The Ten Commandments of Working With Householde Power

[Keinokuorma]

The Ten Commandments of Working With Householde Power

1) Thou shalt not worke with thy house wyres unless thou knoweth what thou art to do.

2) Thou shalt understande, that unless thou art a trained and licensed professionall elecktrician, thy work with the wyres can void thy fyre insurance.

3) Shalt thou not be sure what thou art to do, or, shalt thou at a pointe feel that thou knoweth not how to proceede, thou shalt call for the helpe of a professionall elecktrician.

4) Thou shalt turne off the breaker or remove the fuse before thou worketh on the wyres. Shalt thou not be sure which breaker or fuse affects said wyres, thou shalt turne off the main switche, and worke with a flash-lighte or candell, if no other lighte is availabel. Thou shalt checke and double checke that there is no power to the wyres thou art to worke with.

5) Unless thou knoweth for sure what thou art to do, thou shalt not tamper with the power meter or the contents  of the fuse/breaker boxe. In moste installations, the meter hath Lethall Power even if thou turneth the main switche off.

6) Thou shalt not cutte the insulators when thou strippeth the outer jackett of a cabell, and thou shalt not cutte the inner wyre when thou strippeth the insulator. Thou shalt avoide using wyre nutts on stranded wyre, for that will surely cutte some strands.

7) Thou shalt not rely on elecktricall tape as finall and permanent insulation, for it could shifte and leave the bare wyre exposed. Thou shalt not truste said tape to insulate thy Screw-Driver or other metallic toole safely.

8) Thou shalt not confuse Grounde and Neutrall wyres. If thou only hath a Neutrall wyre, thou may use that for Grounde, but not the other way.

9) Thou shalt take extreme care if thou needeth to joine olde and newe wyre colors. A smallest mis-matche could leade to severe trouble.

10) Thou shalt checke and double checke thy work before thou re-seateth the fuse or turneth the main switche or breaker on.

If thou faileth to heede these warnings, thou standeth the great riske of feeling the Wrathe of The Power in its full effect with the moste un-desirabell resulte.

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Additionall Notes to Severall Commandments

4: Thou may make an exception if thou needeth to verify the funcktionality of the circuite, or verify which fuse or breaker affecteth it. Taking great care, and with suitabell and reliabell measuring devices, thou may verify if the circuite is powered or not. Thou shalt not rely upon the Glow-Sticke or Contackt Voltage Indicator but for reference only. Thou shalt acquire a Digitall or Analogue Multi-Meter which giveth thou true readings, and thou shalt learne to operate thy Multi-Meter before thou worketh on thy house wyres. Any shoppe with good stocke of elecktricall stuffe will be happy to sell one.

Basick Measurements Guide: http://applianceguru.com/forum9/3354.html

5: In moste cases, thou shalt leave any alterations to the breaker boxe to the professionall elecktrician.

Overall: Thou shalt leave any extensive alterations to any circuite to a professionall elecktrician. In any case, thou shalt make a neate, comprehendibel jobbe that shalt not confuse those who worke on it at later tymes.

[RegUS_PatOff]

Always keep one hand in your pocket when working with electricity

(I always keep one hand in my pocket)

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

A most worthy and excellent Scripture of Appliantology, Sublime Master Keino! I'm going to peg this topic so it stays up top in this forum for the edification and illumination of all seeking Appliantological wisdom. Domo!

[grey shrek]

All these years I thought a quarter was two BITS. :oops:

[Keinokuorma]

[user=32234]grey shrek[/user] wrote:

All these years I thought a quarter was two BITS. :oops:

RTFOFLMAO

[Keinokuorma]

[user=3641]RegUS_PatOff[/user] wrote:

Always keep one hand in your pocket when working with electricity

(I always keep one hand in my pocket)

The best way to prevent mishaps is to keep BOTH hands always pocketed.

[Electrician Dude]

In regards to #6 avoid using wire nuts period (IMO). Unfortunately this would just not be practical. The reality of it is as long as they are listed for that purpose (and they are) they are accepted for solid and/or stranded wire. The important thing is to install them correctly. In the industrial world I have used them for A long time on stranded wire with very few failures. I have had other peoples wire nuts come off while my hand was in the junction box and guess what YEP OUCH stings a little, doesn't it.

[Keinokuorma]

I must confess that I use wire nuts too, but only on solid wires up to 2,5 SQmm. Well, although 4 and 6 SQmm are somewhat stranded, they consist of 5 to 7 thick strands which are hardly ever cut by the nut, the nut isn't very safe with those sizes. Screw connectors are recommended for them (perhaps mandatory now, haven't checked recently).

For 10 and 16A circuits we use 1,5 and 2,5 SQmm respectively, and stranded wires of those sizes will not cope well with the nuts. There are conversion connectors available here for transition from solid to stranded, but I use a screw connector in most cases, it costs less, and I feel it's safer.

One thing the nuts aren't good for, is a connection that you have to undo and redo more than once. It twirls the wires together, so if you  need to take the connection apart and add or remove a wire, you will have to snip and strip, or try and un-twirl by some means. If you remove a wire, you will have to put a new nut because the old one won't hold.

