You did what?

[480sparky]

Isn't it amazing? The longer we do this type of work, the less we know?

Kinda like being teenagers again. What did we need libraries and encyclopedias for? We know everything already!

And, BTW, frizbeedog, you're not the only one who has done that.....

 

[frizbeedog]

And, BTW, frizbeedog, you're not the only one who has done that.....

So there is other smart people like me. I was starting to worry.

That was my mulligan. :grin:

 

[480sparky]

So there is other smart people like me. I was starting to worry.

That was my mulligan. :grin:

I plead guilty as well.

But in my defence, Your Honor, I've seen others do it as well.

 

[Minuteman]

Back about 1990 or so, I was doing some industrial troubleshooting on a 480-volt motor starter that kept kicking out. I decided to hold the contactor in with my cabinet tip screwdriver and take an amp reading. The screwdriver slipped off and touched one pole and ground at the same time.

KABOOM!

There was an instant first to second degree burn to my right hand and face. My mustache and eyebrows were gone. And, worst of all, my face and eyeglasses were peppered with vaporized metal from the end of the screwdriver.

Needless to say, I learned a very valuable lesson in "Arc Flash".

 

[frizbeedog]

KABOOM!....Needless to say, I learned a very valuable lesson in "Arc Flash".

Glad you're still with us. :smile:

 

[splinetto]

I always tell people when i screw up, for one it is funny,and two I tell all my apprentices that everyone does it....We all know the guys who act like they are the greatest and have never messed up...I make sure the new guys know that we all make mistakes...And if the do Ill be laughing at them all day, atleast. Also as an apprentice I went to goe lunch with another apprentice,and while paralell parking I must of hit the car in front of me once ore twice and the same for the car in the back....I didnt hear the end of it....Fast forward 6 yrs I have to paralell park the company work truck, I start to have flash backs, so here I go there is a BMW in fornt of the spot and here I go I slide right in with no problem...I'm impressed...So I decided to call that same buddy from before on the radio to tell him what a stud I am at paralell parking. While Im on the radio with him I notice I dont have my keys..Thats right I locked them in the van....DUH

 

[acrwc10]

First let me say you are all brave to confess all of this :grin:

So my biggest screw up as an apprentice was to believe a home owner, when we were doing a service up grade, and there was an old panel off the back of the house and he said, " oh that panel is dead and not used for any thing". So in my many days of experience I didn't check it with a tester , just started cutting wires, That big white one first. Oops !!!!! If I remember correctly it put 240v through the T.V the furnace , the VHS recorder and a few minor items. Haven't done that since.:smile:

 

[mdshunk]

So in my many days of experience I didn't check it with a tester , just started cutting wires,

I did that when demoing one half of a duplex. The meter wasn't even installed, but I still managed to blow up a good pair of dikes. Must have been tapped off the neighbor's circuit.

 

[brantmacga]

Back about 1990 or so, I was doing some industrial troubleshooting on a 480-volt motor starter that kept kicking out. I decided to hold the contactor in with my cabinet tip screwdriver and take an amp reading. The screwdriver slipped off and touched one pole and ground at the same time.

KABOOM!

There was an instant first to second degree burn to my right hand and face. My mustache and eyebrows were gone. And, worst of all, my face and eyeglasses were peppered with vaporized metal from the end of the screwdriver.

Needless to say, I learned a very valuable lesson in "Arc Flash".

the guy i apprenticed under had something similar happen. said he was troubleshooting a motor; he and his helper cut the power to the motor, but failed to kill the 480v going to the starter. while his helper was standing a few feet away talking to another employee, he was locked down on the 480v. he said he could hear someone behind him say, "hey i think your friend is getting fried!" he said he vomited on a regular basis over the next couple of days, and it tasted in his mouth the way copper smells. sounds like it was pretty unpleasant.

 

[MAK]

I still find this funny. Used a four foot long drill bit to drill thru some studs in a finished wall. Drill goes in (really far) and binds up. Pull drill out and find funny looking insulation wrapped on the end. Re insert drill repeat procedure find more "funny looking" insulation on end of bit. After a few more tries with same result, looked on other side of wall to find that the drill bit passed thru the wall right into the HO's matress in the bedroom. Several holes in matress and P.Oed H.O.!!!:grin:

 

[GilbeSpark]

Drove over and broke off a barely visible fill pipe for an underground propane storage tank and caused the evacuation of a neighborhood for 2-1/2 days.

Turned on a newly wired stamping press and smashed up a $200,000 stamping die that happened to be in it.

You could fill some pretty big books with all the dumb stuff I've ever done.

No matter what the subject you always seem to have the best stories!

 

[mdshunk]

No matter what the subject you always seem to have the best stories!

I wish they were just stories. I'm not proud of any of that stuff, but I've done some real bone-head things in my life.

 

[Ragin Cajun]

Thats about only thing i didnt mess up on.Looking at devorce rate i was dam lucky ,34 years

40+ years for us. God has been with us!

The dumbest was taking on the sorry project I'm on now. It's truly the project from "L"!

 

[POWER_PIG]

After getting permission from the HO I drove up on her lawn to get closer to the work area ( service change) Low and behold, right beneath the sod was the septic tank. Drove right over it, broke the concrete lid, it went crashing into the "stuff" and the front end of the van was damged badly. We all had a big laugh at the time it happend, then I called my boss.....not funny no more.

