Create your free account now! Sign up

Re: Curious

My second week on my own on the when I first started as an installer, I was adding a 2nd outlet on the 2nd fl of a house. I checked things out and saw I would be near the triplex when I drilled so I used my tape measure. Measured from the corner of the house over to the triplex was 15". So I say ok I'll come over 10" and miss it by 5".
So I go into the house and up to the outside wall of the bedroom and measure over 10" from the corner of the wall and start drilling. Well all at once every light in the house goes out and my drill stops. I pull my drill out of the hole and I'm missing 6" my drill bit and it's red hot.

All of a sudden it came to me I forgot to subtract for the width of the wall. Drilled right through the triplex before the meter. Never tripped a breaker not even the one at the pole. The company had to get an electrician in to rerun the triplex. Then face her husband the next day to finish the install. My boss told me that's what insurance is for but it took about 2 years for the guys in the shop to stop calling me sparky.

That was the only time I've ever hit anything drilling in 23 years in the biz. I'm glad the drill was double insulated, saved my life if I had been touching any other part of it but the trigger and hand grip I'd be dead right now instead of typing this.

Doing a duct path break-in on a com hole I had a boss using a electric jackhammer hit a 22 Kv power line because powers locates were off. Two things saved his life one was it was an electric jackhammer and once again double insulated and he was wearing all his safety gear. His gloves saved his arms from the flash burn same with his safety glasses and hard hat. Melted the bit and blacked out half of Hershey Pa. Blue the manhole cover about 15' in the air.

This job may not as dangerous as fishing for crab in Alaska but if you don't watch what your doing you can end up just as dead.

Me when I go I hope it's in bed having fun with a couple of LBFM's while spending my last 100 pesos on some ice cold San Megal Beer
If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking.
This is CABL.com posting #207570. Tiny Link: cabl.co/m194
Posted in reply to: Curious by satnstaller
There are 0 replies to this message