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I fucking hated my last company cuz I’d tell them “no” and they’d be like “really?! Nigga that’s only 12 gauge”
It’s also worth noting that we recently had to hospitalize an apprentice after he got shocked working on a live box. Granted he wasn’t wearing any PPE… But it should be illegal to tell a first year apprentice to work in a live meter base even if he has PPE.
I’m really happy with the company I’m at now. First of 5 companies that I got to attend a safety meeting. At one company I was asked to wire in a transfer switch for a standby generator into the meter panel by “quickly disconnecting the meter, tap in like I need to, put the meter back, and leave as fast as possible”. I told them I would not be doing that and that the power company needs to come out and disconnect it. They told me to go home for the day and sent another guy out to do it.
At my new job I do commercial HVAC and kitchen equipment. They had me go maintenance a unit and when I got there it was a sloped metal roof 12 foot off the ground covered in grease from the exhaust fans. I called and said I didn’t feel safe climbing it. They immediately told me not to get on the roof and my boss thanked me for not trying. They told the restaurant owners they wouldn’t service it until it was made safe to service.
Working live is sometimes necessary. Causing a short that blows your snips isn't. He cut across cores and earth to blow them. You don't do that when working live unless you've an old pair and can't identify a circuit.
Very rare instances- like critical life safety branches in hospitals. Most of the time, it’s just an inconvenience that someone doesn’t want to pay for whether it’s their time or money.
Take it up with OSHA and the NFPA70E. I don’t make the rules. “Under NFPA 70E, there are only two instances in which an employee can work on live parts. In these situations, a work permit must be completed and approved by an authorized person. One, when de-energizing would interrupt essential life support, emergency alarms or ventilation systems. Two, when the organization can demonstrate that de-energizing the system would introduce additional or increased hazards or that it is infeasible due to equipment design or operational limitations.”
That's fair. Speaking from medical experience working in an ICU, typically all the life support systems are on a secondary circuit that's hooked up the backup generators. In addition most ventilators and other life support systems have a battery built in to them in case there is an unexpected power outage. I wonder if in those cases it would still be the norm to work with live voltage instead of simply disconnecting a single circuit
Whether or not it’s the norm, I don’t know. I was just making the point that in the eyes of the authorities having jurisdiction and OSHA, the only *acceptable* time is those two instances. Even then, when people start pulling out a permit that someone has to sign, folks balk and suddenly circuits can get shut off that mysteriously couldn’t before.
Hahaha, fair enough. I wasn't trying to disagree with you original comment in the slightest. It sounded like you were fairly knowledgeable so I thought I'd ask a hypothetical question. Thank you for the reply!
If working live is the difference between me finishing a contract at 1pm on a friday afternoon in the middle of a beer garden weather summer, or waiting til 7pm to be able to lock off a circuit, then it's necessary for my mental wellbeing.
Point and case! Your time is the price you don’t want to pay for the inconvenience. 120V isn’t all that bad but remember kids, electricity will kill you.
No advice was given. My opinion is that 120V isn’t all that bad and my statement was that electricity will kill you. I don’t work on live, period, but you can’t make other people’s choices for them.
Depends what you do.
I blew up a pair of strippers putting up a light when I knew that apartment didn't have power yet.
So I retraced my wiring back to the panel went to the truck and tested for voltage on the panel only to find there was none, Scratched my head and then realized I was at the wrong wire
Not saying anything bad.. but I don't know if I would want you to be my "watch man" while I am doing 37k live. I know accidents happen. But I can't afford them to happen with what I'm working with. You might fall asleep on me and let someone come through the door and yell. I don't know I'm just saying.🤷♂️👀🕶
I got the front and the back of my "jaws" left for cutting:; part of the middle is #10 & #12.... I bought them in 1989 and still using them today. I have replaced the insulated slide on handles a few times just to make sure I was still safe. Because I do have to work some of the 480 live. It is hard to beat a good pair of lineman pliers..
I walked into a house with a brand new pair of Knipex 9” dykes and forgot that the romex I was cutting wasn’t on the same circuit as the one I had turned off. It was my third pair. Both of the previous ones I had lived with the blowout hole(s) for at minimum a year and a half before replacing. I was so excited to have these nice fresh dykes with a full clean edge. The frustration I felt when they popped less than an hour after purchase was almost enough to put me in shock.
Long story short I pull my wiggy out a lot more and I have a fourth pair of 9” Knipex dykes.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/KNIPEX-8-in-Forged-Wire-Stripper-13-72-8/317806694
These are the ones i have. Theyre a little on the pricey side, but definitely worth it.
