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Fixing an air conditioner unit this morning around 7:30. I had the power on to the unit but off to the circuit I was working on…at least I thought so. I cut a wire with my cutters in one hand while I was holding onto some piece of the thing in the other. I got fried. Arms tensed, chest, neck, and sides of face tightened up. I felt like I was choking from it.
I rarely use curse words but the F word came screaming out of me as I threw myself back onto the floor. One of my guys heard me scream but I never heard it myself. I think I was deaf from the shock for a second. It’s 10 hours later and my arms still hurt from the muscle contraction.
It was a 480V unit but I’m pretty sure I only got 277V across me. Truth is I’m not really sure what my other hand was holding onto.
I went back to work and fixed several more that day but turned off the power first and locked it out as per OSHA regs. I had just gone over the lock-out tag-out procedures the day before with my crew. I was too good to follow the rules though. I shook everytime I reached into one of these things the rest of the day. I’ve been shocked lots of times and always had the attitude that I’m not allergic to alittle electricity. This was the worst one. I seem to have developed an allergy.
I was real lucky. I know it could have been worse. There’s something in those wires that can hurt you.
Be careful.
Replies
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Ryan --
For extra peace of mind, get one of those proximity sensors -- the ones that look like a fat ball point pen. A red LED in the tip lights up when it's within about half an inch of anything hot. Use it as a double check that you got the right breaker.
-- J.S.
*Nice hair Buckwheat!!!!!You smell somethin' burnin?Oh SHIT, its me!!!Glad yer ok ;-)
*Maybe we should change yer name to Fryan Cruzan.HA HA HAI'm crackin' myself up here.Eric
*I've called them a "tick tester" and I've got one in my tool bag. I ALWAYS use it too. Even flip it across the back of my hair first to make sure it's working instead of just trusting it. Just didn't use it this time.
*Careful now guys. Crispy critter is already doing a slow burn, especially because he goofed, admitted he goofed AND admitted he has the tool available to prevent the goof.Only takes one time to become the Fried Daddy.
*Ryan, glad you survived your lesson so well. A friend at work was tracing a 480v a/c system that was single phasing. He thought he had followed the conduited into a large junction box(it was stenciled 480v/trans.1A), but when he reached into the box with his meter lead it "reached out" and got him. The box was mismarked, it was a 4kv feed to transformer 1A. The arc blew him off of an 8 ft. step ladder,gave him 2nd and 3rd degree burns to the face, hands, and arms to his shirt line. That was five years ago and he still has trouble with weather extremes. He was an electrician for the utility company we work for(35 years of service) at the time. Fortunately he was wearing his safety glasses at the time or he would have been blinded. Because of that incident and a few others that same year we all now wear nomex/cotton blend shirts and 14 oz. denim fire retartant jeans. Anytime we are working "hot" we also wear flash jackets, low voltage gloves, and full face shields. Try that on a 95 degree day on some roof! The company went way beyond what OSHA requires, but I think they have dramatically reduced the number of injuries from low voltage incidents. My friend recently accepted an early retirement package and at his party he said "I'm greatfull to my maker, to be able to attend this retirment party."Thankfully you escaped. We would miss your contributions to this board, even for a little while. Good luck, Dave
*Sometimes learning can really suck.
*Thanks for posting. Helps keep the rest of us on our toes.I try to remember the old rule: "Only one hand out of your pocket when working above 120 until nothing sparks".
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Fixing an air conditioner unit this morning around 7:30. I had the power on to the unit but off to the circuit I was working on...at least I thought so. I cut a wire with my cutters in one hand while I was holding onto some piece of the thing in the other. I got fried. Arms tensed, chest, neck, and sides of face tightened up. I felt like I was choking from it.
I rarely use curse words but the F word came screaming out of me as I threw myself back onto the floor. One of my guys heard me scream but I never heard it myself. I think I was deaf from the shock for a second. It's 10 hours later and my arms still hurt from the muscle contraction.
It was a 480V unit but I'm pretty sure I only got 277V across me. Truth is I'm not really sure what my other hand was holding onto.
I went back to work and fixed several more that day but turned off the power first and locked it out as per OSHA regs. I had just gone over the lock-out tag-out procedures the day before with my crew. I was too good to follow the rules though. I shook everytime I reached into one of these things the rest of the day. I've been shocked lots of times and always had the attitude that I'm not allergic to alittle electricity. This was the worst one. I seem to have developed an allergy.
I was real lucky. I know it could have been worse. There's something in those wires that can hurt you.
Be careful.