# Big mistakes we have made



## Wireman191

Earlier this spring we were changing high bay lights for the energy efficient fluorescents and I made a big mistake. I was in a 85' snorkel lift and the foremen was really riding us to get the job finished. I moved the basket into a real tricky spot started taking down the old light and felt the whole basket start pushing up, Right above me was a main I beam, below me was a hydraulic machine that would lower into the water and when the apples filled the bin it would come up. I was pinned between the two I got in a hurry and didn't look at the equipment to see what it would do before I came up with my plan. It ended up breaking a motor on top of the piece of equipment and bending the bars on the lift. 
What are some of your guys OOOHHH crap moments?


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## chewy

Wireman191 said:


> Earlier this spring we were changing high bay lights for the energy efficient fluorescents and I made a big mistake. I was in a 85' snorkel lift and the foremen was really riding us to get the job finished. I moved the basket into a real tricky spot started taking down the old light and felt the whole basket start pushing up, Right above me was a main I beam, below me was a hydraulic machine that would lower into the water and when the apples filled the bin it would come up. I was pinned between the two I got in a hurry and didn't look at the equipment to see what it would do before I came up with my plan. It ended up breaking a motor on top of the piece of equipment and bending the bars on the lift.
> What are some of your guys OOOHHH crap moments?


I had a horrible near miss one day, I was cutting basket tray in situ to make a corner over a adjacent to the raise. I chucked the piece of tray I cut off from the catwalk back to the floor except it hit the tempory water supply and bounced off that through the safety rails and fell 1 story hitting a security tech wiring a panel. Luckily it glanced off his shoulder and did him no harm. I still beat myself up over how stupid it was to chuck it and not place it. He could have lost an eye if a sharp end stuck him.


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## 360max

Worked in a IT computer room that had water lines mounted on the wall with 1/2" PVC plumbing, I was running EMT . Well, I leaned back and lost balance on 6' ladder and my back cracked one of the pipes, water started spraying all over the room (20'x20'). I jumped off ladder and cuffed the water line while a co worker frantically searched for the shut off valve. Anything that absorbed water I was throwing on the floor, newspapers all over the place, saved equipment,...... and job tho!!


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## erics37

Accidentally shut off an entire water treatment plant last summer. Was installing a conduit above the main gear, realized I needed something, so I started climbing down the ladder. Well I happened to be right in front of the 600 amp main breaker on the ladder and stepped on it. It takes some oomph to open a big breaker like that but with all your momentum going down it is fairly easy.

No generator backup and the plant operator was off to lunch.


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## Shockdoc

Can't think of any other than a blind drill into a waterline while snaking new feeds in. A couple sharkbites and 12" of pex however fixed it faster than I got my circuits run. The problem was the water clean up, the building had two watermains, both in difficult to find locations.


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## McClary’s Electrical

I burnt up a 1600 dollar gas pump card at a gas station one time when I accidentally landed the wire on the wrong phase. Pretty scary when people run in the store yelling the gas pump is on fire.


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## rdr

I hit an 8 inch water main with a backhoe scoop in a high school parking lot. In my defence it wasn't on any of the prints we had from the city or the school. Took 45 min for them to get it shut off and it still flowed for several hours. Thankfully we had a couple sub pumps on site to steer a good lot of the water toward storm drains.


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## 480sparky

Back when I was a wee little noob, my foreman told me to push a fish tape down 'this conduit', pointing to a 3" going down out of a gutter. He pointed across the room, and said it will come up over there, about 30' away.

So I dutifully got a (steel) fish tape and started pushing it through. And pushing. And pushing. And pushing. Without much thought on my part, I probably had half of the 200' tape in before I realized I should 'be there' by now.

One more push and the fishtape rattled, the lights flickered, and there was a tremendous "BOOM!" outside. Needless to say, I had pushed the tape through the wrong pipe and outside into the pad-mount transformer.

This being a large, state-owned facility, no one was happy that all the computers on-site defaulted to reboot.  To make matters worse, about two weeks later, the 60's-era transformer mysteriously died. The POCO replaced it, saying it was probably 'getting old and just gave up the ghost.' I wonder if they ever noticed any black burn marks inside of it. :whistling2:


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## McClary’s Electrical

480sparky said:


> Back when I was a wee little noob, my foreman told me to push a fish tape down 'this conduit', pointing to a 3" going down out of a gutter. He pointed across the room, and said it will come up over there, about 30' away.
> 
> So I dutifully got a (steel) fish tape and started pushing it through. And pushing. And pushing. And pushing. Without much thought on my part, I probably had half of the 200' tape in before I realized I should 'be there' by now.
> 
> One more push and the fishtape rattled, the lights flickered, and there was a tremendous "BOOM!" outside. Needless to say, I had pushed the tape through the wrong pipe and outside into the pad-mount transformer.
> 
> This being a large, state-owned facility, no one was happy that all the computers on-site defaulted to reboot.  To make matters worse, about two weeks later, the 60's-era transformer mysteriously died. The POCO replaced it, saying it was probably 'getting old and just gave up the ghost.' I wonder if they ever noticed any black burn marks inside of it. :whistling2:


Computers were as big as room back then huh?


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## Shockdoc

480sparky said:


> Back when I was a wee little noob, my foreman told me to push a fish tape down 'this conduit', pointing to a 3" going down out of a gutter. He pointed across the room, and said it will come up over there, about 30' away.
> 
> So I dutifully got a (steel) fish tape and started pushing it through. And pushing. And pushing. And pushing. Without much thought on my part, I probably had half of the 200' tape in before I realized I should 'be there' by now.
> 
> One more push and the fishtape rattled, the lights flickered, and there was a tremendous "BOOM!" outside. Needless to say, I had pushed the tape through the wrong pipe and outside into the pad-mount transformer.
> 
> This being a large, state-owned facility, no one was happy that all the computers on-site defaulted to reboot.  To make matters worse, about two weeks later, the 60's-era transformer mysteriously died. The POCO replaced it, saying it was probably 'getting old and just gave up the ghost.' I wonder if they ever noticed any black burn marks inside of it. :whistling2:


And I bet you guys did not volunteer any information to them either.:laughing:


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## electric_avenue

This thread reminds me of this......


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## Shockdoc

electric_avenue said:


> This thread reminds me of this......


 Damn I thought those were GOP socialites.


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## 480sparky

Shockdoc said:


> And I bet you guys did not volunteer any information to them either.:laughing:










​


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## B W E

About eight years ago I was working at a house owned by Nicolas Cage. We were setting up a 100 amp sub-panel at a pool house / dojo (for his son). My boss was feeding a fish tape from the new sub panel into the main, which was a 600 amp standup unit outside. The conduit was coming up in the very back of the standup, and I had to lay down on my side to be able to see and reach it. When I saw the leader come up I radio'd him to stop. I had to turn my head to be able to reach, but that made it so I couldn't see. I ended up grabbing one of the energized bus bars. The ground I was laying in was pretty damp and it lit me up something nasty, enough to the point where my muscles contracted and I couldn't let go. I was able to turn my body around and use my legs to push myself away from the gear and finally got off of it after about 8 seconds or so. About 20 feet away a painter was up on an extension ladder painting some trim and watched me there screaming, probably thought he was watching me die. 

