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Work Safety hazards and sheer luck
17 years ago
General
So I had a good scare yesterday while at work, and not in a good way either.
So I was preparing the projectors for the last set of shows and I went over to start a projector to get a show going. After about ten seconds turning the projector on, it suddenly started to make a really loud noise. It sounded similar to what a can of tightly compressed air would make if it was cut open suddenly. In a slightly nervous rush, I turned the projector off before looking it over. As the machine turned off, the sound also vanished, making me think that maybe what I heard had somehow fixed itself. So I turn the projector on again. Stupid me, because it came back louder this time.
So I stopped the machine again and I started to open it up to see what the hell was causing the noise. This is where I see how close I came to getting severly hurt or killed.
Apparently, before I arrived for my shift one of the managers changed the lightbulb (since the previous one was close to burning out) and as he changed it, he accidentally bumped the wire that runs the bulb itself. Throughout the day, this covered wire moved closer and closer to the bottom of the compartment the bulb sits in until it finally touched it during this last show. The results: it started arcing. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it basically means that this wire was releasing its electrical current into the projector itself.
Now to give you an idea how powerful this current was, the coating over the wire where the discharge happend was burnt through entirely and the metal itself that it touched was also burnt through cleanly, leaving nothing but a charred mark. It gets better though. The entire projector is made of metal and the only thing rubbery at that moment were the soles on my shoes. Had the machine stayed on longer, it would not only have been electrified entirely, but also start to melt (I'm not kidding either, I read up on this afterwards) and there's more though.
Apparently, this bulb's current was running at 160 amps. It only takes 100 to instantly kill someone (if I rememebr correctly). So, I was literally seconds away (if not moments) from touching a metalic system that could have either electrified me or killed me when I was turning it off both times (Assuming my shoes didn't ground me)
So, I'm a little bit rattled still from it. It sort of hit me heavily this evening as I think back on it. It was too close for comfort. We did move the cord far away from any of the metal walls around it and lowered the amp output to just below 100...but that could have been a moment too late.
So, I'm really counting my blessings. I'm not hurt or anything, but I'm shaken to say the least. I know I won't ever be that lucky ever again...
So I was preparing the projectors for the last set of shows and I went over to start a projector to get a show going. After about ten seconds turning the projector on, it suddenly started to make a really loud noise. It sounded similar to what a can of tightly compressed air would make if it was cut open suddenly. In a slightly nervous rush, I turned the projector off before looking it over. As the machine turned off, the sound also vanished, making me think that maybe what I heard had somehow fixed itself. So I turn the projector on again. Stupid me, because it came back louder this time.
So I stopped the machine again and I started to open it up to see what the hell was causing the noise. This is where I see how close I came to getting severly hurt or killed.
Apparently, before I arrived for my shift one of the managers changed the lightbulb (since the previous one was close to burning out) and as he changed it, he accidentally bumped the wire that runs the bulb itself. Throughout the day, this covered wire moved closer and closer to the bottom of the compartment the bulb sits in until it finally touched it during this last show. The results: it started arcing. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it basically means that this wire was releasing its electrical current into the projector itself.
Now to give you an idea how powerful this current was, the coating over the wire where the discharge happend was burnt through entirely and the metal itself that it touched was also burnt through cleanly, leaving nothing but a charred mark. It gets better though. The entire projector is made of metal and the only thing rubbery at that moment were the soles on my shoes. Had the machine stayed on longer, it would not only have been electrified entirely, but also start to melt (I'm not kidding either, I read up on this afterwards) and there's more though.
Apparently, this bulb's current was running at 160 amps. It only takes 100 to instantly kill someone (if I rememebr correctly). So, I was literally seconds away (if not moments) from touching a metalic system that could have either electrified me or killed me when I was turning it off both times (Assuming my shoes didn't ground me)
So, I'm a little bit rattled still from it. It sort of hit me heavily this evening as I think back on it. It was too close for comfort. We did move the cord far away from any of the metal walls around it and lowered the amp output to just below 100...but that could have been a moment too late.
So, I'm really counting my blessings. I'm not hurt or anything, but I'm shaken to say the least. I know I won't ever be that lucky ever again...
Regardless, you're alright, and that's a good thing.
The wire coating, unless it was partially melted by the bulb itself, shouldn't have allowed arcing though... It may have been insufficiently shielded 0..0
Thanks bro, I'm glad to hear that ^^
Well, I doubt the bulb did it because the rest of the wire was fine. So all iI can think of is that the amp output the projector had it at was beyond the recommended stetting after we looked it over. So, it was due to too much of a current running through the wire O.o