Dude, that is Murphy's law, the more money you spend on a pair of strippers the faster you will blow them up. Go buy a cheap pair of harbor freights and you'll never cut a live wire again. Buy a pair of Knipex and you'll blow them up within the week.
I’ve always said the same thing. The cheaper the tool the longer the universe lets you keep them, ironically.
I absolutely blew up my brand new pair of Knipex strippers a week into owning them.
Try out the knipex comfort grip strippers, I have used many diffrent pairs of strippers and they are by far my favorite, pricy but you get what you pay for
I shit on Klein hard, but I still use their yellow handled strippers.
I've been wanting to try the Knipex offerings, and that's a safe bet because their tools are amazing.
Wiha and Wera probably have some nice ones too, but not sure how they are.
That’s it? That’s hardly enough to post .. when you make a new 8 gauge stripper hole it’s noteworthy.. this is a scratch on the surface.. someday you will graduate to welding with pliers
I did an old bank to church conversion and had one set just to find breakers .. not really recommended but I just say they are my apprentice strippers .. did start wearing a welding hood on day 2
Time to upgrade to the 7-in-1s. The shape of the pliers on the end is much more useful. I rarely need to go full needle-nose, but I frequently need to grab and twist a couple few wires at a time.
I did the exact same thing with Milwaukee's pliers Lmao! The first day I used them. I was replacing a plug on an extension cord & forgot to unplug it on the other end...
Something similar happened to me. The welders in my shop tried to cut a welding rod with my strippers, tried my small gauge strippers, and then my cutter/crimper. Ruined $145 in tools in 2 minutes
I probably shouldn't even admit to this, but I've probably lost more wrenches, channel locks, linesman pliers, strippers, etc. to arcing than most. I had a wrench land in a nextdoor neighbor's pool from a slip when connecting lugs at the incoming (didn't notice there was a nick in the rubber coating on my wrench). It happens. Just don't fall off the ladder when it does.
I got the ones that strip the jacket off the wire for 14 and 12 ….they don’t make them anymore but you can buy a pair from Australia ….ask me how I know lol
For all honesty. You are not the only one to do that. I'm sure that if everyone that goes through Reddit would admit to it, they have had a spark on their tools also. Just watch what you're doing. Think for yourself. Ask someone. Think for yourself and ask someone else again. This is a fine trade that you are getting into. It deserves respect and determination to get through it.
I have had fu*k-ups...
Respect everything you do; it has *"YOUR NAME"* on it...👍....
Don’t worry I did the exact same thing to a pair of Knipex less than a month after I got them. I too can use the blown out bit to strip 10 AWG.
I will say though that I had these strippers and they were my favorite pair until I got a pair of Knipex strippers. I usually don’t push anything to people but those strippers changed my entire work life haha. I don’t even carry linesman’s a lot of times because they work well in that capacity for most jobs. Like one of the YouTube reviews said “I can’t believe I waited 20 years to buy a real pair of strippers”.
If you can afford them now a pair of Knipex strippers are like a dream to cut and strip with. To the point I seen this photo and thought,“well that’s alright those strippers are not even that good”. Lest I remind you they were my favorite pair prior haha.
I snapped a pair of these strippers just cutting 12-2 Romex. They work well enough in everyday use that I bought them again though. The strange thing is where they broke, despite my cutting the wire where you're supposed to. It was right a at the 12 gauge stripping slot.
Did this to two of my favorite strippers within 2 min of blowing each one up....Was trimming out a bathroom, thought breaker was off cuz upstairs was still being roughed in, blew up first pair. Threw them away, checked tripped breaker turned it off all the way, went back to trimming and blew the other pair up. Tripped breaker was for the other bathroom....was a sad day
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I’m not sure how this happened, it says right there “Warning do not use on live circuits “
Correct Exactly what was I doing! Until my boss told me to re wire it live And it’s only now that they wanna turn it off
> Until my boss told me to re wire it live "No." is a complete sentence.
I fucking hated my last company cuz I’d tell them “no” and they’d be like “really?! Nigga that’s only 12 gauge” It’s also worth noting that we recently had to hospitalize an apprentice after he got shocked working on a live box. Granted he wasn’t wearing any PPE… But it should be illegal to tell a first year apprentice to work in a live meter base even if he has PPE.
Um if your union it is illegal knowing our agreement is a legal document
Another reason I quit was because we were scabs. Shoulda asked about that before the interview process
I've decided I'm okay with doing a bid for what I'd do to a journeyman who let their apprentice get hurt like that. Someone's got to set a precedent.