My right arm was all seized up for about 2 hours and I couldn't move it. That was a bad day.


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## Dave L

I put a screw into a live wire when changing a ceiling fan. Really not too bad, no shock, except it was at my parents place and I was doing the work for my dad, a retired electrician. I have never been so stressed out when working.


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## B4T

My first Nutone Intercom System has a slight problem.. 

I didn't read the fine print and ran the wires right next to the electric.. creating a fine distinct hum on all the speakers..

House was on a slab with cathedral wood ceilings in some rooms.. 

It took me weeks to run all new wires for the system.. but the HO was a stand up guy and threw me a wad of money for my time.._ without asking for a dime.._

Now I sit down and read EVERY page and FPN that is on the instructions..

There is no excuse for being so stupid and not reading the paperwork.. :no:


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## McClary’s Electrical

Who me?


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## user4818

I heard about a guy who rented a van to meet a total stranger in an HD parking lot. :whistling2:


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## user4818

B4T said:


> My first Nutone Intercom System has a slight problem..
> 
> I didn't read the fine print and ran the wires right next to the electric.. creating a fine distinct hum on all the speakers..
> 
> House was on a slab with cathedral wood ceilings in some rooms..
> 
> It took me weeks to run all new wires for the system.. but the HO was a stand up guy and threw me a wad of money for my time.._ without asking for a dime.._


You shouldn't have accepted the money for a mistake you made.


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## B4T

I once had a helper drill a hole in a corner stud.. the drill bit caught and he was too stupid to take his finger off the trigger.. 

The bit went through the wall and what made it worse was the HO was sitting at the table reading the paper and having breakfast..

I gave some BS story about the bit hit a nail.. I also revoked his drilling privileges for the rest of his employment.. less that a month after that.. :no:


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## B4T

Peter D said:


> You shouldn't have accepted the money for a mistake you made.


The job was perfect except for the Intercom and the money didn't come close to paying for the labor involved..

That was almost (30) years ago.. NOW I would not take the money.. different story back then..


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## user4818

B4T said:


> The job was perfect except for the Intercom and the money didn't come close to paying for the labor involved..
> 
> That was almost (30) years ago.. NOW I would not take the money.. different story back then..


Gotcha..so it was more of a "I feel bad for you so here's some cash" kind of thing.


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## B4T

Peter D said:


> I heard about a guy who rented a van to meet a total stranger in an HD parking lot. :whistling2:


This thread is about dumb mistakes you made.. THAT was not one of them..

Case closed.. :thumbup:


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## B4T

Peter D said:


> Gotcha..so it was more of a "I feel bad for you so here's some cash" kind of thing.


Exactly..


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## user4818

B4T said:


> This thread is about dumb mistakes you made.. THAT was not one of them..
> 
> Case closed.. :thumbup:


Just giving you a hard time. :laughing:


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## B4T

Peter D said:


> Just giving you a hard time. :laughing:


Like I didn't already know that.. :laughing:


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## B W E

B4T said:


> My first Nutone Intercom System has a slight problem..
> 
> I didn't read the fine print and ran the wires right next to the electric.. creating a fine distinct hum on all the speakers..
> 
> House was on a slab with cathedral wood ceilings in some rooms..
> 
> It took me weeks to run all new wires for the system.. but the HO was a stand up guy and threw me a wad of money for my time.. without asking for a dime..
> 
> Now I sit down and read EVERY page and FPN that is on the instructions..
> 
> There is no excuse for being so stupid and not reading the paperwork.. :no:


It probably said so right on the box! I'll take pictures.


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## Shockdoc

As a helper I was out all night partying only to wire a panel during an upgrade the next day. Some how i twisted the wrong pair and sent 220 volts to a second floor circuit. My boss had rented an apartment in that house years back and hacked about 35 circuits in a 20 circuit 100 amp panel. Needless to say the next morning my boss had a table in the office with exhibits A thru O of smoked appliances to discuss.


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## HARRY304E

B W E said:


> It probably said so right on the box! I'll take pictures.


Not again..:laughing:


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## user4818

Shockdoc said:


> As a helper I was out all night partying only to wire a panel during an upgrade the next day. Some how i twisted the wrong pair and sent 220 volts to a second floor circuit. My boss had rented an apartment in that house years back and hacked about 35 circuits in a 20 circuit 100 amp panel. Needless to say the next morning my boss had a table in the office with exhibits A thru O of smoked appliances to discuss.


Hack trunkslammers and DIYers call it "220" volts.


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## McClary’s Electrical

B W E said:


> It probably said so right on the box! I'll take pictures.


Quick! To home depot


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## Shockdoc

Peter D said:


> Hack trunkslammers and DIYers call it "220" volts.


And what do you, professional pete, call it ? 230 volt it ?


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## McClary’s Electrical

We installed a dynamic brake on a 400 hp motor and set parameters as suggested. This motor would coast for over an hr. With no brake. The parameters we were given tried to stop it in about 10 seconds. It rattled the whole building, had the 750 kva xfmr jumping up and down off the pad, until it blew a fuse in c phase, but not before causing permanent damage to the thing. Luckily the brake didn't blow up.


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## McClary’s Electrical

Shockdoc said:


> And what do you, professional pete, call it ? 230 volt it ?


240. Nominal ratings are calculated @ 230, but can't be accomplished with an algorithm


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## user4818

Shockdoc said:


> And what do you, professional pete, call it ? 230 volt it ?


I call it what it is - the actual voltage - 240.


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## B4T

B W E said:


> It probably said so right on the box! I'll take pictures.


Go back (30) years for those pics.. NOW they might post the info on the box since I can't be the only moron who didn't read the enclosed paperwork..

In the instruction manual.. there was a page that listed all the available bells and whistles available for the system..

The.. "Keep wires 12" away from all electrical lines" warning was in small print on one of those pages..


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## Shockdoc

Peter D said:


> I call it what it is - the actual voltage - 240.


I only get 115 volts where I live, that makes 230 pole to pole. Actual voltages vary by location, distance to xformer, load on line, size of wiring carrying electric to destination. In Con Ed jurisdiction everything is 208 volts due to 3 ph step down distribution systems. So what is it ?


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## Shockdoc

mcclary's electrical said:


> 240. Nominal ratings are calculated @ 230, but can't be accomplished with an algorithm


I guess I'm old school, cause that's what I'm used too.


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## B4T

Peter D said:


> Hack trunkslammers and DIYers call it "220" volts.


Wrong Pete.. it is just what you get used too..

