Number one son had an issue last week with a strong smell of electrical
burning in his house. I went round to take a look, and one of the meter
tails was very discoloured where it exited the company 100A fuse block, and
that was where the smell was coming from. I told him to get onto the
supplier immediately, and tell them he had had someone out to look, and they
were concerned that it was about to catch fire (I later discovered from a
mate on the fire that this unit catching fire is very common. He reckoned
that he had been tipped out to at least five so far this year ... )

Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and sent a
meter guy who was there first and a supply guy. The meter guy said that the
meter was about due for replacement, so he would do that and fit new tails
to it. He was just finishing that when the supply guy turns up. He duly fits
a new company fuse unit and connects the meter back up and all is now well.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off the
grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the job was
being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear armoured rubber
gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal grounded glove inside the
insulated one for additional safety maybe ?

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get used
to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

Arfa

Arfa Daily wrote:
Number one son had an issue last week with a strong smell of electrical
burning in his house. I went round to take a look, and one of the meter
tails was very discoloured where it exited the company 100A fuse block,
and that was where the smell was coming from. I told him to get onto the
supplier immediately, and tell them he had had someone out to look, and
they were concerned that it was about to catch fire (I later discovered
from a mate on the fire that this unit catching fire is very common. He
reckoned that he had been tipped out to at least five so far this year
... )

Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and
sent a meter guy who was there first and a supply guy. The meter guy
said that the meter was about due for replacement, so he would do that
and fit new tails to it. He was just finishing that when the supply guy
turns up. He duly fits a new company fuse unit and connects the meter
back up and all is now well.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get
used to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

Arfa

I do it in a pair of thongs, but they usually can isolate it further
back, up the pole maybe if not underground supply,they will still have a
means of isolation

"F Murtz" wrote in message
eb.com...
Arfa Daily wrote:
Number one son had an issue last week with a strong smell of electrical
burning in his house. I went round to take a look, and one of the meter
tails was very discoloured where it exited the company 100A fuse block,
and that was where the smell was coming from. I told him to get onto the
supplier immediately, and tell them he had had someone out to look, and
they were concerned that it was about to catch fire (I later discovered
from a mate on the fire that this unit catching fire is very common. He
reckoned that he had been tipped out to at least five so far this year
... )

Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and
sent a meter guy who was there first and a supply guy. The meter guy
said that the meter was about due for replacement, so he would do that
and fit new tails to it. He was just finishing that when the supply guy
turns up. He duly fits a new company fuse unit and connects the meter
back up and all is now well.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get
used to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

Arfa

I do it in a pair of thongs, but they usually can isolate it further back,
up the pole maybe if not underground supply,they will still have a means
of isolation

When my main supply cable from the street line died of old age,
they didn't bother to isolate anything when they replaced it, didn't
do anything special gloves etc either, its only 240V.

On 10/06/15 02:11, Arfa Daily wrote:

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?


Traditionally, jointers knelt on insulated mats as gloves where too
cumbersome. I am not sure what they do these days, but low voltage
(which includes 230V) is still very much the order of the day.

On Wed, 10 Jun 2015 02:11:17 +0100, Arfa Daily wrote:

... one of the meter tails was very discoloured where it exited the
company 100A fuse block, and that was where the smell was coming from.
snip
Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and
sent a meter guy who was there first and a supply guy.

Report "smell of burning" to your supplier DNO usually makes 'em jump
double quick time. The times I've reported problems with our supply
(over voltage, barely in tolerance voltage range not "smell of
burning") they have normally been knocking on the door within hours.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ?

The meter guy can just pull the cut out. The linesman replacing the
cut out would have worked live. Not a great issue with proper live
working tools (ie fully insulated screwdrivers apart from the very
tip).

Like for like replacement ought to be be very easy. Pull the fuse,
release the cutout from the board and ease away a little, have new
cutout ready, release live, remove cutout, put on new, tighten, fix
back to board. The new cutout may even have a bit of "safety plastic"
to cover the live fuse contacts until it's time to fit the fuse back
in.

It gets a bit more interesting if the live cable needs to be reformed
for the new cutout but nothing that a layer or two of insulation tape
over the exposed end won't deal with.

