Well, this made me smile:

[speeder]

Instant kharma at work, guys trying to steal copper wire from a high-voltage box get smoked. Good news is so hard to come by these days, thought someone might enjoy this:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bandits-killed3-2009jun03,0,7082631.story

[nostatic]

I can't figure out the quote at the end. What part of the event is "tragic"? The 1,600 people who lost power?

[Embraer]

........

[sammyg2]

I bet their gang names were sparky and shakes.

[s_morrison57]

I work in a lot of third world countries and you see this monthly, either trying to steal the wire or do the illegal hook up, got so bad in one country that they shut down all salvage/scrap dealers and banned all exports of scrap.

[Mo_Gearhead]

Occasionally you will encounter (supposed) 'qualified' electrician's that are idiots.

I was in charge of building maint. where I worked. We kept having a section kick a breaker, so I called a local electrician we had used many times in the past.

A new guy shows up I have never met. I walk him down to the room that had the electrical panels. Now the one he had to work on was a 1500/2000 Amp service, 500 mcm copper feeders, think: hold your ear close and hear the hummmmm of power flowing ...a weak breaker needed changing.


I said, "How long will you have it all off?"

He replies, " I can change it live."

ME: WTF??? Are you kidding me!

I tell him I would not be comfortable with that. He shrugs, assures me it's fine, goes off to his truck for tools/new breaker. I walk down the long hall, make a turn, make another turn into my office and sit at my desk which faces the door.

About two minutes later ...BBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRaaaap! Lights blink and my entire office lights up like someone threw a fire bomb inside.

I go running down to the maint. room. The "electrician" is on the floor, crying that he can't see! A burnt-black screwdriver on the floor near by. Most of his hair/eyelashes/eyebrows now nothing but a stink, adrift in the room air.

He survived, flash burns ...but quit his 'new' electrician job.

Amazing.

I often wondered, had he been killed ...would they (family) have sued us or his negligent employer?

[924slover]

Thats awesome who in there right mind would try to change something like that while live....They might go after both of you for something like that but in todays society they'd go after the screwdriver manufacturer.

[Moses]

Electrons are dangerous. Don't click if you're squeamish.

http://www.philknowsbest.com/2009/06/dude-gets-electrocuted-on-top-of-train.html

[georgeinhere]

We had a few young "kids" tagging some kind of power station and the fumes ignited, one was well done and the others ran as he burnt to death...they left him behind, never called the cops.
In the local paper everyone spoke of what a great bunch of kids they were, etc. Phocked up standards that we've set for ourselves.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by speeder

Instant kharma at work, guys trying to steal copper wire from a high-voltage box get smoked. Good news is so hard to come by these days, thought someone might enjoy this:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bandits-killed3-2009jun03,0,7082631.story

Good news is hard to come by because it is ruined by BS lawsuits, which will certainly happen in this case.

[sammyg2]

We have a whole bunch of 2100 volt motor control centers (like breakers but more complicated) where I work.
The electricians have to wear full flash suits just to energize one.

About two years ago they were energizing an 800 amp 2100 volt unit and it arced across two legs. It blew the enclosure apart with hte force of a large explosion and the electricity created an arc flash.
The arc flash traveled 16 feet before it hit a guy who wasn't wearing a flash suit.
He lived but lost most of one hand and has sustained injuries severe enough that he will probably never return to work.
It's bad stuff.

[Porsche_monkey]

Good idea to switch breakers on with your left hand and stand to the right of the panel as you do so. Should be standard procedure on 440 volts and up....

[cgarr]

Originally Posted by nostatic

I can't figure out the quote at the end. What part of the event is "tragic"? The 1,600 people who lost power?

Yea, this one? "unfortunate reminder to people to stay out of high-voltage facilities,"

Not "unfortunate reminder to people to not steal!

[speeder]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

We have a whole bunch of 2100 volt motor control centers (like breakers but more complicated) where I work.
The electricians have to wear full flash suits just to energize one.

About two years ago they were energizing an 800 amp 2100 volt unit and it arced across two legs. It blew the enclosure apart with hte force of a large explosion and the electricity created an arc flash.
The arc flash traveled 16 feet before it hit a guy who wasn't wearing a flash suit.
He lived but lost most of one hand and has sustained injuries severe enough that he will probably never return to work.
It's bad stuff.

When innocent people get electrocuted, it's horrible. When copper thieves get electrocuted, it's hilarious.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by speeder

When innocent people get electrocuted, it's horrible. When copper thieves get electrocuted, it's hilarious.

Karma can be a beautiful thing.

[daepp]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

On 03/04/2009 at 08:40 hours an electrical flashover was reported while the
contractor was trying to find information regarding 480 V breakers. This
resulted in injuring three contractor employees; one with first degree burn and
two with 2nd degree burns. All the victims were transported to clinic for first
aid treatment and then transported to Care Hospital for further examination and
treatment.

[speeder]

Like I said, horrible...