JFletcher
Senior Member
- Location
- Williamsburg, VA
Today my boss and I were discussing the scariest work we'd come across. I'd forgotten about this one:
About 8 years ago, I was working maintenance at a large hotel. There was a call for a bad smell coming from the 7,000' sq ballroom. After about half an hour of looking for a dead animal in ductwork, I went outside and noticed a much different burnt electrical smell, coming from a non fused disconnect for one of the 3 3ph 10 ton AC units. So, I throw the disconnect and open the deadfront/cover to the disconnect. What I didnt realize is that when I threw that disconnect from on to off, the center phase of the knife/fork assembly was corroded solid, and it yanked the feed lug from the center phase to within 1/16" of that deadfront. That feed lug was fed (wrongly) by a 250A breaker, where all three units were fed from. Yeah, I probably shouldnt have been opening disconnects/deadfronts then, but I didnt know any better at the time. A licensed electrician was called to fix both problems.
To this day I always stand to the side of anything when I throw a switch, breaker or disconnect. I cant imagine how much fault current would have flowed given another fraction of an inch.
If anyone would share their stories of odd or scary electrical work, I'd like to hear them.. for interest sake, and for safety.
About 8 years ago, I was working maintenance at a large hotel. There was a call for a bad smell coming from the 7,000' sq ballroom. After about half an hour of looking for a dead animal in ductwork, I went outside and noticed a much different burnt electrical smell, coming from a non fused disconnect for one of the 3 3ph 10 ton AC units. So, I throw the disconnect and open the deadfront/cover to the disconnect. What I didnt realize is that when I threw that disconnect from on to off, the center phase of the knife/fork assembly was corroded solid, and it yanked the feed lug from the center phase to within 1/16" of that deadfront. That feed lug was fed (wrongly) by a 250A breaker, where all three units were fed from. Yeah, I probably shouldnt have been opening disconnects/deadfronts then, but I didnt know any better at the time. A licensed electrician was called to fix both problems.
To this day I always stand to the side of anything when I throw a switch, breaker or disconnect. I cant imagine how much fault current would have flowed given another fraction of an inch.
If anyone would share their stories of odd or scary electrical work, I'd like to hear them.. for interest sake, and for safety.