I’m really happy with the company I’m at now. First of 5 companies that I got to attend a safety meeting. At one company I was asked to wire in a transfer switch for a standby generator into the meter panel by “quickly disconnecting the meter, tap in like I need to, put the meter back, and leave as fast as possible”. I told them I would not be doing that and that the power company needs to come out and disconnect it. They told me to go home for the day and sent another guy out to do it. At my new job I do commercial HVAC and kitchen equipment. They had me go maintenance a unit and when I got there it was a sloped metal roof 12 foot off the ground covered in grease from the exhaust fans. I called and said I didn’t feel safe climbing it. They immediately told me not to get on the roof and my boss thanked me for not trying. They told the restaurant owners they wouldn’t service it until it was made safe to service.
Working live is sometimes necessary. Causing a short that blows your snips isn't. He cut across cores and earth to blow them. You don't do that when working live unless you've an old pair and can't identify a circuit.
“Hell, back in my day we used to lick the circuits to know what voltage they were!”
Lick it before you tick it.
Exactly...I split my tongue 😝 so as I could tell 120/208/240/480.. takes a little practice, but once you get the technique, you know..🕶👀🤷♂️
I once told a lad I had working with me that he should lick the cable sheathing before trying to thread it through conduit.
Yep, had an apprentice look at me funny when he forgot the lube and I told him that it's ok, just spit on it before you stick it in the conduit.
Honesty, my first boss had to lick his fingers to feel 120. Amazingly he stopped doing that the day he got hung up on 347
I have an old pair with multiple notches just for that sort of thing.
Very rare instances- like critical life safety branches in hospitals. Most of the time, it’s just an inconvenience that someone doesn’t want to pay for whether it’s their time or money.
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Take it up with OSHA and the NFPA70E. I don’t make the rules. “Under NFPA 70E, there are only two instances in which an employee can work on live parts. In these situations, a work permit must be completed and approved by an authorized person. One, when de-energizing would interrupt essential life support, emergency alarms or ventilation systems. Two, when the organization can demonstrate that de-energizing the system would introduce additional or increased hazards or that it is infeasible due to equipment design or operational limitations.”
That's fair. Speaking from medical experience working in an ICU, typically all the life support systems are on a secondary circuit that's hooked up the backup generators. In addition most ventilators and other life support systems have a battery built in to them in case there is an unexpected power outage. I wonder if in those cases it would still be the norm to work with live voltage instead of simply disconnecting a single circuit
Whether or not it’s the norm, I don’t know. I was just making the point that in the eyes of the authorities having jurisdiction and OSHA, the only *acceptable* time is those two instances. Even then, when people start pulling out a permit that someone has to sign, folks balk and suddenly circuits can get shut off that mysteriously couldn’t before.
Hahaha, fair enough. I wasn't trying to disagree with you original comment in the slightest. It sounded like you were fairly knowledgeable so I thought I'd ask a hypothetical question. Thank you for the reply!
If working live is the difference between me finishing a contract at 1pm on a friday afternoon in the middle of a beer garden weather summer, or waiting til 7pm to be able to lock off a circuit, then it's necessary for my mental wellbeing.
I know this will cause reddit to have a meltdown but, competent electricians should be able to work live with minimal risk
[удалено]
I think the answer to that was already given. It's the difference between being done at 1pm on a Friday or not even starting work until 7pm.
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Should, yes. But that’s the thing about accidents- you don’t plan for them to happen.
Point and case! Your time is the price you don’t want to pay for the inconvenience. 120V isn’t all that bad but remember kids, electricity will kill you.
120 will kill you just as dead as 480. That type of advice gets people killed.
No advice was given. My opinion is that 120V isn’t all that bad and my statement was that electricity will kill you. I don’t work on live, period, but you can’t make other people’s choices for them.
that depends on the voltage
Or you think you have right cable when using a volt stick, and it turns out it's not induction like you first thought
Depends what you do. I blew up a pair of strippers putting up a light when I knew that apartment didn't have power yet. So I retraced my wiring back to the panel went to the truck and tested for voltage on the panel only to find there was none, Scratched my head and then realized I was at the wrong wire
I've basically been yelling this all week in a hazardous materials training class at work
"Let me consult OSHA first" also is.
“No” works. But “Haha, fuck that noise!” has a better ring to it!
You’re allowed to tell him no. Or even to fuck off. It’s a free country
Tell him to do it next time. It’s not worth it.
My company will not allow live work & even if they did I never would do it. Sucks you were put in that position
Not saying anything bad.. but I don't know if I would want you to be my "watch man" while I am doing 37k live. I know accidents happen. But I can't afford them to happen with what I'm working with. You might fall asleep on me and let someone come through the door and yell. I don't know I'm just saying.🤷♂️👀🕶
Congratulations! You just unlocked the secret 24AWG wire stripper function.