It has always been 110/ 220V.. even for the supply houses when ordering parts say 110 or 220..

Long Island electricians are not that anal about wording.. we have other problems to worry about..


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## user4818

B4T said:


> Go back (30) years for those pics.. NOW they might post the info on the box since I can't be the only moron who didn't read the enclosed paperwork..
> 
> In the instruction manual.. there was a page that listed all the available bells and whistles available for the system..
> 
> The.. "Keep wires 12" away from all electrical lines" warning was in small print on one of those pages..


I guess those old systems didn't use twisted pair or shielded? I think I have only seen one or two of those systems in use and it was hooked up with plain t-stat cable.


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## Big John

I disconnected a control circuit that I thought was dedicated to a chart recorder I was removing, and I missed that it powered a water-level sensor further downstream. When the PLC saw the loss of water level it triggered an emergency shutdown for all the turbines in the plant.

Safety aside, there's another reason not to do live work. :whistling2:

-John


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## B4T

Peter D said:


> I guess those old systems didn't use twisted pair or shielded? I think I have only seen one or two of those systems in use and it was hooked up with plain t-stat cable.


It was (6) conductor twisted pair I think.. but shielding was not yet invented.. :laughing:


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## user4818

B4T said:


> Wrong Pete.. it is just what you get used too..
> 
> It has always been 110/ 220V.. even for the supply houses when ordering parts say 110 or 220..
> 
> Long Island electricians are not that anal about wording.. we have other problems to worry about..


:sleep1:


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## McClary’s Electrical

B4T said:


> Wrong Pete.. it is just what you get used too..
> 
> It has always been 110/ 220V.. even for the supply houses when ordering parts say 110 or 220..
> 
> Long Island electricians are not that anal about wording.. we have other problems to worry about..


So you're saying we should correct our lingo to match the counterguys?????? Wtf are you smokin?


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## 480sparky

Silly me. I thought it was common knowledge for electricians to keep the low-voltage stuff away from line voltage lines. :001_huh:


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## McClary’s Electrical

480sparky said:


> Silly me. I thought it was common knowledge for electricians to keep the low-voltage stuff away from line voltage lines. :001_huh:


It sounds like he trained himself through trial and error.


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## B4T

mcclary's electrical said:


> So you're saying we should correct our lingo to match the counterguys?????? Wtf are you smokin?


No.. I am saying different areas have different ways of how they work..

It doesn't make anyone one of them right or wrong.. who give a flying finger what it is called since the only argument that has any balls here is when it is NEC related..

I'm sure someone of your caliber can find something else to pick apart and rant about that has some useful meaning.. :laughing:


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## B4T

480sparky said:


> Silly me. I thought it was common knowledge for electricians to keep the low-voltage stuff away from line voltage lines. :001_huh:


Don't be such a TOOL.. some knowledge is learned by mistakes.. we all can't be an expert like you.. :no:


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## Wireman191

Some crazy stories out there I'm glad that we all get a chance to talk about them, laugh at ourselves and teach someone what could happen.


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## 480sparky

B4T said:


> Don't be such a TOOL.. some knowledge is learned by mistakes.. we all can't be an expert like you.. :no:



And some just refuse to learn.


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## B4T

480sparky said:


> And some just refuse to learn.


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## Bkessler

Let's see, 
About 8 years ago i had an apprentice hold a shop vac with no filter while I cored four 1-1/2" holes in a principles office above the ceiling. And when I took my old scratched up and foggy safety glasses off i got a big surprise. I had a 16th" layer of cement dust over everything. He wasn't pleased. Something about his personal laptop.


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## 480sparky

Bkessler said:


> ......... He wasn't pleased. Something about his personal laptop.



Send it to B4T.. I hear he's great with computers! :laughing::laughing:


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## Wireman191

Bkessler said:


> Let's see,
> About 8 years ago i had an apprentice hold a shop vac with no filter while I cored four 1-1/2" holes in a principles office above the ceiling. And when I took my old scratched up and foggy safety glasses off i got a big surprise. I had a 16th" layer of cement dust over everything. He wasn't pleased. Something about his personal laptop.


 The apprentice didn't tell you something wasn't right?:blink: He would be writing, "I will not be so dumb" 100 times!


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## Bkessler

480sparky said:


> Send it to B4T.. I hear he's great with computers! :laughing::laughing:


I am sure b4t has spilled his clown make up all over his keyboard a few times. That fix would be right up his alley.


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## Big John

Bkessler said:


> I am sure b4t has spilled his clown make up all over his keyboard a few times....


 You say that, but no chit, I know a master electrician who moonlights as a clown.

-John


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## 480sparky

Wireman191 said:


> The apprentice didn't tell you something wasn't right?:blink: He would be writing, "I will not be so dumb" 100 times!


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## Bkessler

Big John said:


> You say that, but no chit, I know a master electrician who moonlights as a clown.
> 
> -John


Did he do kids birthdays or entertain adults on a public forum?


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## B4T

Bkessler said:


> I am sure b4t has spilled his clown make up all over his keyboard a few times. That fix would be right up his alley.


Another useless post by our resident moron from the left coast.. :no:


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## Bkessler

B4T said:


> Another useless post by our resident moron from the left coast.. :no:


I resemble that remark.


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## user4818

Bkessler said:


> Did he do kids birthdays or entertain adults on a public forum?


That was actually pretty funny. :laughing::laughing:


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## 480sparky

Bkessler said:


> I resemble that remark.



You dress up as a hare, and go out to kid's birthday parties as Red-Eye Rabbit? :laughing:


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## Bkessler

480sparky said:


> You dress up as a hare, and go out to kid's birthday parties as Red-Eye Rabbit? :laughing:


No, moron on the left coast.


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## greco

Shut down one half the power to a semi conductor fab.
Jeff


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## Big John

greco said:


> Shut down one half the power to a semi conductor fab....


 Oof. inch:

When I worked pharma we came in one day and one of the shift supervisors was sitting in a chair just crying her eyes out. Apparently she'd goofed something up and they lost a whole vat of product, at the cost of literally millions.

-John


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## Bkessler

Big John said:


> Oof. inch:
> 
> they lost a whole vat of product,
> 
> -John


for some odd reason it makes me
laugh when I here stuff referred to as "product".


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## slickvic277

Wireman191 said:


> Earlier this spring we were changing high bay lights for the energy efficient fluorescents and I made a big mistake. I was in a 85' snorkel lift and the foremen was really riding us to get the job finished. I moved the basket into a real tricky spot started taking down the old light and felt the whole basket start pushing up, Right above me was a main I beam, below me was a hydraulic machine that would lower into the water and when the apples filled the bin it would come up. I was pinned between the two I got in a hurry and didn't look at the equipment to see what it would do before I came up with my plan. It ended up breaking a motor on top of the piece of equipment and bending the bars on the lift.
> What are some of your guys OOOHHH crap moments?


