ok, to put all this to rest, i was in a 16 hr OSHA class and we learned about this video. the guy is dead, all that was left was his teeth. why it blew was because he was cranking the breaker the wrong way. im not an expert but i believe that when you relieve a charge from a breaker like that you turn it clockwise. i may be wrong but either way he was charging the breaker cause he wasnt paying attention. it overcharged and thats why it blew. no amount of PPE is gonna save you from that
How many amps would we be talking here? What the hell did they do to achieve such a bang, was it the 4th of July or something. Jokes, aside I sincerely hope they are OK.
@kadyokarding Maybe the other end of the line that was wired to the breaker wasnt done right. Then when it was being setup/switched on, Arc! Idk, Im just guessing. :p
@spencnaz There are alot of installations (hospitals for example) where shutting down an entire building worth of gear is not an option. Working equipment hot happens all the time, and you just gotta wear the protective gear, every time.
I don't understand the UK. TV Tax, Suprize checks on firearms, Cameras on every street corner but they allow douchebags ragheads to take over, Get free housing and step all over their culture to the point of eradicating completly. Free speech for anyone who isn't of british blood it seems. I hope you trip and fall under a moving bus while your child video tapes it.
The voltage and current here just boggles my mind. On UHF TV transmitters I'm used to upward of 25kV beam voltage, but the current is very small, 2-4 amps maybe, in the klystron. I cannot imagine having the full potential of the utility to ground.
Thanks for the info prince. I don't deal with nearly this much current and wasn't sure what the term meant. What would cause the explosion like what we see in the video?
racking in iwhen you have a breaker with no contact you rack it out to make sure your contact arent toucjing and then rack it in so the breaker can be used while racking you should wear an arc flash suit we use 40 cal suits
I know I have been lucky as I have done this many times.Two of my friends were badly burned at Gilman Paper Co.rolling in a 5 kv breaker that accidently racked on the buss when it hit the stops.The mechanical linkage was broken.This was a GE breaker.Please wear PPE. and sometimes you just have to isolate the gear to rack in and out unless done by remote. Ben IBEW 177
He did have his Ppe on the onage helmet he was on has a flash shield on but yes he could have had a flash suit on and arc gloves but a bang like that. That close is highly fatal. And being a sparky myself and being hit by 347 hurts but that is no coming back hope that never happens to me but he wasn't doing anything wrong. Stuff just happins .....
When I think about how many breakers I have racked in... What could have gone wrong? Breaker had a grounded component. Breaker went in wrong and got into two phases. Breaker was closed and that line was under large load. This looks fatal. I'm pretty sure it was unless the worker had all protective equipment in place and got away in time. Never seen anything like this on youtube.
@thesixtiesguy I know, right? What a damn horrible video. Important, though. Too many electricians--especially the young cocky guys--think PPE is "unmanly" and a joke and will work on live high-voltage systems without any protection.
Kind of hard to laugh and toss back brews after work when your eyes and arms are gone and your whole face is a mass of scar tissue.
Take the extra time and take extra care, kids. You'll be glad when you can still hug your kids.
are they installing this bucket with a load on it? why? looks like his co-worker (entering the frame just before the incident) may be trying to stop him.maybe the new component was faulty. always megger a breaker before insatalling it on a hot buss.
We just found out today at work that we can no longer truck in a breaker by hand, they are ordering us remote mechs to crank them in because of shit like this....nasty
something similar happened 1 mounth before, when we saw the young engineer shouting "i m burning" , he was totaly burned and his body became black we were shocked, every body must use arc flash suits for protection.
Many years back something similar happend to a coworker of mine on a little 1MVA 400Volt distribution center that was a bit beyond it's prime. He was in a special burn victim hospital for months. Safety and inspection standards went through the roof after that. Probably because the company lost millions in production, not because someone allmost died while doing a dangerous job without the proper protection.
This is used on the OSHA electric training program. Gentleman was not killed, but never went back to work as electrician again. Third degree burns........ months and months of recovery surgery and therapy.
Its is very common to rack a breaker into a live bus... under the assumption that the breaker is verified in the open position. This allows the breaker stabs to energize to bus potential with out picking up or dropping load like in this video. However accidents can happen and this is why anyone racking a breaker in to a bus is required to where arc protection gear.
As far as the electrician, without the proper PPE, he went up in flames. I'm willing to bet that he was in worse shape than what bbally1754 describes!
Do you have a source? That video has been making its rounds with no expination. Someone on liveleak posted a fake reuters article on this video then later dismissing it as a fake.
The first original source of it was liveleak. The commenter on Liveleak was lying, but the uploader of the video wasn't. I can't be sure that this was the cause for the 2007 blackouts but the uploader (being the first person on the net to get the original video is rcorrect about it being in Colombia recorded via CCTV). I don't really have much more info though.
