Ignorant questions from "quallified persons"

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acrwc10

acrwc10

Master Code Professional
Location
CA
Occupation
Building inspector
The other day an electrician asked me a question that surprised me. It surprised me that a person working as an electrician for more then 20 years would ask it.

The question was,"is there any harm in putting a jumper on an outlet between the neutral screw and the ground screw, 2 wire circuit. So a grounded receptacle with no ground will make a plug in tester read "normal".

It made me wonder what kind of questions others here may have been asked that seemed stupid.
 
acrwc10 said:
The other day an electrician asked me a question that surprised me. It surprised me that a person working as an electrician for more then 20 years would ask it.

The question was,"is there any harm in putting a jumper on an outlet between the neutral screw and the ground screw, 2 wire circuit. So a grounded receptacle with no ground will make a plug in tester read "normal".

It made me wonder what kind of questions others here may have been asked that seemed stupid.
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Wrong ,yes he worked in field 20 years but not qualified.
I would not be working with him
 
I've been hit by 220 before and it definately hurts more than 110.

Maybe a bigger fuse/breaker/overload is needed.

Driving a ground rod will solve that (whatever the grounding issue is)

Why did the neutral shock me?

Why don't birds on power lines get shocked?

(More from owners wanting to help) That trench is 18 inches deep isn't it? (when my guess is maybe 10 or 11 in the deepest parts)

Do we need to put in the bonding screw?

That phone cable can't be in the same hole as the NM cable

I don't need to turn that off.

It is only on a 15 amp breaker, but I never mess with the big stuff live.

I cut it 3 times and it is still too short

(and I hate to mention it but here goes) The ground has to be up/down.
 
kwired had my favorite:
It is only on a 15 amp breaker, but I never mess with the big stuff live.

followed by "220 wire" vs "110 volt wire", a big box store "standard"

although if you read my posts, you will see me pull a real stupid on occassion also,.... of course, who says I'm "qualified" ;)
 
Grounds and Seat Belts are alot alike

Grounds and Seat Belts are alot alike

They serve no useful purpose UNTIL something goes wrong. At least he finaly asked and I would hope you gave him a positive and informed answer so that he may go and educate others as well.
 
I'd rather hear the question than not. Misinformed people that think they know everything are the worst to deal with.

My view on things is: For everything I believe I know there are a dozen people who know at least twice that, and in more detail. I'm lucky to have found a place where people smarter than me hang out.

This place is about learning, and I'd hate for us to cast a tone that "stupid" questions are to be mocked, guys.
 
George Stolz said:
I'd rather hear the question than not. Misinformed people that think they know everything are the worst to deal with.

My view on things is: For everything I believe I know there are a dozen people who know at least twice that, and in more detail. I'm lucky to have found a place where people smarter than me hang out.

This place is about learning, and I'd hate for us to cast a tone that "stupid" questions are to be mocked, guys.
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Well put George! I always say " I've worked with people that have forgot more about the electrical trade, than I will ever know." Be humble and you will always learn something new.
 
I was not trying to make fun of anyone but sometimes people can strike you the wrong way with something they say, especially when they supposedly have some experience in the area they are commenting about.

Some of the questionable comments made about safety concerns seem obvious, but some people only learn the hard way and have to have (hopefully just a close call) to change their minds about how they do things. Poking a little fun at them at least keeps them thinking about it.
 
"the one who asks is a fool for five minutes the one who doesn't stays a fool forever."

there is nothing wrong by asking questions, as long as you ask them and don't assume.
 
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acrwc10 said:
The other day an electrician asked me a question that surprised me. It surprised me that a person working as an electrician for more then 20 years would ask it.
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You were there and thus more attuned to the context than we are. But.....people have been known to ask seemingly stupid questions just to feel out the kind of folks they are talking to.

For all we know, he might've been looking for someone to hire, and wanted to find someone knowledgable, patient, and with good morals. How you answer his stupid question could tell him all of those things about you. :)
 
acrwc10 said:
The other day an electrician asked me a question that surprised me. It surprised me that a person working as an electrician for more then 20 years would ask it.

The question was,"is there any harm in putting a jumper on an outlet between the neutral screw and the ground screw, 2 wire circuit. So a grounded receptacle with no ground will make a plug in tester read "normal".

It made me wonder what kind of questions others here may have been asked that seemed stupid.
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It's the way HOW the question is asked.

Were he asked: 'what is the problem/harm associated with......', would have indicated that he is seeking understanding.

None of us knows everything, and sometimes even - seemingly - basic answers surprise me: heck, I didn't know THAT!
 
acrwc10 said:
The question was, "is there any harm in putting a jumper on an outlet between the neutral screw and the ground screw, 2 wire circuit. So a grounded receptacle with no ground will make a plug in tester read "normal".
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I would not include this among the ranks of "stupid questions." It is a good question, for anyone who has never come across the situation before, and who has not had a chance to think it through. I think a reasonable person could say that the N and G points are already connected together (i.e., at the service panel), so the two are electrically identical anyway. The reason that this reasonable person would be wrong in so saying is not an easy thing to come up with independently.

I will admit thinking, in my younger-and-more-foolish days, that it is safe to use an extension cord that is lying on wet grass. My reasoning at the time was that electricity seeks its source, and that every point along the extension cord is closer to the source than I am, so that its movement back to the source could not be in my direction. Then I read a news article about a woman in Chicago who was electrocuted by a damaged extension cord she was using outdoors. I had to draw a picture of the circuit and prove to myself that current could indeed find a path through a person holding a tool at the end of the cord, even though the damaged point was in the middle of the cord.

I will hold to the theory that the only stupid question is the one that is not asked.
 
Time for some Twain;

"Ah, well, I am a great and sublime fool. But then I am God's fool, and all His work must be contemplated with respect." -Twain

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt" -Twain/Lincoln

"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right." -Twain

But I like the quote edward cited;
"the one who asks is a fool for five minutes the one who doesn't stays a fool forever."
 
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edward said:
"the one who asks is a fool for five minutes the one who doesn't stays a fool forever."

there is nothing wrong by asking questions, as long as you ask them and don't assume.
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That is so true Ed! Where I work, some of "helpers" or apprentices are really trepid about asking their job foreman a question for fear of being made made fun of for " such a stupid question ", which I feel is so wrong and I do my best to be approachable so guys will come forward and ask a question instead of shrugging it off.
 
When I was in college one of my professors had a poster on his wall that stated, "Before I learned how to ride a bicycle, I did not know how to ride a bicycle." Another phrase that one of my high school teachers used often was, "Common sense is not so common."

Is there ever such a thing as stupid question? When I ask a question it is because I want to learn something but what irks me more is when someone thinks that they are somehow above me and doesn't respect me enough to just humor me and answer the question because then I can learn something. Unfortunately, I am guilty of this same violation myself. In recent years I've been trying to work harder at not doing that to others, especially younger people when they ask what I perceive as a silly question.
 
"There is no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid answers.":)

And I have done both.
 
George Stolz said:
I'd rather hear the question than not. Misinformed people that think they know everything are the worst to deal with.

My view on things is: For everything I believe I know there are a dozen people who know at least twice that, and in more detail. I'm lucky to have found a place where people smarter than me hang out.

This place is about learning, and I'd hate for us to cast a tone that "stupid" questions are to be mocked, guys.
Click to expand...

Had a guy tell me just two weeks ago "you really wanna be careful around that circuit it's a 50 amp circuit. That will really kill you"

This same guy on the same job told me "I wanna pull those #12s out and put in 18s, the resistance in the 12's may be too much for the small load of this control relay"
 
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