 

[peter d]

Just last week...drilled though a water pipe. Only problem was (other than the water gushing out)...the customer was there, and freaking out because we were on a second floor of a restored mill, and there is a restaurant below...mill floors are known for having big gaps in them...you get the idea.

Fortunately I found the shutoff in time before the flood got too big.

 

[e57]

Back about 1990 or so, I was doing some industrial troubleshooting on a 480-volt motor starter that kept kicking out. I decided to hold the contactor in with my cabinet tip screwdriver and take an amp reading. The screwdriver slipped off and touched one pole and ground at the same time.

KABOOM!

There was an instant first to second degree burn to my right hand and face. My mustache and eyebrows were gone. And, worst of all, my face and eyeglasses were peppered with vaporized metal from the end of the screwdriver.

Needless to say, I learned a very valuable lesson in "Arc Flash".

Simular stunt around a simular time....

Closing a POCO side splice box (20"X20") about 20' up on a ladder - when I opened the can it had a piece of wood holding the splices in the box - I dropped it.... Then I went to close the can and the cover pushed against the kearny bolts and cut through the tape. - the resulting short blew a 4" hole in the cover - peppered me with metal and I lost my balance on the ladder. Sounded like a grenade! Fell a few rungs and got my leg caught in the ladder - it rolled and I rode it to the ground. Didn't get hurt except for the white spot was hard to see past on the drive home, and a few aches and pains.... Had to return the next day to put a new cover back on it.... I was shaking so hard I could not get up the ladder - Took me hours to get up the nerve....

Dumbest thing I ever did was to pick up smoking.....

 

[220/221]

By far, the dumbest thing I have EVER done was only a few years ago.

In AZ, we are not allowed to do anything with the POCO wires or meters. They are getting more strict every year.

In the olden days I would do overhead sercice upgrades without contacting POCO. I'd cut the drop, lay it on the ground and re connect it when I was done. I'd done it 50 times, no big thing.

Scheduling got mixed up and POCO wasn't going to be there to disconnect but I was already on the job and ready to work so I made the call to proceed.

I pulled the meter and cut the drop. I carried it down the ladder holding the metallic attachment clamp in my bare hand. I was on the ground just leaning over to set it on the ground when BAM. Big green flask, hair standing up all over my body and a thunderous explosion.

Generally, for obvious safety reasons, pole mounted tranformers are mounted ABOVE the secondary 120/240 lines. For whatever reason, THIS transformer was mounted below the 120/240 lines. As I brought the triplex down it sagged more and more until it came in contact with the fuse link on top of the transformer and blew it all to hell.

The good news was that there were only two homes afected and no one was home at the other one. I finished my work, pulled the triplex back into place and called POCO. There were 6 different suits out there within the hour and none of them was happy.

I took my lumps and paid a small service fee (300 something) for them to replace the fuse link.

I am alive because:

1) I didn't have a firm grip on the triplex. It was just laying in my palm as I was leaning over to place it on the ground.

2) The system was well grounded/bonded and gave those electrons somewhere good to go.

 

[hey_poolboy]

It may be hard to pick THE dumbest thing, but here are two good ones.

Been on the job a year or two. We had an old (non-working) forklift parked right beside the drive at the back of the office. A delivery truck cam and I needed to move the boss's truck. I jumped in and backed up without latching the door shut. As I backed up the door opened enough to catch the forklift, and peel the drivers door clear around to touch the front corner panel.

Years ago, I went to troubleshoot a pool heater that was not working correctly. Upon entering the room I realized the switch to the heater was in the on position. This was a propane heater installed inside without a standing pilot to burn up any possible leak. As I turned the switch to off there was a violent explosion that removed my facial hair, nose hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and about 1/3 of the hair on my head. Second degree burns to my face, and the left side of my head.

Good times......

 

[ItsHot]

video!

video!

I wish we had a video to watch!!

 

[jason]

i got my hand between a sledge hammer and a 5/8" galvanized ground rod. it went completely through my hand between the thumb and index finger. it left a cute little scar. that was pretty stupid; and painful. i honestly don't know how it happened.

this next one was done by a helper i had one time, but is so stupid i must post it. he had just moved up from florida and told the boss when he interviewed that he had almost 5 yrs in working for a large commercial outfit around gainesville. in his 4th day on the job we went to wire a new house. i had to leave him w/ my other two helpers and go do another job that was going to take about two hours. the other helpers were supposed to help watch over him. he was instructed to pull the receptacles in the bedrooms and a couple of other rooms. when I got back to the job, he had pulled home-runs to almost 30 receptacles. when I asked him why, he said, "well that's florida code. we have to homerun everything down there." i said "oh really? how the heck do you fit them all in the panel?" -- his answer, "well we use a pretty deep panel. deeper than what you guys use up here. and its got a lot more spaces for all the wires." --- unfortunately, that was the beginning of the end of his employment with that company. don't tell me a lie, just tell me you screwed up.

I would have fired all 3 of them. LOL. 30 Homeruns and 2 other guys working (or not) in the same house and didn't notice? On 2nd thought, I probably would have kept the guy from Florida on and fired the 2 other helpers. The guy from Fla was working his butt off while the other 2 must not have pulled a single HR or they would have noticed.

Funny story.