 
I mean electrically. With no tap load, there is no current or arcing.

How would current in the through conductor alter that hazard?
I agree with you on the self piercing tap thing. Still some risk of "making the circuit" into a fault but if we doing this live we kind of assume effort was made to assure there is no current going to flow when connection is made.
 
Being asked to do LINE side tap on a 100A disconnect fed from a 100A 480v breaker.
Can/should this be done LIVE or should the 100a breaker just be turned off?
Aside from the safety for people working on this which I think is the most important aspect, maybe should also ask those that want it done live if they are willing to have possible downtime should something go wrong? Wouldn't be planned downtime here if something goes wrong where a planned shut down at least has some control to it which may be better for whatever this supplies.
 
I mean electrically. With no tap load, there is no current or arcing.

How would current in the through conductor alter that hazard?
If I were in the OP's position, I may or may not do as you suggest. I'd have to look the situation over especially looking to see if everything is finger safe in the area of the tap. But to answer your question, unless the load is purely resistive, the load would contribute to the arc flash if things go wrong.

For those that GASP, I work in a chemical plant that produce deadly gases in a continuous process. This is one of the exceptions in 70E where a live electrical work permit might be issued. Say, if a standby exhaust fan circuit blew and we needed something else rigged up right away without shutting down a scrubber pump or something.

Yeah, that's probably far from the OP's scenario, but call me a daredevil if you want. Sometimes I change a fluorescent ballast hot - GASP!
 
Personally, I don't have much of an issue working on 120v to ground hot. I have changed out 1000 - 1200A 120/208 equipment hot. At 277/480, I will and have installed an I-line breaker hot but that's about it.
 
Personally, I don't have much of an issue working on 120v to ground hot. I have changed out 1000 - 1200A 120/208 equipment hot. At 277/480, I will and have installed an I-line breaker hot but that's about it.
I line breaker not so bad. At least you are not directly contacting anything live. I don't like to but occasionally have installed NF (bolt on) breakers on live bus.
 
Per NFPA 70E, there are only three conditions where energized work is permitted:

1. Greater Hazard
2. Infeasibility
3. Less than 50 V

I'm guessing this situation doesn't meet any of those.
There are many things I did 40 years ago that I would never even consider doing now (or ask anyone else to do).

The older I get the Greater the Hazard is, the smaller the group of Infeasibility reasons are, and the closer I want Less than 50V to be to zero. ;)
 
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