Accidental Electrical Contact

[treetrash]

Service drops are weather coated not insulated. They should not be touched. I just sat through a safety meeting last week where a lineman was in tears telling a story of a friend who did not respect the secondary he was working near. Little kids having to go to their fathers funeral is not a story that is fun to hear. If I die that sucks for me but it is my family that has to live with it. Just please be carefull with that stuff. Glad your O.K.

 

[Jamin Mayer]

Service drops are weather coated not insulated.

Good point.

 

[Blinky]

Service drops are weather coated not insulated.

Not completely true. The outer jacket is weather coating. The phase conductors are individually jacketed with 600v insulation. In EHAP we're taught it's just a weather coating but that's not electrically feasible because there would be phase to phase or phase to ground contact.

They should not be touched. I just sat through a safety meeting last week where a lineman was in tears telling a story of a friend who did not respect the secondary he was working near. Little kids having to go to their fathers funeral is not a story that is fun to hear. If I die that sucks for me but it is my family that has to live with it. Just please be carefull with that stuff. Glad your O.K.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Al Smith]

Actually most triplex has cross link poly insulation [xlp] which is a tough as they come. Nothing though will prevent the stuff from getting chaffed through by rubbing against a tree building or what ever.

The older single conductor service drops used some tar coated stuff called weather proof which of course it was not after say 40 or more years in the elements. If you run into this antiquated stuff it has about as much insulting qualities as a bare wire .Like none at all,beware.

 

[NeTree]

River, I'm glad you made out okay. You have no idea how lucky you got.

This will probably sound a little harsh, but this is exactly why people who aren't specifically trained to work around power lines need to yield to those who are. Unless you are specifically trained and qualified, it's actually illegal for you to be there.

First rule is to clear the line using insulated tools from a safe platform. THEN you can work the rest of the tree using normal means. Most utility companies will do this part for you at no charge (pardon the pun) if you don't have the equipment to do it.

Stay safe, brother.

 

[Jonseredbred]

In simpler terms River, your first cut should have been that limb in question w/ a fiberglass pole saw from the ground.

 

[stehansen]

Our utility won't clear service drops. But one time I had to prune a tree that was growing up into the primaries and I had the customer call requesting the lines be cleared and they did it in 4 days. Trees Inc. came and did it for the Modesto Irrigation District. I was very impressed, I thought it would take a long time for them to schedule it.

 

[NeTree]

History has taught me that if they say they won't clear it, an offer to drop it yourself will usually get them there on the double.

I did a removal a few years ago where the power company had guyed a power pole to the tree. I called three times to ask them to remove the guy so I could do the job. After about three weeks, I called and told them I was dropping the tree the next day whether they had removed the guy wire or not. Sure enough, they were there bright and early. =D

 

[MasterBlaster]

History has taught me that if they say they won't clear it, an offer to drop it yourself will usually get them there on the double.

That may work great when you rip the service drop from the transformer/pole, but what happens when you tear out the customer's fascia board and weatherhead?

 

[RIVERRAT]

In simpler terms River, your first cut should have been that limb in question w/ a fiberglass pole saw from the ground.

They dont make a pole long enough. Not any that I have seen as pole saws for our industry. Adding extensions to an existing pole would have been silly. The power company would not have messed with it.

 

[Al Smith]

The power company usually keeps the drop are pretty clear on their right of ways.

Where the problem lies is when home owners plant a Christmas tree close to the house thinking it will remain small forever. Before you know it,it grows into the service drop while the roots undermine the foundation making a real mess of things.

I have a couple of Norfolk pines myself that I've got to clear out next spring before they get into the 7200 that feeds my transformer.I clipped them about 4 or 5 years ago but they continue to grow.Danged trees must be 80 feet by now.They are large enough that I can wiggle up through the limbs.The drop is buried.

 

[Cobleskill]

I have seen cases where squirrels have chewed a lot of insulation off secondarys. To the point of seeing some bare aluminum. Keep your eyes wide open and go slow.

 

[JonnyHart]

BTW, a few months following my accident, we had bad snow storm that caused alot of tree damage. I went to work subbing for Erie County, and they put me and every other sub-contractor through EHAP certification classes.
I highly recommend employers put all workers through this. Extremely educational, and it can save your life.
So yeah, at the time of my accident, I really wasn't supposed to be so close to the wires.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

i try not to mess with electric. In younger years i've felt tingling in the tree several times. Even with a house drop of 240; you have to remeber that it is the amps, not volts that kills, and throws fuses. But, outside the house; you are before the fuses....

After the hurricanes; we saw several cable and telephone lines down, that you'd think were okay. But, if you lead in with hairs of forearm you could see slight movement........ Thus, any wire is suspect; especially in such circumstances.

In a dry environment; with rubber tires and wood pads and/or isolated outriggers you lift is supposed to be isolated if not touching anything else(?). Also, if someone does get shocked in lift; some have gotten killed trying to save them by climbing on to rig to get to lower controls; inadvertently offering charged chasis route to ground. They say to jump so that you don't touch ground and chasis at same time; but even this is risky; especially in damp circumstances.

When i was a teenager; in the next lil'town over; some high power line went down at the road during a storm. After the storm, this man came out of his trailer onto the wooden porch and dropped dead. Someone came out to see what was wrong with gramps; and fell over. Eventually the whole trailer emptied out; and 3 generations of a family where wiped out that day. They said the line was such high voltage; it formed some kind of death dome around it. As folks wandered outside of the grounded trailer; they were killed dead. Shit ain't nuthin'to mess with!

Glad to 'ear you are still here to tell the tale!

MTL Safety and gross pix page

 

[Frans]

RR, I just checked in with this thread;

Did Charlie give you a hard time with this?

 

[Stumper]

Jeff. Glad you are okay. Our local utility is really good about dropping service lines for tree work-they require sceduling 3 days in advance but have ALWAYS shown up on time or a few minutes early and are back within 30 minutes when I call for the reinstall.

 

[Al Smith]

. Even with a house drop of 240; you have to remeber that it is the amps, not volts that kills, and throws fuses. But, outside the house; you are before the fuses....

.... but you have to remember that amperage is a product of voltage divided by resistance.Your body resistance does not change unless you are protected by rubber gloves,sleeves etc. ie protective gear.

Unprotected contact with the normal 7200 volt distrubution lines[primary] could in theory subject your body to the possiblity of passing a current of 30 times the amount as would contact across 240. Both of course could be lethal.

 

[Blinky]

Another thing about high voltage... if the primaries are in contact with any part of the tree, the higher the voltage, the more current the tree is capable of conducting. That's why you should clear all contact from the tree using insulated tools and a bucket if necessary before climbing.

 

[RIVERRAT]

RR, I just checked in with this thread;

Did Charlie give you a hard time with this?

We discussed it. I let him know I was well aware of why it happened & knew what precautions I would take to prevent it from recurring.
It's not something either of us took lightly

 

[xtremetrees]

I think as long as you own that chainsaw it will never happen again. So, your good for 7 more years bro.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Sorry, but this is just like saying; you already fell once,so don't have to tie in any more IMLHO.

i think each occurance is an independant spin of the roulette wheel. So, you wouldn't expect your number to come up twice; but it is not bound not to; because it all ready did.

 

[sotc]

even if you still have the same flip line?

 

[RIVERRAT]

Oh come on fellas, give him a break. Xtreme was kidding