In my view it's not so much the danger of getting a belt but
accidentally shorting the supply. There is so much energy available
that what ever shorts it out and the cable end and what ever it is
shorted to will pretty much instantly explode in one heck of a
blinding bang spraying everything and every body with molten metal.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 10/06/2015 02:11, Arfa Daily wrote:
Number one son had an issue last week with a strong smell of electrical
burning in his house. I went round to take a look, and one of the meter
tails was very discoloured where it exited the company 100A fuse block,
and that was where the smell was coming from. I told him to get onto the
supplier immediately, and tell them he had had someone out to look, and
they were concerned that it was about to catch fire (I later discovered
from a mate on the fire that this unit catching fire is very common. He
reckoned that he had been tipped out to at least five so far this year
... )

Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and
sent a meter guy who was there first and a supply guy. The meter guy
said that the meter was about due for replacement, so he would do that
and fit new tails to it. He was just finishing that when the supply guy
turns up. He duly fits a new company fuse unit and connects the meter
back up and all is now well.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get
used to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

All their tools will have insulated handles and they will have been
issued with 1000v rubber gloves. However, when I worked for an
Electricity Board, most of the time they didn't bother with the gloves
for 240v supplies. They were difficult to work in and 240v isn't really
dangerous if you follow safe working practices.


--
Colin Bignell

On 10/06/2015 02:11, Arfa Daily wrote:
Number one son had an issue last week with a strong smell of electrical
burning in his house. I went round to take a look, and one of the meter
tails was very discoloured where it exited the company 100A fuse block,
and that was where the smell was coming from. I told him to get onto the
supplier immediately, and tell them he had had someone out to look, and
they were concerned that it was about to catch fire (I later discovered
from a mate on the fire that this unit catching fire is very common. He
reckoned that he had been tipped out to at least five so far this year
... )

Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and
sent a meter guy who was there first and a supply guy. The meter guy
said that the meter was about due for replacement, so he would do that
and fit new tails to it. He was just finishing that when the supply guy
turns up. He duly fits a new company fuse unit and connects the meter
back up and all is now well.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get
used to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

Arfa

You are thinking about the shock and that's not the dangerous bit..
its what happens if you short the supply side, the bang will be very
big. Look on you tube at the exploding manhole covers and you will get
some idea of what a few thousand amps can do when a cable shorts.

In article o.uk,
Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Wed, 10 Jun 2015 02:11:17 +0100, Arfa Daily wrote:

... one of the meter tails was very discoloured where it exited the
company 100A fuse block, and that was where the smell was coming from.
snip
Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and
sent a meter guy who was there first and a supply guy.

Report "smell of burning" to your supplier DNO usually makes 'em jump
double quick time. The times I've reported problems with our supply
(over voltage, barely in tolerance voltage range not "smell of
burning") they have normally been knocking on the door within hours.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken
off the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ?

The meter guy can just pull the cut out. The linesman replacing the
cut out would have worked live. Not a great issue with proper live
working tools (ie fully insulated screwdrivers apart from the very
tip).

Like for like replacement ought to be be very easy. Pull the fuse,
release the cutout from the board and ease away a little, have new
cutout ready, release live, remove cutout, put on new, tighten, fix
back to board. The new cutout may even have a bit of "safety plastic"
to cover the live fuse contacts until it's time to fit the fuse back
in.

It gets a bit more interesting if the live cable needs to be reformed
for the new cutout but nothing that a layer or two of insulation tape
over the exposed end won't deal with.

In my view it's not so much the danger of getting a belt but
accidentally shorting the supply. There is so much energy available
that what ever shorts it out and the cable end and what ever it is
shorted to will pretty much instantly explode in one heck of a
blinding bang spraying everything and every body with molten metal.

Back in the late 50s, I wwas a student attached to the SESEB cable jointers
section. I cut out needed to be replaced with one which would carry a
higher current. (office equipment was thirsty in those days). The larger
cut needed to be further down the wall. While the outer sheath was being
removed, by hacksaw, I think the blade must have gone across two phases.
There was certainly a big flash and the worker was thrown back across teh
room. Ihad to remove any reference to the incident from my student report.

--
From KT24 in Surrey

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

In message , Arfa Daily
writes
So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken
off the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ?

A friend in the USA, where it seems to be all poles and catenary wires,
has just had the supply to his house and 3 others moved from being fixed
to his back wall to a newly installed pole.

It took a week with a 6-man and later 8-man team. The truck to install
the pole in the 1metre square available space was too heavy for the
driveway, so they had 2 men to dig the hole for the pole, while the
electricians planned the job. Then they put up a gin pole to support the
pole as it was erected, then they isolated the neighbourhood while they
connected it all up.
He was impressed by what he described as the "sugar scoop type" spades
they used to dig the narrow vertical hole (I've seen water workers using
what I assume are the same things) and how much care they took even
allowing for the pull of the catenary to make the pole plumb.