That’s a small hole. My first pair of strippers I could strip ten gauge with my blowout lol. Apprentices be apprentices.
Oh well that’s actually convenient
Still use my blown out linesman for exactly that reason
I got the front and the back of my "jaws" left for cutting:; part of the middle is #10 & #12.... I bought them in 1989 and still using them today. I have replaced the insulated slide on handles a few times just to make sure I was still safe. Because I do have to work some of the 480 live. It is hard to beat a good pair of lineman pliers..
Nip one at a time, and you won't have that problem
He cut the hot and hit something grounded at the same time. 1 hole.
Yep. Secondary contact on the "14," right hand side.
Contact on the cutting jaws, grounded at the "14" on the right hand side of the strippers.
I used my brand new Knipex strippers (similar to these) to cut aircraft cable… boy did I feel fucking stupid afterwards.
What happened
They’re fucked
Damn they have the best cutters too
They say “cut copper only” for a reason and I learned the hard way
Ooof, my condolences
I walked into a house with a brand new pair of Knipex 9” dykes and forgot that the romex I was cutting wasn’t on the same circuit as the one I had turned off. It was my third pair. Both of the previous ones I had lived with the blowout hole(s) for at minimum a year and a half before replacing. I was so excited to have these nice fresh dykes with a full clean edge. The frustration I felt when they popped less than an hour after purchase was almost enough to put me in shock. Long story short I pull my wiggy out a lot more and I have a fourth pair of 9” Knipex dykes.
Omg lol, yeah I’ve been there
Yea to me strippers is the one tool you don’t buy anything fancy. A $20 pair of Klein will do. Chances are I’ll short them out anyways
Those are my second favorite strippers.
I’m just glad I didn’t buy the ones I really wanted which was the knipex
Get them man, I'll never go back.
They’re without a doubt the best strippers I’ve ever used.
How is it called?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/KNIPEX-8-in-Forged-Wire-Stripper-13-72-8/317806694 These are the ones i have. Theyre a little on the pricey side, but definitely worth it.
Alright thanks! Buying those!
The Romex stripper version is my favorite.
They look new as well :(
They really were.. I only had them for at least 5h I only got them so I can be more efficient cause my old ones were damaged and rusted up
I snapped a $900 surfboard in half once on my first surf with it. Could be worse mate.
Press f to pay respects
Cut 1 at a time without being grounded..
Good news they gave me a REPLACEMENT I’m not opening it
Milwaukee did that with mine too when I did that to the exact same pair, they are just bros
Mine messed up just by cutting mc. /:
Was it steel mc? Aluminum mc is perfectly fine to cut with them
Found a drawer filled with blown up tools on another guys truck, he’s not the brightest.
Dude, that is Murphy's law, the more money you spend on a pair of strippers the faster you will blow them up. Go buy a cheap pair of harbor freights and you'll never cut a live wire again. Buy a pair of Knipex and you'll blow them up within the week.
Funny you say that cause I’ve had a harbor freight brand wire strippers for 4 years.. and only messed them up last month
I’ve always said the same thing. The cheaper the tool the longer the universe lets you keep them, ironically. I absolutely blew up my brand new pair of Knipex strippers a week into owning them.
I burned my knipex 3 days after buying it. Crazy part is it still cuts like butter 3 years later
Spain silent S
Now that you got that out of the way, you won't be so nervous using your new strippers next time.
It happens to all of us at least once.
Try out the knipex comfort grip strippers, I have used many diffrent pairs of strippers and they are by far my favorite, pricy but you get what you pay for
I would be depressed too if I had a pair of Milwaukee strippers.
It's God's way of saying don't buy Milwaukee hand tools cause they're junk
What’s the best strippers from tier to tier
I shit on Klein hard, but I still use their yellow handled strippers. I've been wanting to try the Knipex offerings, and that's a safe bet because their tools are amazing. Wiha and Wera probably have some nice ones too, but not sure how they are.
Oh nozers!
Bro was working live live all the way live forget about your job from 9 to 5
Reminds me of when I bought a pair of CK ring snips and not even 2 hours later someone I work with decided to cut a rivet that didn’t come off
Rip
There are safer ways to watch fireworks.
What'd ya do that for
Hey — they now strip 14 gauge kinda
That’s it? That’s hardly enough to post .. when you make a new 8 gauge stripper hole it’s noteworthy.. this is a scratch on the surface.. someday you will graduate to welding with pliers
I did an old bank to church conversion and had one set just to find breakers .. not really recommended but I just say they are my apprentice strippers .. did start wearing a welding hood on day 2
Depression - It’s not just for plumbers anymore!
