220V Arc

BobbyFord

BobbyFord

Secret Agent Man
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Commercial property owner had a non-code-compliant 220V box and guess who got arc'd? Apparently in one side and out the other. Just left Grossman Burn Center (mandatory.)
Bummer for him. L.A. City Department of Building and Safety will be combing over his strip mall.
 
Ouchies!!! and thats with gloves on??? Hope you get to feeling better quick...at least you can still ride the bike.
 
Magnethead said:
Ouchies!!! and thats with gloves on??? Hope you get to feeling better quick...at least you can still ride the bike.
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No gloves.
I wasn't working on the box. Property owner or tenant had a pile of debris within code of the panels (3 ft.) While I was trying to get over the pile of empty boxes, I tripped and stuck my hand through the illegal panel cover (basically aluminum foil) into the line/load bus bars. The arc was so intense that it burned my shirt, left molten balls on my Ray-Bans and immediately set the pile of boxes that I was in, on fire. The "boom" alerted the tenant, who saw the flames and blasted me with a class A fire extinguisher. Not only was I pissed that I had to climb over a pile of crap, I got the crap zapped out of me and burned my hand, now my eyes are burning and I cannot breathe. :mad:
Spent two hours at company medical and then two hours at Grossman Burn Center to get cleared for Monday.
 
BobbyFord said:
No gloves.
I wasn't working on the box. Property owner or tenant had a pile of debris within code of the panels (3 ft.) While I was trying to get over the pile of empty boxes, I tripped and stuck my hand through the illegal panel cover (basically aluminum foil) into the line/load bus bars. The arc was so intense that it burned my shirt, left molten balls on my Ray-Bans and immediately set the pile of boxes that I was in, on fire. The "boom" alerted the tenant, who saw the flames and blasted me with a class A fire extinguisher. Not only was I pissed that I had to climb over a pile of crap, I got the crap zapped out of me and burned my hand, now my eyes are burning and I cannot breathe. :mad:
Spent two hours at company medical and then two hours at Grossman Burn Center to get cleared for Monday.
Click to expand...

That's a rough day!
 
220 doesn't sound like much, and normally it isn't. You can see where the cheesy panel arc'd the line/load. The flimsy panel material disintegrated in an instant. My hand was not in contact for more than a fraction of a second.
 
Electricity can be scary. I got called in once for a death investigation. A transient had climbed up the side of a highly marked transformer cage and, while straddling the top of the chain link fence, reached over and grabbed a 34,5K bar. He grounded through his groin and was blown off of the enclosure. His groin was on fire when he hit the ground. He was killed immediately.
 
sounds like a heck of a workers comp case...too bad you can't sue the guy for personal injury.
 
Magnethead said:
sounds like a heck of a workers comp case...too bad you can't sue the guy for personal injury.
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I can still sue, outside of the company, for any injury I sustain on someone else's property. Slip, trip & fall, dogbite; doesn't matter. I'm not that kind of guy though. I'm well taken care of at work and I have great medical. This property owner will have enough trouble in the future with Dept. of Building & Safety.
 
My main concern today after the medical fiasco was convincing the burn guy that I wanted to work Monday. He said it's rare for employees to want to work after a WC claim, so he cleared me :)
 
Glad it wasn't any worse than that Bobby. Looks like some pretty serious burns though. Be careful it doesn't get infected.
 
Good lord Bobby. Take care of the hand. That looks like a nasty burn.
 
The burn center gave me a roll of silver sulfadiazine gauze. I'd never heard of the stuff before yesterday. You can get the cream without the gauze. I recommend it to anyone that gets a burn where the skin is open.
Thanks for the well wishes everyone. :)
 
Damn Bobby.................... what a weird accident, glad you will be ok though. The wiring in that place is scary looking, only a matter of time before that place goes up in smoke
 
Glad you're going to be OK. Keep an eye on that hand for signs of infection. Hope the mall owner has deep pockets. By the time
Building and Safety gets done with him he'll hurt worse than your hand.
 
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