My very first day in the business ever, they put me in a lift, I took out a whole wall on a brand new job!  That, and one time I tapped a bunch of EM heads at 120V when they were being fed 277V. Although, it wasn't really my fault, but I took the blame anyway.


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## Bulldog1

I created a phase to phase short when I combined 2 welder receptacles to one circuit. They must have been shorted in the conduit. Took out the main to a 12 pump gas station full of people pumping. Same building as repair shop I was working in. Took 30 minutes to get pumps up and running. Oops...:whistling2:


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## slickvic277

Big John said:


> Oof. inch:
> 
> When I worked pharma we came in one day and one of the shift supervisors was sitting in a chair just crying her eyes out. Apparently she'd goofed something up and they lost a whole vat of product, at the cost of literally millions.
> 
> -John


Not as bad but here's a Boo Boo I had. We have a giant Nabisco factory here, well it's Kraft now but that's besides the point. Anyways, the place is crazy, there's pipes and crap everywhere. Running rigid is like trying to put a broken puzzle back together. I know the company that has the work there bids the jobs at 50' of heavy wall per man, a day!  Well, one time stepping down off a ladder, I steped on a valve handle and had boiling hot water shoot right my ass!  Ouch! Stupid fitters, he was upposse to lock it off. :laughing:


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## McClary’s Electrical

Big John said:


> I disconnected a control circuit that I thought was dedicated to a chart recorder I was removing, and I missed that it powered a water-level sensor further downstream. When the PLC saw the loss of water level it triggered an emergency shutdown for all the turbines in the plant.
> 
> Safety aside, there's another reason not to do live work. :whistling2:
> 
> -John


 
Co generation plant?


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## Bulldog1

slickvic277 said:


> Not as bad but here's a Boo Boo I had. We have a giant Nabisco factory here, well it's Kraft now but that's besides the point. Anyways, the place is crazy, there's pipes and crap everywhere. Running rigid is like trying to put a broken puzzle back together. I know the company that has the work there bids the jobs at 50' of heavy wall per man, a day!  Well, one time stepping down off a ladder, I steped on a valve handle and had boiling hot water shoot right my ass!  Ouch! Stupid fitters, he was upposse to lock it off. :laughing:



My friend is a estimator for a big commercial plumbing company here. He started as a helper and worked his way up. Anyway he was in the basement of a hospital. Saw what he thought was a 2x4 laying in a puddle of water. He stepped on it and fell into a sewer clean out. Went under and came back up covered in crap....:lol:


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## slickvic277

Bulldog1 said:


> My friend is a estimator for a big commercial plumbing company here. He started as a helper and worked his way up. Anyway he was in the basement of a hospital. Saw what he thought was a 2x4 laying in a puddle of water. He stepped on it and fell into a sewer clean out. Went under and came back up covered in crap....:lol:


:laughing:

Holy Crap!


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## Bulldog1

slickvic277 said:


> :laughing:
> 
> Holy Crap!



He had to strip down and wipe himself off. Found a hospital gown to wear out to his truck to drive home and try to get cleaned up...:laughing:

He still tells this story today....:blink:


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## slickvic277

Bulldog1 said:


> He had to strip down and wipe himself off. Found a hospital gown to wear out to his truck to drive home and try to get cleaned up...:laughing:
> 
> He still tells this story today....:blink:


Gross.
I would have puked everywhere. If that really did happen, he should have gotten a few different shot's and maybe eve a trip to the ER. You can catch some nasty stuff. :001_huh:


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## Bulldog1

slickvic277 said:


> Gross.
> I would have puked everywhere. If that really did happen, he should have gotten a few different shot's and maybe eve a trip to the ER. You can catch some nasty stuff. :001_huh:



Oh it happenned for sure. His dad told us about it the day it happened. I never asked what he did to uh sanatize himself. :laughing:


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## cultch

The one I felt the worst about was when I drilled out all the templets for the pole lights wrong. Wasted practically a whole day wasting that sheet of plywood. To make it worse there was a guy who had screwed up the same project a few days previous and he was fired. He was fired cause he didn't man up and admit his mistake. I ran out and bought a new sheet of plywood on my dime and fixed it.

My boss was alright...he said "lifes a bitch Joe. If she were a slut it would be too easy"


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## backstay

I was backing-up a PLC program when a cassette recorder was the tool to use(long ago) when I unhooked the data plug the interface card pulled out a little. The chip forming line(wood products plant) didn't shut down until I pushed it back in! Half the mill went down and we spent the rest of the shift shoveling.


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## pudge565

slickvic277 said:


> Not as bad but here's a Boo Boo I had. We have a giant Nabisco factory here, well it's Kraft now but that's besides the point. Anyways, the place is crazy, there's pipes and crap everywhere. Running rigid is like trying to put a broken puzzle back together. I know the company that has the work there bids the jobs at 50' of heavy wall per man, a day!  Well, one time stepping down off a ladder, I steped on a valve handle and had boiling hot water shoot right my ass!  Ouch! Stupid fitters, he was upposse to lock it off. :laughing:


Nothing like a nice hot enema huh?


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## slickvic277

pudge565 said:


> Nothing like a nice hot enema huh?


Thank god I had overalls and jeans on.  That stuff was HOT!!!!


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## Bulldog1

slickvic277 said:


> My very first day in the business ever, they put me in a lift, I took out a whole wall on a brand new job!  That, and one time I tapped a bunch of EM heads at 120V when they were being fed 277V. Although, it wasn't really my fault, but I took the blame anyway.



My second day on a big commercial job I ran a 40ft lift into the new in the box bay doors laying on the floor. The main supervisor was standing across the building and turned to see what the crunch noise was. :whistling2::laughing:


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## airfieldsparky

My first day on a industrial project coming from nothing but residential. I was working for this new contractor, who I still work for 6 years later. I had to remove this temporary structure used to trap dust as we jackhammered the slab, and blew out part of the wall, to bring a duct bank into a electric vault. I was sucking up the last of the dust with a shop vac, no filter set off smoke alarms. Not 2 minutes later the air force fireman smashed down the wall to the vault. my boss pulled up to see a bunch of firetrucks, assuming the worst he thought I somehow blew up a piece of gear (paranoia because not to long before we lost a man in a horrible accident) not a good first day. Especially since we were working out of state, living in a house with my coworkers. They had ample time to bust my balls over a few beers.


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## sparky970

B W E said:


> About eight years ago I was working at a house owned by Nicolas Cage. We were setting up a 100 amp sub-panel at a pool house / dojo (for his son). My boss was feeding a fish tape from the new sub panel into the main, which was a 600 amp standup unit outside. The conduit was coming up in the very back of the standup, and I had to lay down on my side to be able to see and reach it. When I saw the leader come up I radio'd him to stop. I had to turn my head to be able to reach, but that made it so I couldn't see. I ended up grabbing one of the energized bus bars. The ground I was laying in was pretty damp and it lit me up something nasty, enough to the point where my muscles contracted and I couldn't let go. I was able to turn my body around and use my legs to push myself away from the gear and finally got off of it after about 8 seconds or so. About 20 feet away a painter was up on an extension ladder painting some trim and watched me there screaming, probably thought he was watching me die.
> 
> My right arm was all seized up for about 2 hours and I couldn't move it. That was a bad day.


