horst Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Were putting stell on a building here in town.We had to move the overhead wire outside temporarily to get to the facia boardsm no big deal and ive done it 100 times.Usually i just put a new insulator somewhere outta the way, unhook the clip and move the wire.Well theres a guidewire on these that stretches from the pole to the buildings, it also serves as a ground.Some idiot ran this through the insulator so i had to undue the splice and take it out.Again, nothing to worry about, power doesnt run through this wire as it just holds everything up.Things went great, i got the wire loose, took the splice off and started taking the electrical tape off.I couldnt find the end of the tape so i started to cut it with my utility knife.I pulled on the wire a little more as i was doing this and something bad happened, apparently theres a bare spot up there somewhere, when i pulled the wires tight they touched and the bare spot shorted out, it knocked the knife outta my hand and sent it clear over the other end of the building.Blew the fuses and fried 2 battery chargers for our cordless drills we had plugged in inside as well.My whole arm went instantly numb and my whole right side feels like someone beat me with a baseball bat right now.I guesse no matter how many times youve done something accidents can still happen fast.Im just lucky it didnt kill me i suppose, i dont know how many volts go through one of those lines but Im done messing with them, my customers are gonna have to start hiring an electrician to move these from now on when theyre in the road Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTbowman Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Re: Shocking experience Wow you are lucky! Glad to see you are still here to tell the tale. Yikes. Yep no ned to be pushing that many amps into ya at all. I bet your feeling a bit sore for sure. been there done that with 600v at 50a once. (Its the amps that get ya, volts can go over your outside and not hurt at all if there is no amperage invloved.) Not fun. Not fun at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Re: Shocking experience Wow. You're a lucky SOB. Be careful. Yeah, its the amps that kill you. I learned that with helo ops in the Coast Guard. We had to use a dead man's stick when a helo dropped before we could touch it, otherwise we'd get a blast of 12,000 volts of static electricity which has no amperage to it, but it would knock you on your dupa quicker than you could say "wha happen?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archerjg Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Re: Shocking experience Glad to hear that you weren't hurt worse. It is not fun playing with electricity. Be careful out there. Archerjg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeNRA Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Re: Shocking experience I hate playing with electricity! I got hit once that was enough!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntingInMaine Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Re: Shocking experience Ouch! Glad to hear you weren't hurt too badly. I think it's a good idea to leave the electric work to the professionals (and even they get zapped from time to time...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Re: Shocking experience Wow, I am glad you are ok horst! That had to be scary! Be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooBear Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Re: Shocking experience Ouch! If I was doing that job the price would have just went up! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Re: Shocking experience You are one very lucky camper Horst. There is a paint a powerwash guy here in town, (my competition) who I used to get to do the odd powerwash job for me. One day, while power-washing, he had to rescue the home-owners cat on the roof. I not sure what he touched or the particulars, but he got half of his hand and a toe blown right off from a good jolt, that went right through him from hand to toe. He's lucky to be alive, and so are you man. It always gives me the jitters just painting around those wires, where they connect to the facia boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Re: Shocking experience Wow, your lucky Chris. I get to play with elctrical stuff at work all the time, but I always cut off the supply to what I am working on and make sure it is not live before I fool with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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