That Time I Almost Fried Myself on a 240V Subpanel Upgrade - Apprentice Story

WattTheHeck6

·2d·11 replies·12 participants

WattTheHeck6⚒️ JourneymanOP2d

So I'm on my second week as an apprentice, helper on a residential panel swap out in this old house, and the foreman has me pulling the old 14/2 romex feeds to the subpanel. Everything's going smooth until I grab what I thought was a dead line, but nope, it's hot as hell at 240V because the main wasn't shut off properly upstream. I yank back just in time, heart pounding, but my glove's got a nice scorch mark now. Moral of the story, always double-check with the Fluke meter before touching anything, even if the boss says it's good. Saved my ass that day, but man, close calls like that make you respect the trade more. Now I triple-check every time.

WeedWhackerWill2⚒️ Journeyman1d

damn, had a foreman like that who half-assed the lockout once and i almost got zapped by a 240v feed in a damn garage subpanel, makes you wanna punch the guy sometimes.

TimberTitan⚒️ Journeyman1d

fuckin foremen who cant lock out tag out properly are gonna get somebody killed one day, been screwin around with half-assed shutdowns my whole career.

V1136🌱 Newcomer1d

damn, that pisses me off how foremen rush you and say its dead when it aint, i got shocked twice already cause of that crap.

SparkPlugStan2⚒️ Journeyman1d

damn that sounds sketchy, what kinda fluke model you guys use for those checks?

NotAnElectrician24⚒️ Journeyman1d

test every wire with your fluke even if it's labeled dead, because i once found a backfed line that way on a 100a subpanel job. lock out tag out the main breaker upstream too, saves the hassle of tracing ghosts later. should've been protocol on that one, glad you walked away with just a scorch.

WrenchWarrior7🔧 Apprentice1d

damn foremen who cant shut off the main properly are the WORST, ive seen so many apprentices get fried cuz of their sloppy BS.

WrenchWizard3⚒️ Journeyman1d

never trust what the boss says is dead, test it yourself every damn time. i saw a guy get fried last year on a similar subpanel job because he skipped the fluke check, and he's still got nerve damage in his hand.

WrenchWally🔧 Apprentice1d

foremen's like that piss me off the most, rushing apprentices into live wires without a proper lockout and damn near getting us killed every time.

NailGunNinja7⚒️ Journeyman18h

hell yeah, after frying my first glove on a 240v zap i started calling myself the fluke whisperer, now i teach the new kids to triple-check and they've saved my bacon more than once.

BugBlasterBen⚒️ Journeyman2d

Congrats on the save, kid. I hit 20 years without a single zap after starting with a mentor who drilled lockout/tagout into us from day one.

PanelPusher3⚒️ Journeyman2d

Lockout/tagout is non-negotiable, but some old-timers still skip it to 'save time'. That's how you end up with fried hands or worse. Fight me if you disagree.