You are very lucky.


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## Dierte

Where do I begin? One time I had to switch the phases on a 100a 480v mule plug that the airlines use to power their carts for an airplane while its being worked on. Thought I had turned off the correct breaker.:whistling2: So I'm switching the phases bs'ing with the airline foreman. He's telling me that I look so calm working hot. I started to tell him that I had the power off and then KABOOOOOM!. Went phase to phase. Scared the hell out of me. Luckily everything was ok including my underwear. I've an over my underground pipe stubs with a lift before-that sucked


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## sarness

I was tracing some wires along a beam above a partialy decked over suspended ceiling. You could stand mostly upright buy I was bent over looking along the tiles when I stood up. Hit the back of my head on the beam, next thing I know I'm looking up at a hole in the suspended ceiling.

Landed right in front of my boss who was on the phone, got a bad concussion and was in and out a lot. He told me I had to fix the ceiling when I get back to work!


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## Englishsparky

Getting married?!


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## Wireman191

Englishsparky said:


> Getting married?!


 :thumbup::laughing::thumbup:


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## nhanson

When i was at my old job I was testing motors (480V) and the clamp fell off and grounded to the lift table. Melted the end of plug and part of the table.

Always nice when a motor fails and sends sparks flying at ya.


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## Sparky J

B4T said:


> It was (6) conductor twisted pair I think.. but shielding was not yet invented.. :laughing:


The saddest thing about those old nutone intercoms is that pretty much every old one I've seen lately has been nonfunctional. I've even had to remove a few.


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## Sparky J

I would say a few that come to mind were my old supervisor was running wire in a residential unfinished basement. He was drilling joists as he went and came across a slight drop as he went, no problem he drilled through and started feeding... And feeding... And feeding... WTF I should see it by now about that time he herd the female HO aaaaaahhhhhh he had drilled into a step down in the living room and fed probably 100 or so feet into the living room from the basement.

Another guy that I worked for hooked up a 120 volt whole house vac to 240 volts didn't read the instructions... Said it worked really well for a few seconds.

When I was about 2 days in the trade the lead guy said role out some romex to pull a basement in the home we were wiring. So me and another helper who started with me were given the task. Well we had a few rolls of 250' romex we proceeded to roll out around the rec. room. Well he came back a little later not too happy. About 1000 feet of 14/2 rolled out in a 20 x 30 rec. room. oh yeah we also rolled out some 14/3 to add to the mix....


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## McClary’s Electrical

airfieldsparky said:


> My first day on a industrial project coming from nothing but residential. I was working for this new contractor, who I still work for 6 years later. I had to remove this temporary structure used to trap dust as we jackhammered the slab, and blew out part of the wall, to bring a duct bank into a electric vault. I was sucking up the last of the dust with a shop vac, no filter set off smoke alarms. Not 2 minutes later the air force fireman smashed down the wall to the vault. my boss pulled up to see a bunch of firetrucks, assuming the worst he thought I somehow blew up a piece of gear (paranoia because not to long before we lost a man in a horrible accident) not a good first day. Especially since we were working out of state, living in a house with my coworkers. They had ample time to bust my balls over a few beers.


This reminded me of the time working in a national guard building, and I was using a hammerdrill a little too close to their vault. Set off a sequence of pretty nasty alarms and sent a team of them in our direction to see what was up. Once everybody found out it was us and they were not being raided, they calmed down, but the only one person that could cut the alarm off was an hr. Away.


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## Wirenuting

Working in a large aircraft hanger hooking up some new gear for the control tower. Had to retap the buss in the panel. Contacted everyone under the sun for the Ok to shut down. 
After finishing, powered up and the fire alarm goes off. 
One of the hanger bays has the sprinkler system dumping all over everything. 
Looked pretty cool when I looked thru the door. 

Turns out a house mouse had added an air compressor to keep up with the leaks, it was a "dry" system. He never labeled it in the panel. 

Fire chief was hopping mad. Not our fault, I showed him his signature on the check sheet. 

They hung a do not secure sign up.


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## brian john

When I was an apprentice I took an empty paint bucket (I thought) and turned it over for a step stool. OOPS!, there was a skin on the paint and the paint got on the new carpet. I was able to clean it up with lots of water prior to getting caught.

Walked backwards unrolling an extentsion cord into a pool, broke the ice on a 10 degree day.

Hung 10- 8' 4 tube flourscents on jack chain as I hung the last one the whole line came down. I never checked the weight rating on the Chinese chain.


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## Shockdoc

While working at Computer Associates in 1990, they removed the walls to a space that had about 20 2x2 flourescents. My mechanic had me tie them into the 277 volt feed for the 2x4 lights from the surrounding switch leg. They were 120 volt lights. There was a lot of smoke.


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## dronai

Putting the deadfront on a 480V panel after installing a new 100A feeder into a CB. One of the cover screws went into the wire. when I switched on the new cb, it tripped the main to the building. I was calm, because I knew what happened. Owner says that could cost you a lot of money, if the product gets ruined. I ran climbed the fence into the gear area, and reset the main. I shut down at least two train car sized kilns that were in progress baking ceramics.


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## ejmatt

Earlier this week I came close to getting my first boot. Wasn't really my fault, me only being a 1st year apprentice and not being the one who set the equipment up. I did learn a big lesson though, DO NOT just assume someone hasn't done something idiotic, no matter how idiotic it seems even when you are a measly 1st year and they are a fully qualified electrician. Oh yeah, and always earth stuff properly

We had some mine ventilation fans that were overdue for testing by weeks, as we were waiting to get our new genset, so it was a rush job to get them done when it finally arrived. The 500kVA genset finally arrived thursday afternoon, then I coordinated a crane to put a 415 to 1000V transformer (most stuff that we make for underground mining runs on 1000V). After that I told dan (mr dodgy) to take over, as I had to run down and pick up new batteries for the genset and order some diesel, by the time I got back it was past finish time and he had left so I went home as well.

Friday morning I switch out the old batteries with the new ones and cordon the area with danger tape whilst he finishes connecting up the fan and variable frequency drive. We turn the genset on and go to test it - problem - there is only 2 phases, he is confused and asks me to go have a look at the connections (I should have shut the genset off at this point also) so I'm jumping on to the transformer, wrong spanner get off back on undo and take off the cover plate and what do I see? The blue phase isn't even connected, its just sitting there live inside the LV end of the transformer, the whole transformer was live, but because the genset and transformer weren't properly grounded and sitting up on wooden blocks, they were insulated, so I was jumping on off on off something energised with only my boots protecting me, my rageddy ass steeltoe-cap-showing through, nearly has holes in the soles boots.

