plumbing question

Timco

I carry rubber gloves for stop & waste jobs. Got a reading of 127 V from the mud to the pipe. Felt tingley, until.....ZAP!!!! Full load of the home, I presume. It's not the volts that kill you, it's the amps.

T

bob young

plumbing question

any plumbers on the forum ever get jolted by electric when working on a domestic water main from street completely disconnected from the house piping ?

Anthony Menafro

Jolted

Never heard of that.

[Deleted User]

Yup...

Been knocked on my proverbial arse. Something in the home has lost its neutral, and the cold water bond clamp (earth ground) is acting as the ground.

I was being shocked so bad at one time I had to have my brother run into the house and trip the main breakers. I was afraid that if I tried to let go that I'd get REALLY fried. I could tell the instant he shut it down.

Proceed with caution. Water and electricity do NOT mix.

ME

Robert O'Connor_12

not me

I have been juiced snaking out a drain once though. Seems as though something was grounded or touching the CI stack. The sad thing is its never been fixed.

Robert O'Connor/NJ

Anthony Menafro

Jolted

I thought that Bob said that the main was already disconnected from the house prior to working on it. I've also been jolted in your scenario.

Unknown

Yep

Last Wednesday in the height of the torrential rainstorms . We cut the ground wire loose from the water main to run new copper . The lights got real bright . When reconnecting the copper every time we touched the new main pipe to other copper you could see a little zap . We didn't get shocked though . I don't know if the house dropped their neutral wire , or the rain and flooding made the copper a ground conductor for some other houses bad neutral . Very freaky .

Can you get a reading on a volt or amp meter if the ground wire or copper is actually conducting electricity to the ground ? I used my little meter that flashes a light and makes beeping noises to test for a live wire - it didn't go off near the pipe .

bob young

JUICED

You are correct Anthony. the piping was completely disconnected from the bldg. system. AND THE STREET PIPING WAS ENERGIZED !! the existing valve did not hold so i also had a water issue intensified by also an above grade high sewer. we used surgical gloves & taped up the wrenches but the sparks were flying and it was a dangerous condition. i have had similiar problems maybe half a dozen times in the course of over forty some years in the trade but this was a two inch line and far worse than i ever encountered in the past. we completed the job but i wish to know the exact cause of why this happened.

Anthony Menafro

Jolted

There would have to be some other home(which of course you'll never know) or property with a faulty electrical situation. I wouldn't have gone in without PSE&G's backing.
They would have to prove to me that I could finish to job and still make it home safely.

Dave Yates (PAH)

Me 2 ME!

More than once. I had an angel watching over me one day as an apprentice. Sent out to install an antifreeze wall hydrant. HO picks the ideal spot. Hammer drill through the brick and sill plate to access the basement. Slide through the faucet with soldered 1/2" stub for final connection in the basement. Next day, my boss says "I just wanted to see what a dead man walking looks like." Seems I drilled right through 1/2 of the main service line, which was concealed inside the wall, rendering 1/2 of the home's electric disconnected by the new gap in the conductor. The fridge contents were ruined. How it is I wasn't fried, I've never understood. The Ho couldn't figure out why a lot of things weren't working, but he had his TV and a new hydrant that worked, so no worries.

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Anthony Menafro

Ground wires

Whenever I have to work on a meter, I always put a bonding wire with clamps to jump the meter out and protect myself. I may not be the most important man in New Jersey, but my kids like to see me come home as well as my wife(if you can believe that) every night safely.

jackchips_2

Nothing like

you had Bob but I did have three different experiences over the years.

One was the same thing as Robert with the CI stack, one was similar to Pah with drilling through a main cable and knocking off the entire house and the last was as an apprentice over 30 years ago.

Before GFI's a buddy and I were drilling water holes in an apartment complex, with no roofs, in a downpour. I went for something, came back and he was gone so I proceeded to get up on the ladder, grab the drill, pulled the trigger and was lite up like a Christmas tree.

It seems the same thing happened to him but instead of pulling the cord he just left it there. Funny now but not so back then.

God please electricians for I could never work with something I can not see.

Jack

Plumdog_2

Never zapped but

Taking apart 3" RPZ Backflow device from copper building supply I saw a gigantic arc. Didn't feel it though.
And this one time, at band camp, the sewer snake went up the vent and out onto the roof where it flopped around until it caught the overhead powerlines. Suddenly the machine stopped, and all the lights went out. Didn't feel thet niether, lucky I guess.

John S.

the band camp story

is that for real? :0

Robert O'Connor_12

interesting

found this interesting. Not only did it have to do with the water main (meter) but also with a LWCO.

http://oem.msu.edu/MiFace/03MI079.pdf#search='low water cut off with water meter'

Robert O'Connor/NJ