Voltage Gloves

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brother

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In my area it has been a practice to use gloves that were double the rating the voltage you would be working on.

Basically, if you have a 120/240 system, you would have gloves rated 500volt. If it was a 277/480 system, then you had 1000 volt rated gloves. At least this is what I have always done.

Kinda of like the rule of thumb when doing an insulation/megger test on wire, we have always doubled the voltage that the wire would be used on. 1000v meggering on 480v systems, 500v meggering on 240v systems.

Just recently a friend of mine said the company he works for started only sending them 500v rated gloves for their work, which is alot of 480v. Would there really be any issues with them using the 500 on 480v systems??

Maybe its just me, but I like a good measure of safety (more than 20 volts) when I got my hands on something hot. I also noticed that the 1000v tend to be more durable.

What is your opinion??
 
brother said:
In my area it has been a practice to use gloves that were double the rating the voltage you would be working on.

Basically, if you have a 120/240 system, you would have gloves rated 500volt. If it was a 277/480 system, then you had 1000 volt rated gloves. At least this is what I have always done.

Kinda of like the rule of thumb when doing an insulation/megger test on wire, we have always doubled the voltage that the wire would be used on. 1000v meggering on 480v systems, 500v meggering on 240v systems.

Just recently a friend of mine said the company he works for started only sending them 500v rated gloves for their work, which is alot of 480v. Would there really be any issues with them using the 500 on 480v systems??

Maybe its just me, but I like a good measure of safety (more than 20 volts) when I got my hands on something hot. I also noticed that the 1000v tend to be more durable.

What is your opinion??
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Why would you be holding both hots at the same time? Never work on two different potentials at the same time.
Some POCOs supply class 2 gloves for 25 kV systems with the understanding that only one potential is to be worked on at a time.

Classifications for Electrical Protective Gloves:

(Based on OSHA (EPES 29 CFR 1910.137))
?Class 0: Maximum use voltage of 1,000 volts AC/proof tested to 5,000 volts AC
?Class 1: Maximum use voltage of 7,500 volts AC/proof tested to 10,000 volts AC
?Class 2: Maximum use voltage of 17,000 volts AC/proof tested to 20,000 volts AC
?Class 3: Maximum use voltage of 26,500 volts AC/proof tested to 30,000 volts AC
?Class 4: Maximum use voltage of 36,000 volts AC/proof tested to 40,000 volts AC


Not sure about your class 00 gloves, but I suspect they are tested at well over 500 volts.
 
Actually, I was taught that for rubber gloves that testing voltage is not the same as 'maxium rated voltage'. The rated voltage is what you are actually working with and giving the gloves the stretching, ruff and tumble of the work. The testing voltage is only applied to a stationary (not for ruff and tumble work) glove for a very short period of time just to see if it will hold up. Not sure how long that high voltage testing is.

I definitely understand about the dexterity because I use to fuss about that all the time, but to be honest the 1,000v gloves I have used work just fine for what I use them for. My buddy makes the same claims as well.

As for using the gloves on different potentials, I know in my line of work we have to do alot of voltage testings of life safety equipment during its running time (ie fire pumps). Checking the rise and fall of the voltages both under severe load and no load conditions are a NFPA requirement, both phase to phase and phase to ground.

My buddy does similar work, and he claims he has seen the utility voltages spike (over 500 volts)for an extended period of time during some of his tests and non tests.

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe the 500v gloves will suddenly break down at 504volts, but the prolonged period I believe can start to show some wear and tear. I was told the price between the classes of gloves is really not that significant and it would just give the working guys peace of mind.

Thanks for the opinions.
 
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