Not sure what will happen now, but he got his head ripped off by the boss and all the other sparkies, even the ones I've never seen get mad and I heard them talking about firing him after this. Could have been worse I suppose, end of the day no one got hurt and I learnt a good lesson


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## administr8tor

ejmatt said:


> Earlier this week I came close to getting my first boot. Wasn't really my fault, me only being a 1st year apprentice and not being the one who set the equipment up. I did learn a big lesson though, DO NOT just assume someone hasn't done something idiotic, no matter how idiotic it seems even when you are a measly 1st year and they are a fully qualified electrician. Oh yeah, and always earth stuff properly
> 
> We had some mine ventilation fans that were overdue for testing by weeks, as we were waiting to get our new genset, so it was a rush job to get them done when it finally arrived. The 500kVA genset finally arrived thursday afternoon, then I coordinated a crane to put a 415 to 1000V transformer (most stuff that we make for underground mining runs on 1000V). After that I told dan (mr dodgy) to take over, as I had to run down and pick up new batteries for the genset and order some diesel, by the time I got back it was past finish time and he had left so I went home as well.
> 
> Friday morning I switch out the old batteries with the new ones and cordon the area with danger tape whilst he finishes connecting up the fan and variable frequency drive. We turn the genset on and go to test it - problem - there is only 2 phases, he is confused and asks me to go have a look at the connections (I should have shut the genset off at this point also) so I'm jumping on to the transformer, wrong spanner get off back on undo and take off the cover plate and what do I see? The blue phase isn't even connected, its just sitting there live inside the LV end of the transformer, the whole transformer was live, but because the genset and transformer weren't properly grounded and sitting up on wooden blocks, they were insulated, so I was jumping on off on off something energised with only my boots protecting me, my rageddy ass steeltoe-cap-showing through, nearly has holes in the soles boots.
> 
> Not sure what will happen now, but he got his head ripped off by the boss and all the other sparkies, even the ones I've never seen get mad and I heard them talking about firing him after this. Could have been worse I suppose, end of the day no one got hurt and I learnt a good lesson


Lesson learned buy new boots:thumbup:


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## troublemaker1701

Wireman191 said:


> Earlier this spring we were changing high bay lights for the energy efficient fluorescents and I made a big mistake. I was in a 85' snorkel lift and the foremen was really riding us to get the job finished. I moved the basket into a real tricky spot started taking down the old light and felt the whole basket start pushing up, Right above me was a main I beam, below me was a hydraulic machine that would lower into the water and when the apples filled the bin it would come up. I was pinned between the two I got in a hurry and didn't look at the equipment to see what it would do before I came up with my plan. It ended up breaking a motor on top of the piece of equipment and bending the bars on the lift.
> What are some of your guys OOOHHH crap moments?


Sounds like you were lucky you were not crushed. I am surprised you were allowed to work above moving equipment.


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## chicken steve

naively avoiding the redish spots in a burning church to find out _(after the smoke cleared)_ that it was the cellar on fire which i was viewing.....

~CS~


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## user4818

chicken steve said:


> naively avoiding the redish spots in a burning church to find out _(after the smoke cleared)_ that it was the cellar on fire which i was viewing.....
> 
> ~CS~



Huh? :blink:


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## Big John

chicken steve said:


> naively avoiding the redish spots in a burning church to find out _(after the smoke cleared)_ that it was the cellar on fire which i was viewing....


 What?! :blink:

Naively avoiding the burning parts in a church only to discover the church was on fire?

-What?! :blink:


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## BBQ

I was inspecting a roller coaster before the park opened, each car was just a four passenger and you would inspect each one before sending it around. I sent one out of the area we inspect them in and off toward the lift chain. The car did not make it to the lift chain the early morning air was really cool making the cars roll slow so it did not roll down the slight hill into the chain.

I get up on the track with was a lot like walking on a ladder laying down, round rungs about 18" apart. I walk up behind the car and push it into the chain. I did not expect it to take off so fast and all of a sudden the car was gone and I fell forward onto the track, my arms missed the rungs so I crashed down on my chest but at the same time my left arm, starting at the wrist and all the way to the elbow came down on the side of the moving chain and sprocket. All I ended up with was a few cuts but it was only luck that my hand did not get caught up and if I was lucky I would have just lost an arm more likely I would have been hamburger. I was shaking for a bit after that.

If anyone is interested here is the coaster, in the first few seconds you can see where I fell.


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## Bkessler

It would have been pretty ironic if BBQ was turned into hamburger. Glad you you got lucky.


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## Shockdoc

Wasn't thinking clearly one morning so i placed the ladder on the side of the house while doing a riser relocation for a dormer. I tried to stretch the #2 copper triplex drop from the backyard pole to make it to the new POA eyebolt. The second I got the 6" i neede it sprang back and took the ladder and myself down. Cut my back open on old supports attached to the building and landed on a 4x4 post. Drove to the hospital to get xrayed and bandaged up like Wile E coyote. Was back up on the ladder when the POCO arrived over the live wire on the lawn. Already had it tied in. POCO guy took one look at me and said go over to my truck and take anything you'd like. I ever since practice ladder safety.


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## Bulldog1

I picked up a piece of MC cable to test it for voltage. As soon as I grabbed it it grabbed me. Customers wife was standing there. She freaked out. It took me 10 seconds to figure out to step on the cable to get it out of my hand but it felt like a lot longer.


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## LARMGUY

Drove a 2 inch screw through a $5,000 1 1/2 teakwood desk. :icon_redface: :wallbash:

Drilled through a water pipe ABOVE a second floor window. :furious: In a residential install. 

Backed into an unprotected emergency shutdown switch for a manufacturing plant's computer system. I was installing cameras in the room. Luckily, they weren't live yet. :whistling2:


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## Big John

LARMGUY said:


> ...Backed into an unprotected emergency shutdown switch for a manufacturing plant's computer system....


 That brings back memories, ducking under a beam in a mechanical room, I put my hand out to steady myself and landed right on the e-stop for a big process air compressor.

-John


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## ilikepez

not electrical related but I shoved a wet pole into a 1000c aluminum pot and got sprayed in the face with hot metal. Thankfully I had all my PPE on and my face mask down. Still scary.


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## FireInTheWire

I've pulled a few, me being a noob...
The best was when I was driving a scissor lift through an open door. It was a really right spot and I somehow got it caught on the door frame and stopped it right before it ripped off. I went and asked my boss to help me steer it through the tight spot and he was the one who ended up ripping off the door frame, even though it was totally my fault for getting it there in the first place!

...Mike, if your out there... sorry!!!


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## leland

getting married.  But I'm better now.
Well off ,only $4000.(Best money ever spent) less in the account,got a sweet great girl now with no aspirations to get married.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


Life is GOOD!!!!


