verify voltage redundancy?

[QES]

any one verify the voltage/current on the system or device after turning off power(off breaker) before performing any service on it. you think its a redundancy?

 

[roger]

any one verify the voltage/current on the system or device after turning off power(off breaker) before performing any service on it. you think its a redundancy?

Always.

I put a tester or meter on the equipment before and after I open the OCD/disconnect.

Roger

 

[got_nailed]

With the control boxes I work on I will flip the breaker at the panel and use the disconnect at the equipment. And yes I do test all the power supplies once I open the boxes.

One day I burnet my wedding band in to my finger. You only have to do something like that one time before you start to triple check stuff.

 

[QES]

I do it all the time, better be safe then sorry and plus breaker, switch or disconnect are not 100% reliable to be off

 

[brian john]

I ALWAYS ALWAYS, test everything, I also ALWAYS test my tester on a known live circuit prior to testing anything I am going to service. While I own and carry several multimeter's, I prefer a Wiggy type tester for this type of work. I really do not care if the voltage is 272.1 or 278.6, I want to know LIVE or DEAD.

 

[brantmacga]

in my third week of working for the electrical contractor i apprenticed under, i went to a job to wire a pool. i was warned to be careful of what i said or did around the pool contractor because he was extremely particular, and i was told not to question what he said. i was headed to get a wiggy to check voltage on the 10/3 stubbed out when the contractor said to me using a few expletives that he had already turned the breaker off, and i was wasting his time to get a meter. i then attempted to cut off the excess wire w/ my kleins and ended up w/ a melted hinge and an arm that was black all the way to my shirt sleeve. he swears to this day he never told me he was sure the breaker was off. that has yet to and never will happen again.

 

[ptonsparky]

We always check before & after. Changes happen and the panel label may not have kept up. I have made wire strippers out of good side cutters in the past but not for a long time.

 

[brian john]

There are a 1,000,000 stories about shocked or burnt electricians, not using testers and while it is sad what happened on my first day in the trade has always stuck with me.

A 2nd year apprentice was told a circuit was dead, he questioned the electrician and was told to remove the temporary. Now I never saw the wiring, but was told the apprentice tried to cut two number 8's THW with his Klein's (480 VAC OCP size?).

The Klein's melted in his hands, he received severe flash burns to his hands and eyes, blinded he almost walked off a 12 story building (pre OSHA few, minimal or no guard rails in those days).

The mechanic left the job that day, the apprentice was out of work 9 months and had eye and hand problems when he returned to work.

The mechanic I worked with told me to always use a tester, never trust anyone, and NEVER to allow anyone to trust me, in regards to on or off. EVERYONE MUST TEST.

The goal of every worker should be to go home looking like you did when you left the house that morning, not blind, burnt or worse.

 

[electricguy61]

With the control boxes I work on I will flip the breaker at the panel and use the disconnect at the equipment. And yes I do test all the power supplies once I open the boxes.

One day I burnet my wedding band in to my finger. You only have to do something like that one time before you start to triple check stuff.

Didn't anyone tell you electricians shouldn't wear rings?

 

[bphgravity]

On a related note, the last time a decent study on arc-flash took place, less than $100K was spent on the research. According to Mark Earley from the NFPA, a new study is currently underway with a budget of over $6 million dollars. I expect some bigs changes to come in the NFPA 70E over the comming years.

 

[zbang]

A while ago I read some stuff about the NYC subway power converter stations. Their procedure for working on 11kv (ac) busses: first to use a long wooden stick to see if it's energized (the cap on the end of the stick would buzz), then use the 600v lamp bank from bus to ground, then apply the protection ground to the bus, then try from the live 600vdc bus throught the lamps to the now supposedly grounded bus. Rather primitive in many ways, but they're sure that the bus is dead and the protection ground is good.

Fortunately, I haven't 'notched' a pair of Kliens in 20+ years.

 

[cowboyjwc]

I'd been in the trade for 3 or 4 years when my boss hired an oldtimer.

One day he went and turned off the breaker and when he came back I was checking it with my tester. He asked "did you just check that after I told you I turned it off?" and I said "yes sir". He looked me right in the eye and said "good for you, I'd have been upset if you hadn't. Somebody taught you well".

I've never forgotten that.

 

[davidr43229]

We always check before & after

He has it right. You no longer do a simple voltage check as we know it. The new proceedure is called "Read-Verify-read"
You are required to go to a known source to insure proper operation of the meter, then go to your circuit, then back to your known source to insure a properly working meter.
Just my $.02

 

[QES]

"Read-Verify-read", like it
I did that a few time because I was not sure about my new meter I just purchased.

 

[pfalcon]

The new proceedure is called "Read-Verify-read"

This test is officially required where I work at Megacorp. They've named it "Live-Dead-Live". Part of our Electrical Safe Work Practice (ESWP).