On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 18:49:59 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

wrote:
I said "HE TURNED OFF THE BREAKER FIRST". But when it kept smoking,
he cut the cable. This alone proves the guy is not handy, because
that obviously did nothing and when the breaker was shut off,
obviously the power is off and there is no need to cut the cable, but
rather he should have first called the fire department after shutting
the breaker off, then opened the heater access panel and find the
cause of the fire and douse it with an extinguisher. I too was rather
puzzled about the reason to cut the cable, but some people just do not
have a clue about things like this..... I even told the woman that
once the breaker was shut off, there was no reason to cut the cable,
and asked why they did not call the Fire Dept.? She just said she
dont understand things like this, and could not answer my question.

Mark

--------------------------------

Well, y'know I plumb blanked out on the part about him turning the
breaker off, maybe because I kept trying to figure out what you meant by
his cutting the cable "to finally make out the fire." I've know what
"make out" means for over 55 years, but a fire is hotter than
anything/anybody I'd care to make out with.


LOL


In defense of my comment about his electrocution, maybe he didn't know
which was the correct breaker to throw and switched off the power to the
clothes dryer by mistake? G

This I dont doubt, but I think the cutting of the cable would have
been pretty exciting, but not the kind of excitement I tend to enjoy!

It's things like this that make me glad I am retired. I used to put
up with some pretty crazy people when I was in business.

For example, there was a woman that disconnected or disassembled every
electrical device in the house. This is not a joke. She believed
there was a "bug" in the house. No, not a cockroach or spider, but a
camera type of bug watching her. This woman was completely nuts and
how she managed to remove ALL of the guts of the breaker box without
getting electricuted amazes me. The mains were just hanging there,
and still live. Every outlet, switch, light fixture was removed,
appliances torn apart, etc. She carefully watched everything I did
and had me check for bugs in every box, and then I had to double
check, and triple check. But I was being paid by the hour, so I just
did what she said, tried not to laugh, and made a lot of money
answering really stupid questions. Plus, I got a free tv when I
finished because she insisted there was a bug inside and showed it to
me. That yellow CRT booster was added by a tv repairman, and it was
squishy and it contained some sort of poisonous material, and was
going to explode.... Yep, that's exactly what she told me, as she
squeezed it in her hands and told me to do the same. The tv could not
just be tossed in her garbage, it had to be removed from her property
immediately, and she was willing to pay me $100 to take it away. I
just said "no problem" tossed it in my truck and took it home for a
spare tv along with the $100. I just had to put the back on the set
again.
Not all my jobs were this crazy, or profitable, but this one is the
one I will never forget. That woman really needed to be hospitalized,
but I did my job as both electrician and therapist, took my paycheck,
and got the hell out of there.... Of course before I left, I had to
use her binoculars to look for bugs on the power pole behind her
house. When she told me she wanted the insulators replaced on the HV
lines, I told her she would have to call the electric company. I wish
I could have been there when they came..... I even considered calling
them to warn them....

It takes all types to make this world spin, but there are a few that
spin backwards..... She was one of them.....

Mark

Jeff




On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 12:31:04 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:


wrote:

I'm just posting this out of curiousity. A woman I used to do work
for, for many years just called me to ask me for advice about her
water heater. She lives out of state now, so I can not actually see
the problem. She claims the electric water heater was smoking, and
said that after her husband turned off the breaker it continued to
"burn". Then her husband cut the electric cable to finally make out
the "fire".

He CUT the cable?

Jeeze, I know you said later that he wasn't handy, but it's a good thing
he didn't electrocute himself in the process.

I started to think, "Hasn't he ever heard of a circuit breaker box".

But then I stopped myself when I realized that if I asked SWMBO to go to
our breaker box and flip off the breaker for our electric water heater
I'd undoubtedly receive a blank stare from her. She has myriad other
positive abilities, it's just not something she's had a "need to know".

*********

Poll: How many husband's here are certain their wives could accomplish
the task I just described without having to receive detailed instructions?

*********

Jeff