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## bill39

Two come to mind, one by me the second by others:

Me
Back in the 70's I was a helper and working in the computer room at a bank putting the cover back on on live panel. The cover slipped, turning off a CB which shut down the computer. Back then the computers REALLY did not like to be shut down that way. The computer boss was very good about it and just said they have to expect things like that. WOW, what a great guy!!

Others
While working on a powerhouse the fitters were filling up some big tanks with water to do some testing. They failed to notice that at the bottom of the tanks was a flange that only had a rubber stopper/plug in it instead of the proper cover. The water pressure caused the plugs to pop out and flooded the basement. Motors, switchgear, etc. was flooded......BIG MESS.


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## McClary’s Electrical

bill39 said:


> Two come to mind, one by me the second by others:
> 
> Me
> Back in the 70's I was a helper and working in the computer room at a bank putting the cover back on on live panel. The cover slipped, turning off a CB which shut down the computer. Back then the computers REALLY did not like to be shut down that way. The computer boss was very good about it and just said they have to expect things like that. WOW, what a great guy!!.


40 years of electrical work and the best you got is accidentally turning off a breaker?


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## bill39

mcclary's electrical said:


> 40 years of electrical work and the best you got is accidentally turning off a breaker?


No, just what I'm willing to semi-publicly admit to!!!


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## McClary’s Electrical

bill39 said:


> No, just what I'm willing to semi-publicly admit to!!!


Hah!!, I was envious for a minute.


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## crazymurph

FireInTheWire said:


> I've pulled a few, me being a noob...
> The best was when I was driving a scissor lift through an open door. It was a really right spot and I somehow got it caught on the door frame and stopped it right before it ripped off. I went and asked my boss to help me steer it through the tight spot and he was the one who ended up ripping off the door frame, even though it was totally my fault for getting it there in the first place!
> 
> ...Mike, if your out there... sorry!!!


 That story reminds of when I was an apprentice. A scissors lift was dropped off at the job and my JW told me to drive it into the building. It was an indoor parking ramp into the building and the lift was one of those older Pac Craft 3 wheel models with the manual steering. I got on the lift and when I got on the ramp the lift took off, out of control. At the bottom of the ramp was scaffolding set up with masons working. The masons saw what was coming and started off the scaffold. At the last few seconds out of desperation I steered the lift into the wall to stop it, before the crash. I felt like such an idiot, but at least no one was hurt.


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## Big John

Talking to one of the mechanics today and he was telling me about his time working in a plant where they made applesauce: Apparently one of the maintenance guys forgot to open a discharge valve on a positive-displacement pump coming from a storage tank.

There was a rupture disk built into the pipe to save the pump from being destroyed, and from the time the disk burst until the flow of applesauce stopped, he estimated it dumped about 50,000 gallons of applesauce into the plant.

He said they were cleaning it out with skid-steers and front-end loaders. To give you an idea, this is a 50,000 gallon tank:









-John


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## JRaef

I had to make adjustments to some mag trips on 480V 500A breakers in a motor control panel at an outdoor facility that sprayed sewage sludge onto forest trees for Weyerhauser (not germane to the story other than to say it was a NASTY place to work). To get at the adjustment knobs, I had to lie on my back on an expanded metal grate, then stick a long flat blade scewdriver up underneath the load lug terminals. I had done a LO/TO from the distribution board and checked the 480V line terminals of the breaker in the panel, so I felt I was safe. To steady the screwdriver shaft as I snaked it around the cables, I put my thumb on the metal part. On the last one, the screwdriver slipped off and made contact with a load lug. I got zapped, HARD. Turns out that someone had connected a foreign 120V circuit into the 120V circuit inside this panel, which had it's own CPT, so the foreign 120V energized the 480V through the CPT windings and I made contact with it. I was frozen like that for what seemed like an eternity but was only a few seconds until my partner noticed I wasn't moving and kicked my arm off. I had the pattern of the expanded metal grate burned into my back everywhere it poked through my shirt. The shock had to have crossed my heart so I was taken to the hospital and checked out. I was fine, but very lucky. The paperwork was horrendous though, I was answering questions and giving depositions for months after that.

So word to the wise, just because you THINK you know everything about a system doesn't mean some other goober didn't set you up for a fall. All of the field connections in that system were dry contacts fed from this panel, but someone after me decided they could tap in their own system and ended up giving a backfeed into this panel. He lost his job by the way, it wasn't his first offense.


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## fanelle

a buddy of mine was working for a res. electrical contractor and was the outside man on a service. He connected everything up and got the ok to plug in the meter. He didn`t line it up right and somehow hit a phase blade on the meter casing and blew up a xfrmr on the pole.


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## chicken steve

I drove a straight blade scewdriver into the palm of my hand

because i was paying more attention to a woman walking away from me

poetic justice?

~CS~


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## mattsilkwood

One of the first few jobs I ever had was installing garage doors. I was working on this building installing the weatherstriping on the outside of some 16' tall doors. 
What I would do is lean an extention ladder up against the top of the door. 
So I got a door done and I walked inside, pulled the latch, the door started to go up and I turned and walked away.

About the time the end of the ladder bashed me in the head is when I realized I forgot to take the ladder down before I went inside.


That SOB hit me so hard it dropped me to my knees, but the first thing I did was jump up and look around to see if anyone saw that, which of course there were about 5 guys with a holy chit look on their face.

I caught hell over that one for quite awhile.


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## TOOL_5150

I am just starting on a huge project in SF, so I hope I dont jinx it, but the worst thing I have done at my current company wasnt even electrical related - I got in an accident on the bay bridge.

It was about 9pm, just finished working in SF, was following a girl in a little car, someone getting on the onramp was going the exact speed as the chick. They both didnt know how to merge, and came to a stop [this is a freeway, not a regular road] and my heavy ass van didnt stop in time, so I smashed into her and ruined her car. I cost the company a couple thousand, and still feel bad about it. Only redeeming quality is that I bid the job we were on really high, so in my mind, I made up for it.


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## captkirk

I was straddling a 4 foot ladder in a kitchen once and I was trying to hurry up and get out before they got home and in my haste getting off the ladder I put the heel of my foot right into their 20 inch flat screen in an almost half round house..It was when they still cost a lot.


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## troublemaker1701

I was working in control room in main switch yard at aluminum plant installing control relays. I accidentally push in an open existing relay. Alarms went off and 3/4 of plant went down:blink:


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## electricalperson

during the summer i was in a rush to cut in a live panel on a service change. i cut the bare wire and the piece i cut off landed on a bus bar while i was still holding it, i got hit a little hard and it landed on the side of the panel and arced a bit. did not trip anything and shook me up for a few minutes but i finished the job and went home :thumbup:

when i was an apprentice i screwed a tek screw i had to use as a panel cover screw through the 4/0 service conductor. it sparked like hell but did not trip any cutouts


----------



## Island Electric

I was about 4 months into this trade working in local 3 with a sign shop back in 1984. We were in Bloomingdales in NYC and my JW told me to go to the truck and get the 12 ft wooden ladder. The bad thing is the ladder was 3 NYC blocks away. I finall get the ladder into the front door of Bloomingdales. I'm super tired at his point. I need to get to the 2nd fl. and decide to take the escalator with the 12 ft. Wood ladder.

