240 safety switch
- Thread starter wantacoe
- Start date
Power is connected at the top terminals, connecting power at the bottom will create a very dangerous condition that would mean the fuses are always live even if the switch is off.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
only if you want to feel a tingle when changing fuses
Last edited:
sparky 1971
Well-known member
That reminds me of an apprentice I had back in about 2006ish. He was actually finished with the schooling, but he was in the National Guard and had been deployed so he didn't have enough hours in for the IBEW to declare him a Journeyman yet. He did tell me several times that with him, the boss had a cheap journeyman though. I got a little bit of grief from him since I had been organized in and had never gone to any kind of schooling at all. We were sent out to install a heat cable for a gutter at a furniture store. The customer also requested that we install a lit when on pilot switch. It was a fairly straight forward project, but when we finished the switch was lit no matter the position. Easy fix, the line and load needed swapped. Whizbang, which is what another of the guys called him, informed me that he always put the switch leg on top because, and I quote, "the light is usually up, so when the switch is pointing up, the handle should be pointing at the switch leg". It took me a couple of seconds to process the info I had just been given, but when I figured it out, I just told him a switch is a disconnect, line goes on top.
Many years ago was helping a friend change a compressor on a roof, 208V 3Ø, rotation was wrong & the easiest spot to do it was at the disco, which was a 30A NEMA 3R I turned it off and started to loosen the lugs but stopped & did a conduit trace, it was then I realized that some doofus had reverse fed the switch & was about remove live conductors, changed course & did it at the compressor, but that story is another reason to check if power is off, it could have been a big problem.
nadogail
Well-known member
Occasionally I found a disconnect that been fed from the bottom rather than the top.
Some “Electricians” don’t realize the trap they have left for another to fall into.
Some “Electricians” don’t realize the trap they have left for another to fall into.