I'd link you to it, but youtube won't accept links, the raw extended footage of this is on liveleak.
Thanks for the info. I dont think that was the cause for the blackout. I think it had to do with something that happened outside. Just goes to show how much goes around on the net that isnt exactialy as it seems. Judging by that video, that guy was probably very seriously injured. I've had arc flash training and it dosent look like that guy was wearing any safety equiptment.
True, he doesn't appear to have any PPE, other than a set of gloves? And some eyewear, but that flash was insane, so it'd be a wonder if he got out alive.
Although it's hard to see, I managed to spot him during the explosion in the higher-quality footage on the floor against the wall before running away from the camera.
If you watch it frame by frame you can definitly make out his shadow on the wall behind him and it looks like he turned around. (around the 18 second mark) Hard to see what happens after that.
Im wondering if he was racking out a breaker under load or if there was some kind of mechanical failure.
It definitly makes me think every time I rack a breaker.
My company stopped doing that recently due to a design flaw that was found in the breakers. If you rack in our out on a dead bus, that eliminates the potental for disaster.
Did the lights go out for a few minutes at your house every time we rack a breaker at the power plant? It is dangerous work and the breakers must function properly they are designed to trip open when racking in or out of course they are not infallible that is why the Qualified Electrical Worker knows to wear that hot sweaty Arc Flash suit aka Bomb Suit, when operating live gear. From one who has been burned before by 120VAC.
Ha, It would be OK if it did if it saves lives. But I know some would find it unacceptable. The lights flash when they are rerouting local distribution or squirrel or limbs fall. Although it just surprises me, some find it annoying.. Also I think making the break under load is sometime not possible? I have a great respect for those guys, like when I see them replacing a pole, transferring live lines. I would not have the courage to do that kind of work.
YES PPE!
btharealest 7 months ago
ok, to put all this to rest, i was in a 16 hr OSHA class and we learned about this video. the guy is dead, all that was left was his teeth. why it blew was because he was cranking the breaker the wrong way. im not an expert but i believe that when you relieve a charge from a breaker like that you turn it clockwise. i may be wrong but either way he was charging the breaker cause he wasnt paying attention. it overcharged and thats why it blew. no amount of PPE is gonna save you from that
Slevinsixtysix 1 year ago
he was racking a withdrawable breaker and probably they forgot some tools on its back, creating a short.... human error...
mliontrack 1 year ago
"Dammit Bob, where's the flashlight?" rofl
sazzonovjunior 1 year ago
How many amps would we be talking here? What the hell did they do to achieve such a bang, was it the 4th of July or something. Jokes, aside I sincerely hope they are OK.
pauloz386 1 year ago
How can it arcs, unless he is racking-in the breaker in its close position...
kadyokarding 1 year ago
@kadyokarding Maybe the other end of the line that was wired to the breaker wasnt done right. Then when it was being setup/switched on, Arc! Idk, Im just guessing. :p
ccraig412 1 year ago
Anyone in this vid hear of 'lock out tag out'?
spencnaz 1 year ago
@spencnaz yes
67tr876 1 year ago
@spencnaz There are alot of installations (hospitals for example) where shutting down an entire building worth of gear is not an option. Working equipment hot happens all the time, and you just gotta wear the protective gear, every time.
theloop82 10 months ago
We have breaker boxes in our server room. I won't go anywhere near them.
Neuroelectronic 1 year ago
The Man in the video dies 7 days after the arc flash accident.
pbgw123 1 year ago
this guy is now like two times smaller then he was, because the loss of water in the body
Frankfurtdabezzzt 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
LOL i THINK THAT GUY DIED, ALONG WITH THE AMERICAN FLAG. ITS BURNIN' TIME. LONG LIVE JIHAD
ChrisDoran696 2 years ago
I don't understand the UK. TV Tax, Suprize checks on firearms, Cameras on every street corner but they allow douchebags ragheads to take over, Get free housing and step all over their culture to the point of eradicating completly. Free speech for anyone who isn't of british blood it seems. I hope you trip and fall under a moving bus while your child video tapes it.
bluevidcam 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
and the same to you. Flag burning time? Yes lol. 9/11, more like 9 e-lol-en
ChrisDoran696 2 years ago
You have no friends. Just take a fukital. His death was not funny
bluevidcam 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
come on, he's only american. Theres enough fat fucks like that around anywaay... How about I mention your name in my flag burning vid?
ChrisDoran696 2 years ago
only if you wrap it around yourself.
bluevidcam 2 years ago
yeah alright
ChrisDoran696 2 years ago
dude you should stick to masturbation
dynamics1997 2 years ago
Im thinking that guy didnt make it.
