 gilligunShipwreckedPremium
join:2002-11-22
Denver, CO | Exploding What? And it didnt blow any of the breakers or fuses?
WoW.....I wouldnt say "Poltergeist" too loudly around there 
--
Why do I have long hair?? It covers my bald spot! |
|
garywk
join:2001-03-06
Clarkston, WA | said by gilligun:And it didnt blow any of the breakers or fuses? WoW.....I wouldnt say "Poltergeist" too loudly around there I take it you have never worked with electrical systems very much....
I can't tell you how many breakers I have run across that will not trip even if the line they are protecting is shorted to ground. That's actually the most common failure for breakers. The reason most people don't know about them is because the vast majority of these failures aren't detected because current still flows through the breaker.
There are also fuses that are made to withstand very high initial/spiked current loads without burning out. That's why electrical ciruits that have motors in them use different fuses than incandescent lighting circuits do. These fuses are designed to blow from a sustained current overload, not an instantaneous/short-term-spike current overload.
The story that started this thread is entirely possible from what I've seen over the years as a service technician. Rare? Yes, because several failures have to combine to create the situation: a "perfect storm" type situation. Impossible? No.
--
“We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.”
Dwight David Eisenhower |
|
