One more time (long)

[LarryFine]

About four years ago, we were wiring an addition, and received a frantic call after hours. The stove had delivered a bad shock to the homeowner when he contacted it and the sink.

Upon inspection, we discovered that the neutral/EGC of the 3-wire cord had pulled straight out of the crimped-on forked terminal in the stove's junction box. This also explained why the light and clock (the 120v loads) had not been working for a couple of months.

It's amazing that it took this long to be discovered, and they were lucky it hadn't been worse or zapped one of the kids. I guess there's an advantage to having short arms sometimes.

Of course, there's little hazard when every connection is solid. It's when the unexpected happens that otherwise-safe situations can become dangerous.

 

[George Stolz]

George it does not matter.

It is wrong period.

You want to be a professional than act like one. (As you have always seemed to here)

It's had been done for years with dryers, ranges and cook tops now the rules have changed.

The thing is, the rules do change. It wasn't "wrong period" at one point in time. Safety changed. Ethics followed. I wanted some reasons why.

It's all well and good for me to lock a concept into my mind as fact and never question it again, and declare the answer to a related question to be "I am above that behavior." Unfortunately, it sets off alarm bells in my question-the-answers center of my brain.

People do not avoid shock because "I am a professional." They avoid shock because (hopefully) my actions do not lead to shock hazards.

If I lock in "I am above that behavior" in my mind as an answer, then I see that as a weak spot in my mental arsenal. When I am pressed beyond that point, I may lose the argument. I don't like losing arguments, especially with code backing me.

I've had some good answers to this question, I will try to remember them in case I'm ever pressed.

 

[dlhoule]

Unfortunately, it sets off alarm bells in my question-the-answers center of my brain.

George, there is absolutely nothing unfortunate about that. I know of no better way to properly understand things than to question them until they are understood.

And in my case, if I don't understand, I frequently don't remember.

Now what are we talking about again?