1800nunyabiz 2 years ago
The voltage and current here just boggles my mind. On UHF TV transmitters I'm used to upward of 25kV beam voltage, but the current is very small, 2-4 amps maybe, in the klystron. I cannot imagine having the full potential of the utility to ground.
scason 2 years ago
Thats what it looked like to me as well.
he was using that spinning handle that charges it.
But hell, i wont even step in those rooms. I know those types of currents will reach out and touch you, even if your not doing anything stupid.
ganymedeIV4 2 years ago
Thanks for the info prince. I don't deal with nearly this much current and wasn't sure what the term meant. What would cause the explosion like what we see in the video?
scason 2 years ago
Yes, I'm curious about what that means too
PURELIGHT010 2 years ago
racking in iwhen you have a breaker with no contact you rack it out to make sure your contact arent toucjing and then rack it in so the breaker can be used while racking you should wear an arc flash suit we use 40 cal suits
bwal4 2 years ago
Could you guys educate me, I work in broadcasting on FM, AM and TV transmitters. What do you mean by "racking in" a breaker?
scason 2 years ago
the law of the eletrical worker
1 disconnect tension
2 verified if the tension i disconnected
3 work (i'm italian :D)
pazzibanalicrew 2 years ago
I know I have been lucky as I have done this many times.Two of my friends were badly burned at Gilman Paper Co.rolling in a 5 kv breaker that accidently racked on the buss when it hit the stops.The mechanical linkage was broken.This was a GE breaker.Please wear PPE. and sometimes you just have to isolate the gear to rack in and out unless done by remote. Ben IBEW 177
yamabunky 2 years ago
He did have his Ppe on the onage helmet he was on has a flash shield on but yes he could have had a flash suit on and arc gloves but a bang like that. That close is highly fatal. And being a sparky myself and being hit by 347 hurts but that is no coming back hope that never happens to me but he wasn't doing anything wrong. Stuff just happins .....
evilfro 2 years ago 2
Oh my God... that was horrible. I pray he had a quick death, but why wasn't he wearing any PPE?
KittyRokher 2 years ago
He should have been wearing a flash suit!!!
xxxstudmuffen 2 years ago 12
When I think about how many breakers I have racked in... What could have gone wrong? Breaker had a grounded component. Breaker went in wrong and got into two phases. Breaker was closed and that line was under large load. This looks fatal. I'm pretty sure it was unless the worker had all protective equipment in place and got away in time. Never seen anything like this on youtube.
thesixtiesguy 2 years ago 3
@thesixtiesguy I know, right? What a damn horrible video. Important, though. Too many electricians--especially the young cocky guys--think PPE is "unmanly" and a joke and will work on live high-voltage systems without any protection.
Kind of hard to laugh and toss back brews after work when your eyes and arms are gone and your whole face is a mass of scar tissue.
Take the extra time and take extra care, kids. You'll be glad when you can still hug your kids.
Bullzeye95 2 years ago 30
Yes it was fatal!
xxxstudmuffen 2 years ago
Did they die?WOW that was terrible!
KC8YOQ 2 years ago
the other guy that walked in one the frame just before the ark was on the phone.
th3s41nt 2 years ago
Holy crap....
Crankdead 2 years ago
are they installing this bucket with a load on it? why? looks like his co-worker (entering the frame just before the incident) may be trying to stop him.maybe the new component was faulty. always megger a breaker before insatalling it on a hot buss.
rondawwg420 2 years ago
OH FUCK IS HE OK? I mean there is a flash, boom, fire, then darkness. Shit, should be a lesson to all workers. Wear a blast suit or die.
Computergeew 2 years ago 3
O_O HOLY HELL
spikonaleash 2 years ago
We just found out today at work that we can no longer truck in a breaker by hand, they are ordering us remote mechs to crank them in because of shit like this....nasty
poleclimber67 2 years ago 3
What does "truck in a breaker" mean?
dsbassoon 2 years ago
what voltage was he switching at? looked like equivalent to 11kv gear to me, and poor guy.
tammas2000 2 years ago
ACTUALLY... arc flash can be as high as 35000 degrees Farenheit.
Just took my Arc Flash Course yesterday...
crazyrsix 2 years ago
I took 2 years of welding at my highschool, yea Arc Flash isnt fun to look at when u just learning the coarse lol
Wizardsquadron 2 years ago
and i know that Arc Flash from welding and the topic u are refeering are different but still you cannot see for awhile.