My favorites for 1,5 SQmm are the push-in connectors, they will allow to add or remove wires without undoing the whole connection. For 2,5 SQmm the nut is somewhat safer, but perhaps the most secure is the screw connector... you'll have to open it to add or remove wires, but most push-in connectors will not cope well with 2,5 SQmm.

Between the lines you can read that I don't really like the wire nuts.

[Bob Scott]

Oooh. I can think of a couple more commandments for DIYers.

11) Own and be familiar with RECENT COPY of the national/local electrical codes. The rules change periodically.*

12)Do not get tempted to tin the end of stranded wires. The solder oxidizes with age and fires have started**. Use crimped on ferrules over stranded wire.

*The amateur who wired my finished basement cut off ground wires, ran wires throught the main breaker box, wired two ranges to one breaker, etc.

**I learned this at an Ampex training session. Two $500,000 broadcast Video cart machines burned up because the assembly tech decided to "make the power wire ends neat".

[neurodoc]

Keinokourma,

Quoteth thou from the Scripture regarding the Commandments handed down to the Elekrotrolytes? What sayeth yee of the Admonitions of the Preacher Elekroviticus?

To whit:

--Mingle not the waters of the Earth and and the Heavenly Fyres of Elecktrik, for it is an Abomination in the sight of the Lord, and you will surely be damned, suffer Elektrokution, or at least experience a major Kontraption Failure.

--Touch not Elektrik Fyre with thy bare body parts, for it is Holy and thou art Impure Biologic Stuff, made mostly of water, which will conduct the Elektric Fyre to the Impure Earth when thou standeth upon it, especially in a Puddle of Water. Thy Heart will be Smitten and thou will surely dye. If thou must touch the Holy Fyre, thou must use Proper Instruments and Teknike, or thou will surely Dye.

--Mingle not directly the Neutral and the Hot Wyres, for this is a Short  Cirkut, and is an Abomination. It will Blow thy Fuses, Destroy thy Kontraptions, and burn down thy House, and thou will gain an Ignominious Reputation in the sight of the Lord and thy Neighbors, For Ever and Ever.

--Remember thou that the Neutral Wyre and the Grounding Wyre are different in the Sight of the Lord, especially in the matter of Maine and Subpanel Wyres. All know this not, for it is a Sekret Truth revealed to those who walk in the Enlightened Path of the Samurai.  

 

 

 

 

[GErepairman]

Thanks a lot for the 10 commandments. I am very new in this forum and I am so happy that I am now here.

[Thomas McHale]

On 7/21/2009 at 9:02 PM, neurodoc said:

Keinokourma,

Quoteth thou from the Scripture regarding the Commandments handed down to the Elekrotrolytes? What sayeth yee of the Admonitions of the Preacher Elekroviticus?

To whit:

--Mingle not the waters of the Earth and and the Heavenly Fyres of Elecktrik, for it is an Abomination in the sight of the Lord, and you will surely be damned, suffer Elektrokution, or at least experience a major Kontraption Failure.

--Touch not Elektrik Fyre with thy bare body parts, for it is Holy and thou art Impure Biologic Stuff, made mostly of water, which will conduct the Elektric Fyre to the Impure Earth when thou standeth upon it, especially in a Puddle of Water. Thy Heart will be Smitten and thou will surely dye. If thou must touch the Holy Fyre, thou must use Proper Instruments and Teknike, or thou will surely Dye.

--Mingle not directly the Neutral and the Hot Wyres, for this is a Short  Cirkut, and is an Abomination. It will Blow thy Fuses, Destroy thy Kontraptions, and burn down thy House, and thou will gain an Ignominious Reputation in the sight of the Lord and thy Neighbors, For Ever and Ever.

--Remember thou that the Neutral Wyre and the Grounding Wyre are different in the Sight of the Lord, especially in the matter of Maine and Subpanel Wyres. All know this not, for it is a Sekret Truth revealed to those who walk in the Enlightened Path of the Samurai.  

 

 

 

 

...And they all said AMEN!

 

[Thermotrain]

Did he get these commandments from a burning bush?

[RegUS_PatOff]

No, but they ARE written in STONE !

[JeffN99]

Kudos to RegUS_PatOff for the suggestion to keep one hand in your pocket.  You should also be wearing decent shoes or boots with soles that will provide some insulation.

Here is why: when you accidentally touch a live wire, electricity enters your body through your arm and then seeks the past of least resistance to ground.  If you spend any time doing electrical work, it really is a question of when, not if, you accidentally touch a live wire.

If your other hand is in your pocket, most of the power will probably go down the side of your body and out of the foot on the same side.  If you are standing with bare feet on wet concrete, this will be quite a jolt.  Decent shoes will reduce the amperage by quite a bit.  In either case, though, you have a good chance that the current will avoid your vital organs an you'll be ok.

BUT, if your other hand happens to be resting on something grounded (the frame of a plugged-in appliance, a copper water pipe, etc), the current will flow directly across your chest and out your other arm.  This will have a good chance of immediately sending your heart into "vfib"---you'll have a heart attack.  Unless someone is nearby who can start cpr, or happens to have a portable defibrillator, you may be dead within a few minutes.