Pulling a fuse with load on it

[tombrooker84]

A few years back I was working at Heathrow in Terminal 1. There was a guy working on some of the large chillers and pulled out a duff cartridge fuse and replaced it with a new one, I couldn't tell you off hand what size fuse, but well over 100A if not over 200A, anyway he did this under load and it blew up. He had first degree burns over 1/3 of his body, and to top it off he was on the roof and had to crawl down the stairs, through a plant room and into a passenger lounge because he was lone working. Crazy thing is the isolator was less than 1m away.

 

[stratplus]

Does anyone know the penalty for cutting the seal and pulling the DNO fuse? (Should they find out)

 

[ed-ectrician]

Does anyone know the penalty for cutting the seal and pulling the DNO fuse? (Should they find out)

A good spanking

 

[richy3333]

Does anyone know the penalty for cutting the seal and pulling the DNO fuse? (Should they find out)

Usually dire boredom caused by the next 15 pages of replies your post will cause

 

[Robert Turnbull]

Does anyone know the penalty for cutting the seal and pulling the DNO fuse? (Should they find out)

A good spanking

Ohh I better call them

 

[ed-ectrician]

Ooooh err

 

[robsparky1975]

Well as this is a hypothetical thread I would have to recommend that some degree of ppe be worn ie gauntlets and sheild,remember doing the 2391 had to be gloved and visored up,safety first etc,i have had to pull a fuse as no isolator of any means,i couldnt believe my eyes,callout at 7am,1/2 hr later worked back to mains room,200a cartidge in old 60s panel gone pop,no isolator on that,not even any isolator from dno onwards,called the guvnor,could not take all off load,hidden dbs etc,nightmare and not one i would like to see,dno quoted 30k to upgrade his supply which he needed,i bet its popped a few times since.

 

[Knobhead]

Not to forget the flash has vapourised hot metals and can on rare occasions get in your eye and damage your eyesight if not blind you...... imalways a fan of welders flash.... had it several times and now im more or less immune to it but its very worrying when it happens for first time :/

Cut the BS.

There is no difference between a welding flash and arc flash on the eyes.
You’ve not had a good flash if you think you can get immune to it. You would be in bed for days. The pain in you’re eyes and the blinding headaches are totally debilitating. Oh, and there’s the throwing up!
How do I know, guess.

Here's another little titbit for you, turning you’re head to the side doesn’t help. The ray’s refract/reflect through the slight bulge of the retina and make it worse!

 

[robsparky1975]

I have not had a fuse blow up in my face but many years ago when using a drill that decided to go bang the arcs flew out of the casing,i couldnt see for 3 mins just complete darkness,bit of a panic as didnt know what was going on could only hear people saying you ok,optics shut down by brain to save me from further injury,was relieved when regained full sight,if thats a drill imagine what some hefty loads can do.

 

[BillyTheSparks]

I've pulled 400A rewireable fuses under load. I realy don't know what the problem is.

If you do pull them don't dither about, grab it, pull it!

If it's three phase then you have to pull two at the same time. I always went for yellow and blue, red usualy has more load due to idiot electricians loading one phase.

That's useful to know...

 

[PEG]

I'll tell you what does hurt if you pull it off whilst it's fully loaded....A donkey...still,it was a petting zoo...

- - - Updated - - -

I'll tell you what does hurt if you pull it off whilst it's fully loaded....A donkey...still,it was a petting zoo

 

[Engineer54]

A good spanking

Followed by a thorough Rogering!! ...Well that's what i tell the misses anyway!!

 

[Gage]

Never had a problem with this however I think the most I pulled is only around 40A but I will say that putting one back in under load is fun...not.

 

[SKY]

In the factory I work in I have to pull many circuit fuses under load up to approx 40a,
This is mainly due to the fact that none of the boards are labelled correctly so when trying to isolate a circuit its like a lucky dip!
There are approx 20 3 phase old 60s-70s MEM boards on-site and I'm slowly working my way through the labelling as well as labelling up the outlet faceplates with say "DB4S R4".
Which for the novice is - Distribution Board 4 - South Wing - Red Phase Fuse 4 (from left to right).

When pulling the fuse I always pull quick and replace quick normally with a crackle, especially the large rows of 30 flouresent tubes.
I have a knack of quickly popping them back in now, but I will always have the odd one where the pins have become slightly misshaped and does not go in a quickly as I like.

With DNO fuses in domestic settings I always ensure the load is off, if not I will not pull it.
Never been too bothered by removing seals, its the only means of isolation I have in a house so I'm obviously not going to work live on tails.
I have met many DNO chaps onsite and 99% of them know the score and if they see a new board or recent work they are not too bothered, the problem is with the newer generation of DNO engineer.
On many occasions I call the DNO after doing a CU change and ask them to come and re-seal, never had an issue with them, they are normally out to the customers within 5 days to reseal.
They normally ask what work has been done and thats it.

 

[electric will]

This is what annoys me. You can class me as a Electrical Trainee, althogh I've got other codifications but come on, what ya thinks going to happen if you whip any sort of fuse out while its supplying a load? It's going to arc, flash, bang?

 

[imago]

There's a lot of excellent information in this thread, so there's only one thing I can think of to add to it.

It's highly likely that when you nervously grip the fuse and pull, due to and excess build up of tension within the person pulling the flash and associated pop/bang will cause a little bit of poo to come out. So PPE should include some absorbant padding placed in the back of your pants to prevent fudge damage.

 

[High Tower]

There's a lot of excellent information in this thread, so there's only one thing I can think of to add to it.

It's highly likely that when you nervously grip the fuse and pull, due to and excess build up of tension within the person pulling the flash and associated pop/bang will cause a little bit of poo to come out. So PPE should include some absorbant padding placed in the back of your pants to prevent fudge damage.

Good point I think!!, unless your tony and then you pull em out with your teeth while rolling a smoke lol

 

[Knobhead]

Thanks pal!

That's how I broke my false teeth.

 

[High Tower]

Anytime

 

[RogertheBodger]

A bit more extreme than pulling a fuse under load, but the principle is the same.

500KV Substation arc.. Nice - YouTube