I get on and set the ladder straight up on the step going up and all of the sudden the top of the ladder catches the header of the ceiling perfectly where the ladder is jammed between the step and ceiling. You can hear the wood starting to crackle from the pressure and people running up and down the escalator. Out of know where the escalator stops. Someone hit the red safety switch. The metal escalator stair was bent and the ladder was cracked in half. I didn't get fired.


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## electricalperson

i also snapped the screw off the terminal on a CT for a capacitor bank. luckily enough it had enough threads to make it work


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## Cletis

*me*

This was bad. I once pushed a receptacle back in box and the ground and neutral touched kicking off the afci. No one was home thank god!


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## FireInTheWire

Island Electric said:


> I was about 4 months into this trade working in local 3 with a sign shop back in 1984. We were in Bloomingdales in NYC and my JW told me to go to the truck and get the 12 ft wooden ladder. The bad thing is the ladder was 3 NYC blocks away. I finall get the ladder into the front door of Bloomingdales. I'm super tired at his point. I need to get to the 2nd fl. and decide to take the escalator with the 12 ft. Wood ladder.
> 
> I get on and set the ladder straight up on the step going up and all of the sudden the top of the ladder catches the header of the ceiling perfectly where the ladder is jammed between the step and ceiling. You can hear the wood starting to crackle from the pressure and people running up and down the escalator. Out of know where the escalator stops. Someone hit the red safety switch. The metal escalator stair was bent and the ladder was cracked in half. I didn't get fired.


Wow. That must have SUCKED!


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## SteMo

I just ordered a 400 amp MDP from a distributor. We hurried along and got the can mounted and position perfectly on my stub ups. It looks great. I came home and started assembling the guts, turns out the panel is a 225 amp max and now we get to wait for the right one and remount the can.


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## rnichols

I had a floor drill to do so I could install conduit from the first floor to the basement. We had the floor xray'd, and I was given a clean area to drill.. 

I hit a feeder pipe off the main boiler of the nursing home and it threw me back into the liens in the closet i was working in, and flooded the cafe , the laundry, and half the basement. the water also started running out from under the door and the nurses came a running. I spent the next three days in the hospital, with one of my eyes tape'd shut and a couple fractured ribs..


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## nrp3

Finishing the last three feet or so to the pole and going up. I cleared away the last of the dirt near the pole and said to myself, thats the bottom of the pole. I hear my buddy say watch out. Sure enough as I was trying to scramble out of the hole it fell right down my back. Had the utility back the next day so they could reset it and sit there and hold it while I finished.


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## 3xdad

Great thread!

Random small mistake.. Dropped a six foot strut a distance of 4' onto my old bosses head. He straightened his cap, but was rather cranky the rest of the day.


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## AAE805

*A big boo boo*

I was in the attic pulling in a 50 amp circuit in a brand new tract home from the front of the house to the back yard. They had blown in insulation. Apparently the plumbers used Pex throughout and nothing was strapped properly. Everything was hidden by the insulation and I was careful about walking on the trusses. Obviously not to careful because I had stepped on one of the pex lines and it was being pushed up against a metal truss bracket which caused 4 little pin holes to start leaking. I did know that this had happend, finished the job and went home. Show up the next day to hook up the spa and the kitchen was flooded, the ceiling and down the walls in the dining room were soaked. $15,000 later, new drywall, paint, insulation again, kitchen cabinets, carpet, linolium and not to mention the total embarrassment. Worst day of my life.


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## LightsOn81

Boss told me and my buddy to demo a run of conduit & wire. Iasked the boss if it was off and took his word for it. I told my buddy it was off and he cut it. Well POW! Never again


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## SparkyinMontan

Mine was real simple. I moved here from Tx, and was cutting in for a fart fan. I remember thinking you know, this is Montana, perhaps they don't use fiberglass batts for the insulation, I finished that thought as I did the last cut with the drywall saw, a 6x6" piece of drywall came down with about half the house worth of insulation. Damn loose fill. To top it off, my boss stepped around the corner just as I made that last cut, and he got to see me completely covered by insulation. Of course, he just laughed his ass off and got me the shop vac.

~A


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## LightsOn81

I got a good one. A crew of 5 of us rolled up to Raleigh (2 hours) with our general superintendent (read: top dog) and we were cutting in a bunch or can lights for brownie points with a GC. So I'm in the attic and we are killing it. Peeled the plywood up ran the romex put it back tested everything and it's all good. I check and make sure I got all my tools and my 10-n-1 is missing. So I go up and start hunting and walk over to where I worked the furthest and I step from the plywood to the first exposed joist and I slip foot thru the ceiling and the only reason I ain't fall thru cuz my arms caught the joists. I just knew when I opened my eyes I'd be in bed about to get ready for work. I pull myself up and look at the damage I caused and there's the boss smacking on some gum, "so what you doin Slickrock?" it was a long ride home


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## ce2two

First 6 months in the trade, i was told to start drilling the studs in an old victorian home,i drilled thru a HUTCH, my boss let me slide, :laughing:since i was an ass busting helper..I thought he was going to fire me I dodged a big bullet..


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## manchestersparky

When I was a 3rd year an apprentice we were doing a service call at a florist shop. I shut off the refrigerated case that had about 100 Dozen long stemmed red roses in it. I failed to turn it back on. Luckily the florist noticed the thermometer was showing warmer than it should be. Oh yeah, it was the day before Valentines day !
Was on another service call at a book publishers . Saw these little keypads at all the exterior doors. Not sure why but I started pushing some buttons. Didn't take long for the police to show up. They were part of the security system. The guards had to enter a code at each door at regular intervals. Enter the incorrect code a few times and it sends an alarm.
I was running some wiremold up a wall and into an attic. Grabbed the 1/2 drill put on of those 18" long greenlee nail eater bits in it and proceeded to drill a hole in the ceiling. pulled the bit out and saw daylight. Drilled through the roof. Forgot I was at the exterior wall.
Those little black screws they use to screws metal studs together, I ran on into my thumb. I saw the pointy end touching the underside of my thumb nail. That hurt like a B*tch and even worse when I used a screw driver to unscrew it out of my thumb


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## Acadian9

I was opening the boxes of corridor light fixtures to spread them out so people could quickly install them. The fixture included the base and a white curved cover. The boxes opened length wise and to open them I used a utility knife. I'm pretty sure the covers came with a blank white finish. :whistling2:


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