News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that to Gen Z. Parent comment

Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by WheelsAtLarge on Thursday January 05, 2023 @09:18PM (#34270116)
It's also highly dangerous. I knew a guy that was the electrician to a 50+ year old high rise. He could not turn off the power, don't know why, so he worked with live current all the time. He told me that he would go to the main power source and he could hear it crackle, while he worked on it,since there was so much current going through it.

He joked about it but, ya, no thank you.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by sbaiddn on Thursday January 05, 2023 @09:22PM (#34270146)
I dont know about residential buildings, but working on live circuits is a thing, and there are techniques to do it safish-ly. Namely dont touch two wires and dont be ground.

Linesmen do it quite a lot.

Linesmen is also one of the most dangerous jobs

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by dieselgate on Thursday January 05, 2023 @09:59PM (#34270409)
not trying to be a smarta$5 but suppose welding is working with a live circuit too
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by tlb on Thursday January 05, 2023 @10:13PM (#34270494)
Arc, TIG, and MIG welding is fairly low voltage, like 15 - 30 volts. To start the arc there's a brief high-voltage high-frequency burst, but it's current limited. So it's pretty safe as far as electrocution goes.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by bbarnett on Thursday January 05, 2023 @10:21PM (#34270550)
http://www.hydroquebec.com/learning/transport/grandes-distan...

Not to mention, 735kV, yes kilovolts, is a lot of juice.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by pauldardeau on Friday January 06, 2023 @12:05PM (#34277406)
I'm a hobby welder (going on 2 years). My inverter stick welder will go to 90 amps on a 120V outlet and up to 180 amps on a 240V outlet. It's not uncommon for engine drive welders (like what you see on trucks) to go up to 250 or 300 amps.

2 things that make welding relatively safe from electrocution are: (1) the steel you're welding on makes a much better path for electricity flow than your body (especially when you're wearing heavy welding gloves), (2) welding in a dry environment (not raining, not standing in water, not drenched in sweat, etc.).

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by sbaiddn on Friday January 06, 2023 @12:29PM (#34277852)
There's tons of tasks that are done with live circuits. Lots of singers I've been told.

I've also heard that there are a lot of electrocuted singers. I was never sure if that's a myth though

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by dugmartin on Thursday January 05, 2023 @10:08PM (#34270465)
The YouTube videos of linemen hanging off helicopters to work on high tension lines make me glad I have a desk job.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by IIsi50MHz on Thursday January 05, 2023 @10:56PM (#34270770)
Those linesmen are kept at the same electrical potential as the line, if I recall correctly.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by Justsignedup on Thursday January 05, 2023 @09:25PM (#34270168)
This. This is a real dangerous job. We talk about "police run into gunfights". yeah... "Electricians run into fatal power!"
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:America needs carpenters and plumbers. Try telling that t... by SamoyedFurFluff on Thursday January 05, 2023 @09:48PM (#34270326)
Not to toss flamebait, but… I don’t think police do run into gunfights.
[ Parent | on HN ]