He guessed the cost to the LA works dept as between $20k and $30k.
--
Bill

On 10/06/2015 02:21, F Murtz wrote:
Arfa Daily wrote:
Number one son had an issue last week with a strong smell of electrical
burning in his house. I went round to take a look, and one of the meter
tails was very discoloured where it exited the company 100A fuse block,
and that was where the smell was coming from. I told him to get onto the
supplier immediately, and tell them he had had someone out to look, and
they were concerned that it was about to catch fire (I later discovered
from a mate on the fire that this unit catching fire is very common. He
reckoned that he had been tipped out to at least five so far this year
... )

Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and
sent a meter guy who was there first and a supply guy. The meter guy
said that the meter was about due for replacement, so he would do that
and fit new tails to it. He was just finishing that when the supply guy
turns up. He duly fits a new company fuse unit and connects the meter
back up and all is now well.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get
used to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

Arfa

I do it in a pair of thongs, but they usually can isolate it further
back, up the pole maybe if not underground supply,they will still have a
means of isolation

Not so, any work on the supply side of the main fuse on a domestic
supply will often be done live, using insulated gloves, tools and mats.


--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

On Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at 2:11:20 AM UTC+1, Arfa Daily wrote:
Number one son had an issue last week with a strong smell of electrical
burning in his house. I went round to take a look, and one of the meter
tails was very discoloured where it exited the company 100A fuse block, and
that was where the smell was coming from. I told him to get onto the
supplier immediately, and tell them he had had someone out to look, and they
were concerned that it was about to catch fire (I later discovered from a
mate on the fire that this unit catching fire is very common. He reckoned
that he had been tipped out to at least five so far this year ... )

Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and sent a
meter guy who was there first and a supply guy. The meter guy said that the
meter was about due for replacement, so he would do that and fit new tails
to it. He was just finishing that when the supply guy turns up. He duly fits
a new company fuse unit and connects the meter back up and all is now well.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off the
grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the job was
being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear armoured rubber
gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal grounded glove inside the
insulated one for additional safety maybe ?

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get used
to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

Arfa

Maybe he stood on his wooden leg ?

Bill wrote:

He was impressed by what he described as the "sugar scoop type" spades
they used to dig the narrow vertical hole

Scissor-action post hole digger, as opposed to the corkscrew type ...

Ash Burton wrote:

any work on the supply side of the main fuse on a domestic
supply will often be done live, using insulated gloves, tools and mats.

Indeed, the Neighbour three houses up lost power last summer, nobody
else affected, apart from jackhammering for most of the night, they
didn't have to disconnect anyone else down the street to lay a new
incomer to that one house, just tapped it into the ring main and left
the trench to be filled by a different gang the next day ...

En el artículo , Arfa Daily
escribió:

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off the
grid, so the guy must be working live-line ?

Yes.

I've seen them working in trenches in the street splicing new cables for
streetlights into the main power feed. They do it all working live.
The joint is encased in a plastic sausage which is then potted (filled
with epoxy).

Not a job that I think I would like to do

me neither, but I suppose you'd get used to it with the right equipment,
training and doing it day in and day out.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

On Wednesday, 10 June 2015 02:21:19 UTC+1, F Murtz wrote:
Arfa Daily wrote:

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get
used to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

Arfa

I do it in a pair of thongs,

I tried something similar in Y fronts but......
Maybe it's time to try one of those mankinis.....
DIY gets more strange by the day.

Can make a big flash and a bang though.
The old adage of keeping one hand in your pocket is still a good one.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Nightjar .me.uk" "cpb"@ insert my surname here wrote in message
...
On 10/06/2015 02:11, Arfa Daily wrote:
Number one son had an issue last week with a strong smell of electrical
burning in his house. I went round to take a look, and one of the meter
tails was very discoloured where it exited the company 100A fuse block,
and that was where the smell was coming from. I told him to get onto the
supplier immediately, and tell them he had had someone out to look, and
they were concerned that it was about to catch fire (I later discovered
from a mate on the fire that this unit catching fire is very common. He
reckoned that he had been tipped out to at least five so far this year
... )

Anyways, give them their due, they booked it as an emergency call and
sent a meter guy who was there first and a supply guy. The meter guy
said that the meter was about due for replacement, so he would do that
and fit new tails to it. He was just finishing that when the supply guy
turns up. He duly fits a new company fuse unit and connects the meter
back up and all is now well.

