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From: Arny Krueger on 27 Dec 2005 23:12 "Dale Farmer" <dale(a)cybercom.net> wrote in message news:43B2091C.6B8509AB(a)cybercom.net This generated a flurry of posts when he was killed on Oct 30. Investigation finds electrical fault in the water heater energized the pool, which completed to ground when he grabbed the properly installed and grounded microphone. http://www.mikeholt.com/files/PDF/Tragedy_Strikes_Texas_Church.PDF
From: Pooh Bear on 28 Dec 2005 00:05 Arny Krueger wrote: > "Dale Farmer" <dale(a)cybercom.net> wrote in message > news:43B2091C.6B8509AB(a)cybercom.net > > This generated a flurry of posts when he was killed > on Oct 30. Investigation finds electrical fault in the > water heater energized the pool, which completed > to ground when he grabbed the properly installed > and grounded microphone. > > http://www.mikeholt.com/files/PDF/Tragedy_Strikes_Texas_Church.PDF " the older wiring was not up to current electrical codes and lacked a ground wire. Additionally the outlet was not a GFCI ( ground-fault circuit interrupter ) outlet, which would also have prevented the accident even without a ground wire present. " I'm staggered that the USA still has ungrounded AC mains circuits ! Graham
From: TimPerry on 28 Dec 2005 00:31 "Pooh Bear" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:43B21D2B.2A18C431(a)hotmail.com... > > > Arny Krueger wrote: > > > "Dale Farmer" <dale(a)cybercom.net> wrote in message > > news:43B2091C.6B8509AB(a)cybercom.net > > > > This generated a flurry of posts when he was killed > > on Oct 30. Investigation finds electrical fault in the > > water heater energized the pool, which completed > > to ground when he grabbed the properly installed > > and grounded microphone. > > > > http://www.mikeholt.com/files/PDF/Tragedy_Strikes_Texas_Church.PDF > > " the older wiring was not up to current electrical codes and lacked a > ground wire. > > Additionally the outlet was not a GFCI ( ground-fault circuit > interrupter ) outlet, which would also have prevented the accident > even without a ground wire present. " > > I'm staggered that the USA still has ungrounded AC mains circuits ! > > Graham > i was in a barn here last month that was being fed by a 2 wire circuit from the farmhouse via overhead wires and used knob and tube wiring. the wires were loosely swinging in the breeze and running through trees and only a few feet above head height. the house was mostly 2 wire outlets.
From: BillHart,KarenPierce on 28 Dec 2005 00:45 > I'm staggered that the USA still has ungrounded AC mains circuits ! There is a lot of old wiring still around. New wiring in nearly any area will be installed with safety ground. In most locations with increased hazard (especially swimming pools and hot tubs, which should also cover baptismals) codes require GFCI (I think you call it RCD). BH ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----
From: Joe Kesselman on 28 Dec 2005 00:48
Pooh Bear wrote: > I'm staggered that the USA still has ungrounded AC mains circuits ! Remember, we have some of the oldest home AC wiring. There are still some buildings here on the East Coast with "knob and tube" wiring which has never been updated, though that's now uncommon. There are certainly a lot of older houses that were wired without a safety ground, and they tend to be updated only when a specific need arises or the building changes hands. (The real problem is that too many of these have three-prong outlets on those two-wire lines, installed by some homeowner who didn't care that this was misleading.) As the report points out, older wiring may not be up to code; nobody may have noticed, nobody may have cared, and unless a serious inspection is done (see above re building changing hands) people may simply be assuming it's good enough. Church buildings are *notorious* for being maintained on the "god will provide; it's easier to get the congregation to pay for repair than for prevention" principle. I consider combining that approach with a baptismal pool to be criminally negligent, but I can't say I'm completely surprised that it happened. I get the impression that American consumers are less paranoid about electricity than Europeans are (and probably less respectful of it than we should be). On the other hand, we're working at half your voltages, which leaves a bit more room for stupidity. On the other other hand, there's some evidence that 60Hz is a worse frequency for provoking cardiac effects than 50Hz. I'm reminded of an electrician friend of my grandfather's who had his own system for determining the voltage on a circuit: make sure he wasn't grounded so there was no risk of hand-to-hand or hand-to-foot shock, and swipe two fingers of one hand rapidly across the live contacts. If his muscles twitched painlessly, it was 120 volts; if it stung, it was 240, if it burned him, it was 480... |