Jointer Killed?

[misssweden]

Just wondered if anyone else had seen the video of a guy who apparently put his testlamps in a live HV cable? It was floating around on fb and youtube last week, but now it seems to have disappeared. It was horrible, the guy was burnt to f*** and rumours are now going around that it happened in London and he died 2 days afterwards. Has anyone heard anything about it?

 

[kerching]

Nope

Not seen or heard anything

BUT i am. Up in the North ....and I do not do Facebook

BE F careful,out there Missy......it IS nasty stuff!

 

[apprentice87]

Thought the HV stuff was coloured red????

john..

 

[kerching]

Around here all the HV is red......but i think "back in the day" it would have been a lot different as they had no PVC or funky insulation

 

[Evans Electric]

Not heard either , don't do the FB thing either .   It sounds horrific ,, as the Kerch says , take care out there , ( Who used to say that) ? 

MissSS  . do they still fire a bolt through a cable if they're unsure if it,s dead ...sometimes when two are close together and you can't trust the signal generator  ...... so a clamp around the cable with a steel blade thats fired by a cartridge into the cable ??

 

[Blue Duck]

Lots of ukpn guys about round here if I see one I will ask

 

[ProDave]

Not heard either , don't do the FB thing either .   It sounds horrific ,, as the Kerch says , take care out there , ( Who used to say that) ? 

MissSS  . do they still fire a bolt through a cable if they're unsure if it,s dead ...sometimes when two are close together and you can't trust the signal generator  ...... so a clamp around the cable with a steel blade thats fired by a cartridge into the cable ??

Is that just to "ensure" it's dead, or to make it dead?

That could be one hell of a bang if the latter.

Didn't we just criticise someone for doing that with a live flex? 

 

[kerching]

Yeah...its called a "spiker"......usually hydraulic or cartridge operated

Ker.............ferking.............BOOM!

There,is a vid on you tube somewhere of one in use

 

[apprentice87]

Yes, so far as i know they HAVE to use one, tis in their procedures they work to.

john

 

[roys]

Seen a black water pipe spiked, thinking it was a cable, nice water fountain feature.

PS it wasn't me.

 

[the doctor]

From my old DNO days. though I never worked on the HV side. When they work on the HV network, it comes under a 'sanction to work' scheme with paperwork. They find the cable on the map.  Then they switch the cable at each end from IN to OUT to EARTH.  The switches are padlocked off and the keys go in a box that the electrician has the key to.

Finally,  as has been spoken of,  a gun type cartridge spiker is put round thew cable to be worked on.  It is not meant to go bang, but to prove 'off supply'

When the sparky is done, he opens his box and doles the keys to the switch gear out.

Though I have not seen the video, it sounds like a spoof to me as the cable would explode in the process of opening it.  If it were opened dead and then switched on it would still  blow up as the conductors are covered in semi conducting insulation to relieve ' voltage stress'

 

[misssweden]

You're pretty spot on with the switching procedure doctor. Plus it's a lot of phone calls to Control and filling in paperwork.

As a few of you have stated, new HV cables are red. However I think what's happened with this guy is that he's opened up an old conventional cable believing that it was an LV. The old ones can be hard to tell the difference between HV and LV and there are various procedures for cable identification (dig back to find a service joint to prove LV for example).

For all I know the rumours about it being in London could just be rumours, but the video definately wasn't a spoof. The guy was fried! And that has been in the back of my mind all day as I've been working in a hole with a mix of old HV and LV cables.

 

[Evans Electric]

It was unfortunate for the guy Missy  but what happens is ...we take it on board as a safety warning ....I know its all been said before but as soon as we /you  get careless or take short cuts and worst of all ...assume something is safe .....thats when it bites you on the arse. !!!!   

And its worse for you than us really Miss SS .

Again this is old hat but the first thing I was told , that has stayed with me ,  ( forgotten everything else mind you :C   )   from the first sparks I worked with who said  ....." Don't believe anyone who says  """" Thats dead""""  even me ...you test for yourself every single time without fail ..."

 

[kerching]

As i was told many times.......'even when you KNOW it is dead, treat it like it is LIVE. ONE day it will,be and you will thank me. plus, burning flesh smells horrible'

Mind you, i was also told........."don't be frightened of it, it knows if you are frightened and it will jump out and get you"

 

[Evans Electric]

As i was told many times.......'even when you KNOW it is dead, treat it like it is LIVE. ONE day it will,be and you will thank me. plus, burning flesh smells horrible'

Mind you, i was also told........."don't be frightened of it, it knows if you are frightened and it will jump out and get you"

Thats dogs  Kerch . :C

 

[binky]

my old addage to apprentices has always been 'trust no one, not even me' and I try to teach them never to touch metal, especially not the un-insulated parts of tools like snips.

 

[the doctor]

Around 2000 the Part P nurse was nagging me to stay home and get a proper job!

I became a maintenance electrician at the Bae systems factory in Chadderton, Manchester.  The factory was a mile from end to end and had its own HV network with 18 substations.  There were big red cables everywhere which of course you stayed well away from.  In addition, every conduit and board and accessory was painted bright orange so you could not miss a supply anywhere!

In its day they employed 5000 people.  It is now a catalogue warehouse  :facepalm:

my old addage to apprentices has always been 'trust no one, not even me' and I try to teach them never to touch metal, especially not the un-insulated parts of tools like snips.

I was taught to treat everything as live, even when known to be dead......just in case.... Also disconnect in the order of LNE and reconnect ENL