shop-talk supported in part by Fat Chance Garage
http://fatchancegarage.com
> Never heard of a power company htat would do that. Teh contacts behind
> the meter or deadly, and if anything happens they are liable.
Can't see how that's any worse than trying to work on a hot box, which is the
alternative. And the box is mine, even though they own the meter. Even in
lawsuit-happy California, I can't see how removing the lock so my licensed
electrician can work on my wiring makes the power co liable if I do it myself.
> don't
> remove one yourself, if you get it cocked sideways and ground the
> contacts it can vaporize parts of the meter and blown moten glas and
> metla all over you.
The meter is mounted into a socket, not a whole lot different in concept than a
wall outlet except it has 4 prongs and lots of separation instead of insulation
between them. At least with the design of my box, there is no chance of
shorting the line with the meter. The exposed contacts on the back of the meter
are not long enough to reach from the always hot input in the box, to anything
that is grounded or connected to the other leg.
Which is a good thing, since removing the meter is the only way to kill power to
the box, short of climbing the pole and removing the fuse at the transformer.
The power co pulls the meter too, when they need to kill my box. The design
seems to be common around here, although I assume it no longer meets current
code.
> Information form a power coop safety film.
Does anyone remember when it "wasn't safe" to wire your own telephone ? Same
concept, the power company (and their union) wants to keep you dependent on
them. The REMC was particularly bad about it, they didn't want you to make any
electrical connection without consulting them first, so their man could come out
and screw things up for you. Fortunately I noticed when they mis-wired my house
trailer, before closing the main breaker.
Randall
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