Wizardsquadron 2 years ago
No blast suit. One of the highest risk things you can do - racking in.
mike29571 2 years ago
OMG is that dude going to be ok?
wahkao1990 2 years ago
there was nothing left of him. this was in brazille, google the story
AnthraxByEmail 2 years ago
he was instantly killed with a arc flash like that the fire could easily pass 9000 degrees Celsius
IsThisMyName89 2 years ago
your incorrect, its about 4000 degrees f. not 9000 c
coalandnuclear 2 years ago
something similar happened 1 mounth before, when we saw the young engineer shouting "i m burning" , he was totaly burned and his body became black we were shocked, every body must use arc flash suits for protection.
emperor84 2 years ago
that was intense!
thendlessobsession 2 years ago
Many years back something similar happend to a coworker of mine on a little 1MVA 400Volt distribution center that was a bit beyond it's prime. He was in a special burn victim hospital for months. Safety and inspection standards went through the roof after that. Probably because the company lost millions in production, not because someone allmost died while doing a dangerous job without the proper protection.
conoba 2 years ago
This is used on the OSHA electric training program. Gentleman was not killed, but never went back to work as electrician again. Third degree burns........ months and months of recovery surgery and therapy.
bbally1754 2 years ago
Is it common practice to "rack" a breaker into a live buss? And what did the man likely do wrong?
quantumbits 2 years ago
Its is very common to rack a breaker into a live bus... under the assumption that the breaker is verified in the open position. This allows the breaker stabs to energize to bus potential with out picking up or dropping load like in this video. However accidents can happen and this is why anyone racking a breaker in to a bus is required to where arc protection gear.
AjFlyer98 2 years ago
Im not really familiar with heavy duty transmission gear like this, anyone know what voltage the gear was at, high or low, Im assuming its 3ph.
louvadeus2 2 years ago
I would say that it's a 13,200amp sub station.
As far as the electrician, without the proper PPE, he went up in flames. I'm willing to bet that he was in worse shape than what bbally1754 describes!
gyneman 2 years ago
Yeah, crazy... FUCKING crazy!
English2Elvish 3 years ago
Is there any more information, status on the electrician...?? was there a lockout and tagout procedure in place?
\Thomas
atb2003 3 years ago
It was in Bogota, Colombia, April 2007.
Slikhedgehog 3 years ago
Do you have a source? That video has been making its rounds with no expination. Someone on liveleak posted a fake reuters article on this video then later dismissing it as a fake.
cowtippingrocks 3 years ago
The first original source of it was liveleak. The commenter on Liveleak was lying, but the uploader of the video wasn't. I can't be sure that this was the cause for the 2007 blackouts but the uploader (being the first person on the net to get the original video is rcorrect about it being in Colombia recorded via CCTV). I don't really have much more info though.
I'd link you to it, but youtube won't accept links, the raw extended footage of this is on liveleak.
Slikhedgehog 3 years ago
Thanks for the info. I dont think that was the cause for the blackout. I think it had to do with something that happened outside. Just goes to show how much goes around on the net that isnt exactialy as it seems. Judging by that video, that guy was probably very seriously injured. I've had arc flash training and it dosent look like that guy was wearing any safety equiptment.
cowtippingrocks 3 years ago
True, he doesn't appear to have any PPE, other than a set of gloves? And some eyewear, but that flash was insane, so it'd be a wonder if he got out alive.
Although it's hard to see, I managed to spot him during the explosion in the higher-quality footage on the floor against the wall before running away from the camera.
Slikhedgehog 3 years ago
If you watch it frame by frame you can definitly make out his shadow on the wall behind him and it looks like he turned around. (around the 18 second mark) Hard to see what happens after that.
Im wondering if he was racking out a breaker under load or if there was some kind of mechanical failure.
It definitly makes me think every time I rack a breaker.
cowtippingrocks 3 years ago
Is it common practice to install a breaker onto a live buss?
quantumbits 2 years ago
My company stopped doing that recently due to a design flaw that was found in the breakers. If you rack in our out on a dead bus, that eliminates the potental for disaster.
cowtippingrocks 2 years ago
Yes, allmost allways. You can't shut down a whole production plant just to fix a small part of it, for example.
conoba 2 years ago
Did the lights go out for a few minutes at your house every time we rack a breaker at the power plant? It is dangerous work and the breakers must function properly they are designed to trip open when racking in or out of course they are not infallible that is why the Qualified Electrical Worker knows to wear that hot sweaty Arc Flash suit aka Bomb Suit, when operating live gear. From one who has been burned before by 120VAC.
sce56 2 years ago
Ha, It would be OK if it did if it saves lives. But I know some would find it unacceptable. The lights flash when they are rerouting local distribution or squirrel or limbs fall. Although it just surprises me, some find it annoying.. Also I think making the break under load is sometime not possible? I have a great respect for those guys, like when I see them replacing a pole, transferring live lines. I would not have the courage to do that kind of work.
quantumbits 2 years ago
suit is also called ppe suit, ive never heard someone call it a bomb suit.
coalandnuclear 2 years ago
yes you rack the breaker on to a live bus in the open position, close and lock the bomb doors and tell the operators to close the breaker.
Dutchywan 2 years ago