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User Info America's Scam, Part 65023; entered at 2017-11-27 22:29:54
Dennisglover
Posts: 1132
Registered: 2012-12-05 Huntsville, AL
This talk about large arcs in welding and other situations is taking me back to early 1971, at Electrician's Mate "A" School at Great Lakes.

It was during the direct current training that the story got told. You've got a 400 volt generator capable of putting out about 500 amps. (If my arithmetic is right, that's a 200 kilowatt plant, assuming no losses, etc.. "Main power distribution" often-as-not referred to current taken from the generating set onto a "bus bar", a huge piece of copper (3" by 6" cross section) going to the load center.

At one or more places along that bus bar there was a thing called a "breakable link", sort of a clamp like thing made of steel that bridged a gap along the bus bar's long dimension. When the breakable link was engaged it carried current well enough, I'd guess, with acceptable losses, etc. Break the breakable link, and you get no current to the load center. To break the link, one used a rather heavily insulated T-handle wrench attached to the proper diameter socket to release the bolt.

Now, here's the rest of the story. Supposedly, at some point in time aboard a DC powered ship, an Electrician's Mate striker got the order to break a link on a fully loaded bus. The way these links were built, one could release the bolt, but if the circuit was still under load, it wouldn't open under gravity alone. Young striker had his orders, to open the link, and when it didn't fall open, he used his T-handle wrench to interrupt the circuit, and in a most catastrophic way with the same kinds of results.

I still don't know if I believe the rest of the story, to wit: the gravity break didn't happen, so the striker used his wrench to hammer the link open, at which time (I would suppose) the awesome arc caused by that air gap did reach out and "cut him in half".

No reason to doubt it, you know, even if it does smell like a "sea story". I'm just glad I never had to see it.
2017-11-27 22:29:54