Electrical issues

[GrandRover]

When my slide short shorted out it would;
Not set off the gfci
Not throw a breaker in the rv
Not set off my surge guard
Not set off the gfci in the house breaker

It would kick off the house breaker.

My slide short didn't trip any breakers nor trip the GFCi either Duck. It also did not trip the house breaker. It just shot sparks and fire out from under couch and from a wall outlet.

 

[Lt Keefer]

If the assembly of his coach was negligent, not according to electrical codes and unsafe to use, then he should sue the manufacturer. A verdict by a court of law establishing that Thor assembles unsafe garbage would due us all a favor.

 

[Bob Nodine]

Bob, do you work with Medical Imaging Equipment? I found your LinkedIn profile but see no information. I ask because I worked with 480 VAC 3 Phase power for 37+ years in the Medical Imaging industry.

GrandRover,

To my knowledge I am not part of Linkedin. Maybe someone entered me without my knowledge.

Since 1977 I have been involved with centrifuges for uranium enrichment. We use 480 VAC 3 Phase to power the variable frequency motor drives. I have witnessed first hand the difference between what happens with a short in the load with circuit breakers versus fuses. I retired in March 2006 but still work as a consultant.

While in the Air Force I witnessed a short circuit on a 1000 ampere 480 VAC 3 Phase buss. I am still cleaning my pants. It was at a remote communications site powered by our own generators. The generator plant called and wanted to know what the **** were we doing.

 

[GrandRover]

To my knowledge I am not part of Linkedin. Maybe someone entered me without my knowledge.

Since 1977 I have been involved with centrifuges for uranium enrichment. We use 480 VAC 3 Phase to power the variable frequency motor drives. I have witnessed first hand the difference between what happens with a short in the load with circuit breakers versus fuses. I retired in March 2006 but still work as a consultant.

While in the Air Force I witnessed a short circuit on a 1000 ampere 480 VAC 3 Phase buss. I am still cleaning my pants. It was at a remote communications site powered by our own generators. The generator plant called and wanted to know what the **** were we doing.

Bob,

Interesting about Linkedin. I will PM you the Linkedin link to you. The picture looks the same as on your profile here.

Kaboom on that 1000 amp short circuit. Yikes!

My 3 phase 480 work involved auto transformers that were inside x-ray generator cabinets which I many times had to put a volt meter on to make sure the auto points were correct. That was a little scary since when I did the measurements the auto transformers were about 10 inches away with cabinet door off. These had motorized taps and the steel cables would sometimes break and cause arcs that tripped the main. That was the first few years. Newer generations used large transformers with taps. The incoming power was usually 480 3-phase at 100 to 200 amps.

Thanks for sharing!

Mike

 

[Bob Nodine]

Mike,

You were wise to be scared. If you do not know what arc flash is look it up. Arc flash can occur at 480 volts and is a condition where the air ionizes. Many have been killed or permanently injured from an arc flash incident.

Bob

 

[GrandRover]

Thanks Bob. Bad things coulda happened. Thank the Lord all went well. In my 37+ years in X-Ray service I never heard of anyone injured or killed in our industry by that sort of thing. There were a lot of dangers, including electrical and even radiation exposure. I recall that an employee died after somehow leaving the interlock disengaged in a Linear Accelerator which is a machine used with electronically produced radiation to treat cancer.
I also recall that an electrician died while working inside of a transformer box that was external to the hospital. That might have been an arc flash situation.

In any case, thanks for the replies and have a great holiday!

Mike