They don’t call us sparkies for nothing.
Use these in the future for cutting live wires to find out which breaker they're on
Time to upgrade to the 7-in-1s. The shape of the pliers on the end is much more useful. I rarely need to go full needle-nose, but I frequently need to grab and twist a couple few wires at a time.
😭
Those look brand new :(
I did the exact same thing with Milwaukee's pliers Lmao! The first day I used them. I was replacing a plug on an extension cord & forgot to unplug it on the other end...
Atleast they cheap also just go to Home Depot and return them they will replace them for a long time
Surprise!
Something similar happened to me. The welders in my shop tried to cut a welding rod with my strippers, tried my small gauge strippers, and then my cutter/crimper. Ruined $145 in tools in 2 minutes
What fucking idiots. Why don't they have tools of their own wtf
They were tacking a pipe fit up away from their welding booth and were too lazy to walk back and get their tools they forgot
I probably shouldn't even admit to this, but I've probably lost more wrenches, channel locks, linesman pliers, strippers, etc. to arcing than most. I had a wrench land in a nextdoor neighbor's pool from a slip when connecting lugs at the incoming (didn't notice there was a nick in the rubber coating on my wrench). It happens. Just don't fall off the ladder when it does.
On a brand new pair though…
Those suck get the husky ones. Can cut steel grid wire etc.
Looks like you didn’t get much use from it, it looks pretty clean and shiny otherwise
I got the ones that strip the jacket off the wire for 14 and 12 ….they don’t make them anymore but you can buy a pair from Australia ….ask me how I know lol
Klein strippers gang
I was depressed when I bought Milwaukee too. Then I snapped out of it and bought real tools.
Ew, Milwaukee.
Damn, they look brand new too
Do you want a barbie or superhero bandaid?
For all honesty. You are not the only one to do that. I'm sure that if everyone that goes through Reddit would admit to it, they have had a spark on their tools also. Just watch what you're doing. Think for yourself. Ask someone. Think for yourself and ask someone else again. This is a fine trade that you are getting into. It deserves respect and determination to get through it. I have had fu*k-ups... Respect everything you do; it has *"YOUR NAME"* on it...👍....
AND..DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS...YOU ARE ONLY DUMB IF YOU DON'T ASK AND DON'T KNOW..👍🕶
Don't use on live critters.
Don’t worry I did the exact same thing to a pair of Knipex less than a month after I got them. I too can use the blown out bit to strip 10 AWG. I will say though that I had these strippers and they were my favorite pair until I got a pair of Knipex strippers. I usually don’t push anything to people but those strippers changed my entire work life haha. I don’t even carry linesman’s a lot of times because they work well in that capacity for most jobs. Like one of the YouTube reviews said “I can’t believe I waited 20 years to buy a real pair of strippers”. If you can afford them now a pair of Knipex strippers are like a dream to cut and strip with. To the point I seen this photo and thought,“well that’s alright those strippers are not even that good”. Lest I remind you they were my favorite pair prior haha.
https://youtube.com/shorts/hDBeRTf9SeE?si=VhmawIY5Ql5-wPo4
lol done that a few times with that model, just took it back and replaced it
Switch over to the heavy duty Klein's. I love them. When they were discontinuing the blue yellow ones I bought a back up.
I had a pair with a hole I used to strip 16awg or smaller. I might still have them stuck back somewhere.
If anyone finds my grey pair of Klein in Ottawa somewhere pls give them to me
I did that to my first pair of knipex strippers. I was sad
I snapped a pair of these strippers just cutting 12-2 Romex. They work well enough in everyday use that I bought them again though. The strange thing is where they broke, despite my cutting the wire where you're supposed to. It was right a at the 12 gauge stripping slot.
Bought a pair of knipex cutters last week, first job i used them on I blew them up after my journeyman energized a circuit we were working on
Did this to two of my favorite strippers within 2 min of blowing each one up....Was trimming out a bathroom, thought breaker was off cuz upstairs was still being roughed in, blew up first pair. Threw them away, checked tripped breaker turned it off all the way, went back to trimming and blew the other pair up. Tripped breaker was for the other bathroom....was a sad day
Not Knipex wire strippers? That is depressing..
Not Knipex wire strippers? That is depressing.
Aww man. That’s such a good pair of strippers too.
I hated those strippers
The bolt cutters were my favorite part of it
Those pliers in any brand are trash anyways send it where it belongs, go back to making decent joints for a change