Good job I didn't trust the client....

[WabbitPoo]

Was asked if I could swap in a new light fitting in place of the grotty old one.

As I was getting out the multimeter to check out the existing wiring, I asked him if he'd been fiddling with it, as it apparently no longer worked anyway. He said not. I didn't believe him. Good job I was careful as the whole metal fitting was live, as he had tried to dismantle the pull switch, failed, then shoved wires back in randomly, including the earth wire, which he'd shoved into COM....

 

[SteveP86]

So he said he hadn't touched anything when he actually energised the whole fitting. I wonder if he's broken any h&s law by putting you in harms way like that.

 

[ericmark]

I remember having the job of removing old wires in a concrete plant. Old wires identified by the old electrician which included about 10 SWA cables going to an old junction box with no lid. However even after him identifying them I still tested every cable for dead. Removed most and went for dinner then got a call cable was sparking. Found it supplied an augur which it seems was retained from old plant and the JB with missing lid was still used every time that augur was used by the PLC driving the batching plant.

Lucky no one injured but more by good luck than anything else. After the event it was agreed cables would only be removed when plant was not in use. So much for my dead testing even used the proving unit for all the good it did.

I love the neon screwdriver, best tool in my box. Be it a shared neutral or some automated system making it live while your working on it neon screwdrivers can save the day. OK today I have a clamp on ammeter which I test for current with, but does not matter how careful you are it can still become live. Even had my safety lock removed however fool proof you make it the more ingenious the fools become.

 

[bernardgreen]

Working on a ship's RADAR in the equipment room below the bridge. We had removed the wave guide from the magnatron to access parts behind it. The bridge consule was set to Standby so there was power to the parts we were working on. Suddenly the magnatron powers up. The ship's captain had seen the switch was on Standby and had after 5 minutes turned it to Run as per the instruction manual. "" To operate switch to Standby for 5 minutes and then to Run "" He didn't have English as a first language and it was impossible to convince him that the equipment could be on Standby for hours if need be. IIRC correctly we switched it off. re-assembled the wave guide and left the ship with no functional RADAR so it couldn't leave port. ( legally ). The agent then called the office desperate to get the ship to sea. We said we would attend but only if the agent or someone fluent in the language came with us. As a safety precaution we set it on Standby, removed the knob from the switch and had the agent standing by the switch.

Yes we could have dissed the Run wire in the cabinet or pulled the magnatron fuse but as there was no service manual for the set we didn't know what effect this would have

 

[ericmark]

You were lucky no one injured there. Had a wonderful lecture by Sir Richard Davies on earth days of radar, just as the magnatron was invented, and before they really knew what it could do. It seems they found loads of dead seagulls around Orford Ness, which were send for analysis, and it was found they were landing ready cooked. They then tried to build a death ray, which did not work, but the work was used for the invention of the microwave cooker.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'm told that when the US stationed stealth bombers in the Arabian desert in the 1st Gulf War they'd come out in the morning to find them surrounded by dead bats.