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get
used to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

All their tools will have insulated handles and they will have been issued
with 1000v rubber gloves. However, when I worked for an Electricity Board,
most of the time they didn't bother with the gloves for 240v supplies.
They were difficult to work in and 240v isn't really dangerous if you
follow safe working practices.


--
Colin Bignell

In article , says...

En el artículo , Arfa Daily
escribió:

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off the
grid, so the guy must be working live-line ?


Not long after I left school the TV & Electric business I worked in was
extended. Eventually everything was done except for connecting the new
distribution to the incoming supply, accessible through a hole in the floor
where the supply passed on its way to the building next door.

In those days, all TVs and many radios we repaired used live chassis
techniques and, as many of them were fitted with 2-pin inlet connectors, it
was 50-50 chance whether the chassis was live or neutral. Still, we handled
these large chunks of live kit all day, every day, without giving it a
thought.

Then the guy from the electricity board turns up, drapes his rubber mat over
the edge of the hole and sits on it splicing the cables while we all looked
on thinking things like "Sod that for a game of soldiers - you wouldn't get
me doing that!"


--

Terry

On Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at 8:50:44 AM UTC+1, Nightjar wrote:


...... and 240v isn't really
dangerous if you follow safe working practices.



I was taught to keep my left hand in my pocket.

Robert

On Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at 3:02:17 PM UTC+1, Terry Casey wrote:

In those days, all TVs and many radios we repaired used live chassis
techniques and, as many of them were fitted with 2-pin inlet connectors, it
was 50-50 chance whether the chassis was live or neutral.

And early TVs used to have the whole electrical circuit sitting at the -HT Voltage so that the front of the screen would be at earth potential.

Robert

On 10/06/2015 08:42, Tim Watts wrote:
On 10/06/15 02:11, Arfa Daily wrote:

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?


Traditionally, jointers knelt on insulated mats as gloves where too
cumbersome. I am not sure what they do these days, but low voltage
(which includes 230V) is still very much the order of the day.


It's not just low voltage systems that are worked 'live', voltages up to
132kV are routinely maintained using 'hot' wire working techniques
albeit using insulated poles and tools, there are even one person cages
affixed to the live overhead conductor on the 'bird on a wire' (or
equipotential principle).

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?


Yes - live and with lots of rubber gloves and insulators for the live parts.

--
Adam

On Wednesday, 10 June 2015 02:11:20 UTC+1, Arfa Daily wrote:
Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get used
to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

Here are the instructions for a variety of cutout types:

http://www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/us...ce_Termina.pdf

http://tinyurl.com/o9tlrgw

Owain

"ARW" wrote in message
...
"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...

So here's the question. How do they go about replacing anything on the
supply side south of the meter ? Obviously, the house can't be taken off
the grid, so the guy must be working live-line ? I wasn't there when the
job was being done, and my son wasn't watching. So does he just wear
armoured rubber gloves and boots with thick rubber soles ? A metal
grounded glove inside the insulated one for additional safety maybe ?


Yes - live and with lots of rubber gloves and insulators for the live
parts.

Those that replaced by aerial feed in did it all live with none of that at
all.

wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, 10 June 2015 02:11:20 UTC+1, Arfa Daily wrote:
Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would get
used
to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe ...

Here are the instructions for a variety of cutout types:

http://www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/us...ce_Termina.pdf

http://tinyurl.com/o9tlrgw

Owain


Thanks for all the replies. So now I know !

Arfa

On Wed, 10 Jun 2015 05:58:45 -0700, whisky-dave wrote:

On Wednesday, 10 June 2015 02:21:19 UTC+1, F Murtz wrote:
Arfa Daily wrote:

Not a job that I think I would like to do, but I suppose you would
get used to it, and the right equipment would be key to feeling safe
...

Arfa

I do it in a pair of thongs,

I tried something similar in Y fronts but......
Maybe it's time to try one of those mankinis.....
DIY gets more strange by the day.

I thought F Murtz's reply rather odd until a dim recollection came to me
that 'thongs' is Australian for 'flipflops' and that F Murtz is an
Australian. I'm guessing his point was to use highly insulative footwear
rather than leather shoes.

--
Johnny B Good