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i used a voltage tester to see if this wire was live or not like i always do but when i touched it to yellow romex it sparked and blew a breaker i think and it melted what loooked like to be brass part of the tester. why is that is it because the wire i was testing had more voltage than it counld handle or what it kinda scrared me. it was a garden bender.
Between this post of yours, and this one:
http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...ires-help.html
I'm begging you dude, stop playing with electricity!!! You are going to kill yourself!!!
After all the warnings you received on your other post and you're still at it?
I remember when my son was messing around with an electrical outlet and got shocked. He learned a valuable lesson that day and at 2 years old was smart enough to leave the dang things alone.
What's it going to take for you?
Not sure what a garden bender is but it sounds like you might have had the setting on DC instead of AC, or maybe OHMs. That kind of voltage will short things out if it's not on the correct setting. It's not like testing 12 volt DCQuote:
Originally Posted by mike1
Exactly. I used to make a living as an electrician and I did that once myself. Wasn't paying attention and I fried the darned thing. I'm guessing you had the continuity tester on and it shorted out the circuit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechanic688
Like the above said. Check to make sure it's on ac. Also I've seen meters that were for DC only and fried one. ;) wasn't mine and a client handed it to me and sparks went flying when i tested an outlet Sounds like you just need to go buy that tester that you touch the wire to test voltage through the insulation
One of my older brothers taught me that lesson when I was 6, the hard way!Quote:
Originally Posted by jimicrk
Older brothers ain't they the best. Of coarse he thought it was funny.
Op. Stop ! Listen to what people are telling you. There's a whole lot of safer way to make money scrapping.
Actually I think a fork in a light socket would be a good idea for some people!!!
There's a "KNOWN" standard in ANY workplace (that wants to stay in business and keep their people healthy/living), this procedure is utilized by "TRAINED" electrical workers. This "STANDARD" is to locate and de-energize all live circuits FIRST, that workers "MIGHT" be exposed to!
This simply means to locate a means of shutting-off or isolating the power source first. This is done before any type of "TESTING" or work is done. This done for safety and to limit the possibility of causing more equipment problems. Until you are familiar with the circuits or individual devices, you need to know how to turn the power OFF!
So you need to locate where does the power come into the circuit, its power source (no it's not the electric company). Turn off all switches and/or breakers first. Do this before any testing or checking for "ABSENCE of VOLTAGE". The assumption has to be made by the worker that there is a possible problem and the potential for harm in all electrical work.
You do most electrical work in a "Reverse Order", working backwards in the circuit and towards the device (wire in your case) to be evaluated. IMOP you did your "TESTING" completely "Back A$$ Wards"! I'm not trying to be mean or funny, working with electricity is serious work. This should not be done unless you are familiar with the "basic" knowledge of electrical work. This would include how, limitations and setup of the test equipment.
Trust and believe electricity will "REACH OUT and TOUCH YOU", if you let it. You are fortunate that it was only your "Garden Bender?" that got fried, next time it might be you!
Remember a circuit that is turned off, could still have a "Charged or Energized" condition until properly grounded.
Instead of killing yourself or burning your house down why don't you take your fried volt meter and do a scrap breakdown of it. Be sure to include pictures. We like pictures.
I generally wet two fingers and touch the wires. Then I measure how much my hair stands up.
I shave my head, is there a way I can use this testing method? Like what colour my skin changes afterward?Quote:
Originally Posted by spinroch
Yes: either measure the smoke that comes from your body, or stand in a bucket of water when you do the test and see how much boils off. Feel free to consult me for other electrical safety tips....
When I'm bowling I think "be the ball"
When working with electricity I think "be the fuse"
Ow my belly hurts! ROTFL!Quote:
Originally Posted by spinroch
Hee Hee!
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...gejpg1-124.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by spinroch
This post reminds me of why we have warning labels on hair dryers and hot coffee. Oh and personally I try to lick all outlets before working on them you know just to make sure the are good
A man shopping at Home Depot once told me the "Electrical" was French for Don't F**K With it!. Wise man
Gardener Bender is what he meant. They make electrical tools.
If you want to continue playing with electricity, how about getting a non contact tester? You can even amuse small kids by rubbing it across your clothes really fast and triggering the tester.
what do you use to measure your hair?Quote:
Originally Posted by spinroch
A micrometer. I have short hair
it was a ac/dc it was not electronic it had a max voltage of 460 i think maybe the wires i was testing was past that voltage? it lookked like this
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71TQ9T9XRGL.gif
There would not be 460 inside a house, at the most 220 for a heavy circuit like central air, furnace, etc. Normally it's 110.
I wonder what would happen if you reversed the red and black wire. That would be putting the voltage thru the ground side of the meter,,,,hmmm. scratch head,,,
First, there is not 460 volts. 277/480 volts is sometimes available for induatrial and commercial customers. It could possibly be in a large residential building for a central heating or cooling system, but would be very rare. Voltage would need to be stepped down for the living units. I seriously doubt it was 480. Would probably have knock you down.
Do everyone a favor and leave electricity alone.
Just a slight correction here...
Voltages are not absolute...for example, the common industrial voltage is called 460, or 480, or if you are a little older it sometimes is referred to as 440. All the same animal. If you put a voltmeter onto it you would see anything in the range, mostly +/-10% around 460..., but some utilities shoot for 480.
In one of the plants I engineered for when everything was down you would see just over 500V and when we were putting out rivers of lumber and drawing lots of power the voltage would suck down to 415V. This was due to an undersized main transformer and lack of an automated gizmo on the transformer called an "auto load tapchanger" that would change taps to boost the voltage when under load and lower it when idling.
I ultimately changed out the transformer for a bigger, good used one from a US Air Force base in California that had a tapchanger. We set the voltage at 480 because the higher voltage meant motors drew less current to give the horsepower.
Just the same in home plug voltages. You've heard 110, 117, 120, even 130 V for a standard plugin voltage. Its all the same. The older guys have heard 110 a lot more than they have now, where 120 has become the "standard". The exact voltage you see in you house is governed by the settings on the transformer on the pole out on the street and the load on the transformer.
Jon. ...the details geek....
I think the OP needs to do a little bit of educating himself about basic electricity. For his own good, before he seriously gets hurt or worse. If you don't learn how to read, use and setup a meter, you will keep "Smoke Checking" them.
Jon,Quote:
Originally Posted by sawmilleng
I'm not trying to turn this into an argument, just going to provide the links that I have available to back up my previous post:
https://www.crmagnetics.com/Portals/...d-voltages.pdf
North American Voltage
As one of them indicate, utilities strive for plus or minus 5% of the various voltages available (120, 208, 240, 277 & 480)This is important because machinery does not run effiecently on voltages that deviate to much. To back up that statement, NEC requires that circuits be designed for limited voltage losses. I believe it is 3% for branch circuits and 2% for feeder circuits.
Wow.
so your saying that's why the red one melted?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechanic688