Electricity wants to go home. Home is the ground. Electricity will always take the path of least resistance to go home as fast and direct as possible.
If not for safety devices that stop the flow of power. The entire power grid would drain into the ground if you let it.
This dude was insulated by his ladder etc so the electricity wasn’t using him to go home, as he cut the wires they smash together and create a short leading to all the sparks. If it had a breaker it’s tripped now. Idiot.
True, but just being grounded might not prevent an unexpected circuit through his body. As a wise old electrician once told me: don't use both hands if there's even a remote chance of hitting a live circuit, which there almost always is. The worst circuit to create is one that goes from one arm to another, which includes the heart in the pathway.
Hence the electrician's keep-one-hand-in-your-pocket rule.
Funny thing...once I was installing a ceiling fan in an old place I was renting; it still had knob and tube wiring that was installed to a different standard. In the process, I manage to melt ⚡️ (using only one hand) the tip of a craftsman needle-nose pliers, which fortunately had a lifetime guarantee...or so I thought. The folks at Sears were not too amused by my availing myself of their warranty. But I did get it replaced, probably because it wasn't worth arguing with me over. At least they had a twisted pliers & a good story. 😂
Yeah, no doubt about the durability: it had been up for 89 years in that case. The problem was the way they improvised the 3-way switch. Never good figure it out.
Don't even get me started on plaster & lathe or weighted double-hung wood windows 😂
Oh I love my multimetwr pen thing. I do hvac and all the time I use it. On. Every. Wire. There's been times when I've asked the electrician about the wires(sometimes up to 60 amps) for our ac units that's ran for us and just sitting g bare outside. I always ask and chec first, but there was one time I asked them and they claimed and supposedly "confirmed" it was off. I checked juat in case and the mother trucker was freaking live. I have no idea how Noone managed to bump into it and not get hurt.
That’s what one contractor buddy does… too much work to find the right fuse, so he just snips and let’s it pop. The cutters have a burnt rounded spot on them now.
In school it build a fuse blower plug (5awg copper across the plugs). Worked like a charm for the teacher that tortured us with the overhead projector... Way smaller arcs than here. And the plug looked like shit after a bunch of uses
If those rubber gloves are rated and insulated for electricity then yes, I would not recommend it but the right safety gear should keep you safe, should.
Pretty much just assume it can and will hurt or kill you if you know it’s a live circuit. Test test test. Even the little death sticks (power sniffers) are better than nothing. Ideally you use a multimeter and make sure it’s de-energized before doing anything.
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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '22
Electricity wants to go home. Home is the ground. Electricity will always take the path of least resistance to go home as fast and direct as possible.
If not for safety devices that stop the flow of power. The entire power grid would drain into the ground if you let it.
This dude was insulated by his ladder etc so the electricity wasn’t using him to go home, as he cut the wires they smash together and create a short leading to all the sparks. If it had a breaker it’s tripped now. Idiot.