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I once broke my ribs and got a belt from my wife in the said ribs......does that count
 
During the war ...................... no start again.

Back in the winter of discontent ( Sorry Mr Shakespeare/Bacon) and the 3 day week, we had the task of installing a standy Gen set. Well we had done all the donkey work and we were doing last connections back from the ATS to the main Bus.

It was decided to save time on isolating everything and then go round resetting and checking everything, it would be done live ........after all we are talking pub time here.

I was a 2 yr apprentice by then and the guy that was going to do the "live" connection went off to get some lugs and crimpers and I was tasked to keeping out of the road. Well I decided to speed things along a little and prepare the way. There were 2 holes predrilled in the Red White phase bus and I decided I would fit the 5/8 bolts and nuts into the holes for him, so he could then just slide the lugs on an tighten with the nut,U washer and spring

All was going swimmingly, mat down and mat across the red phase and done the red. Started on the White phase and as i put my hand through between the bars the spanner I was holding, yes typical apprentice, bridge the phases.

Next thing I knew was darkness, and someone shaking me, as I laid against the wall a good 6-8 foot from the bus ..... my left arm was numb, my head was cut open and my heart was doing all sorts, I looked into a torch of the sparks and after a vitriol of abuse................it ended with and that's a new spanner you owe me.

Still today I don't exactly know what was on that bus, and I still get pins and needles in my left arm if I do too much impact work as I obviously damaged something ......I'm just glad I can still write this, not because of the belt, but I survived the sparks.
 
im lucky that i have only ever recieved minor belts at the start of my career.
Ive nearly had an accident on a large panel (1MVA), where i opened a section to find that the sheilding had been removed from the busbars. I was tesing Ze & phase rotation. The bloke i was working with came in from outside and dropped his hardhat onto a table, making me jump, as i was placing a croc clip onto a bolt on the bsubar. I gave him a -------ing (hes twice my size), and now if im doing testing of any sort, he is now as quiet as a mouse, as he knows how dangerous it is.
 
Dont know about the worst but the daftest one....when i worked in a small electrical engineers, we used to build one off panels of various sorts and one day i was just checking through one that had been completed, we used to make sure all contacters/relays worked as should do. i could not find the probe for the multmeter so just stuck a lead with a crocodile clip on a screwdriver and used that to check voltages in varios points. (I know, i did say it was the daftest!!)
Going fine until after looking at the drawing checking something out, picked the screwdriver up and with one finger touching the bare blade of it stuck it straight into a live terminal. Hell of a crack cos other hand was resting on metal caseing.
Didn't dare own up to it to other lads. what made it worse was i did it again two minutes later ! :)
 
550V dc from one of my amps, the bleeding resistor was open circuit so capacitor didn't discharge. Fell of my chair, I did. From that day on I enjoyed 240V ac :icon11:
 
In two minds with this one got a cracker of a belt from a faceplate starter (showing my age i know) but also had a beaut from a set of slip rings....which was entirely down to my own stupidity!
 
In two minds with this one got a cracker of a belt from a faceplate starter (showing my age i know) but also had a beaut from a set of slip rings....which was entirely down to my own stupidity!

I remember being shown faceplate starters when i was training! never seen one since though!
 
I've only had one electric shock when I was a 10 year old kid, I picked up a separated coupler to re-couple it, unfortunately for me TV installer who had wired it up had put the plug on the supply side and I got zapped when I grabbed hold of it.
 
Once picked up a commercial microwave that was faulty so i could get to the plug, and got a real zap, the most awake ive been in years, i never had to pay for my m and s staff breakfast again though
 
I have had a 500v DC belt a few months ago - launched me 6 foot away - had to sit down for a few mins after that one.
This was done because I was an idiot and did not isolate the machine as I could not be bothered to wait the 5 minutes for a UV lamp to cool down before isolating the machinery.
I accidentally touched the wrong bit I find that the more careful I am the more mistakes I make!
 
ive had a 5000v belt,hardly felt it...it was one of those horse electric fence things tho,gives a strange belt,like you have to touch it again for fun...
:24:
 
I worked in a very old animal feed mill, just after finishing my apprenticeship, which was a mass of conduit cables in galv trunking all over the place. Needed to trace a supply one day, so after locating the correct 3 phase cables I decided that it would be a good idea to run my hand along them to see where they left the trunking. What I didn't realise until after the event, was that mice had been living in there and had removed the insulation from a section of cables (and yes, I found a few little skellies in there when replacing the cable later). 415v across the hand was not pleasant.
That's what really scares me about these short training courses...even after 4 years I was still making stupid mistakes, yet these guys only have a few weeks in a classroom before doing it "for real".
 
Dash pots were the standard on most starter arrangements for donkey's years....

Indeed they were...spent what seemed like a lifetime stripping every nut and bolt from then as an apprentice, before re assembling then....oh happy days and quality training i had...lol
 
That's what really scares me about these short training courses...even after 4 years I was still making stupid mistakes, yet these guys only have a few weeks in a classroom before doing it "for real".

Just 17 days now, so you can be ''really really scared'' now!!! lol!!
 
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