Mystery help needed, firemen, electrical
Mystery to me anyway. Would you happen to know how electricity could still be flowing in these examples even though the electric meter is pulled? I don't understand how if the meter is out and the neu...
Forum Discussion
In the first example, the open neutral was on the OTHER duplex apartment, not the one with the fire. Neutral and ground are bonded together in the main panel, and the ground also connects to a cold water pipe in the house.
Let's call the duplex with the fire #1 and the other one #2. So when they pulled the meter on #1, #2 still had power. BUT, #2 had an open neutral, so power was flowing through the ground path from that panel since it couldn't return to the power co through the neutral. Because the grounds all come together at the water pipes, power was actually backfeeding into #1 via it's ground, which in turn energized anything that was grounded.
I have read some reports on the plumbing forum of plumbers getting shocked when cutting a copper pipe for this reason. The house next door has an open neutral, or there is one on the pole down the block (second scenario on the video), so there is power flowing to ground through the pipes. When the plumber cuts the pipe, he opens the circuit to ground and gets a shock as the power wants to flow through him now. It's not full house voltage because there are numerous paths to ground, no just that single pipe.
So even if the electric in your house is 100% OK, you can still get a shock or have these problems if there is an open ground at your neighbor's or on your block.
Let's call the duplex with the fire #1 and the other one #2. So when they pulled the meter on #1, #2 still had power. BUT, #2 had an open neutral, so power was flowing through the ground path from that panel since it couldn't return to the power co through the neutral. Because the grounds all come together at the water pipes, power was actually backfeeding into #1 via it's ground, which in turn energized anything that was grounded.
I have read some reports on the plumbing forum of plumbers getting shocked when cutting a copper pipe for this reason. The house next door has an open neutral, or there is one on the pole down the block (second scenario on the video), so there is power flowing to ground through the pipes. When the plumber cuts the pipe, he opens the circuit to ground and gets a shock as the power wants to flow through him now. It's not full house voltage because there are numerous paths to ground, no just that single pipe.
So even if the electric in your house is 100% OK, you can still get a shock or have these problems if there is an open ground at your neighbor's or on your block.
