# Sparks Fly When your Runnin' Drums



## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

:blink:


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## service guy (Jun 26, 2008)

That was funny!! What was sparking? How old is that machine and how abused is it? Post pics of the electrical burns on the machine.

Great vid, I LMAO!


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

I had that happen with a K-50 as I brought the cable close to the pipe sparks flew everywhere. House was not wired properly.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

There's more coming on this video! :thumbsup:


I have to go back to this job next week, cut out a tee up above. 

Every time I try to unclog it, It hangs up tight and winds down. Not going to play games with the drain.


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## uaplumber (Jun 16, 2008)

Time to call out an Elec-chicken.


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## user823 (Feb 3, 2009)

If that wasn't so scary it would be funny!
Never mind, his reaction was hilarious!!!! Damn, bleep bleep!!:laughing:


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

Second try...I was feelin' a little frisky on this emergency call.





 

:blink:


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## Plumber Jim (Jun 19, 2008)

Hehe, I see your spartan 81. I had that same thing happen on a mainline with my spartan 1065. I plugged into a different outlet on a different circut and that solved it. they have their wiring screwed up. I bet they mixed the ground and nuetral up. but its the house wiring for sure. tell them to get an electrician in there before you will go back out. You could try another circuit like i did.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

Yep, it's definitely the wiring in the house. The tingling sensations never went away after the electrical shocks and I no longer have to take Flomax!!!


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## UnclogNH (Mar 28, 2009)

WoW


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## SewerRatz (Apr 25, 2009)

You are lucky you were not touching the cable and the pipe at the same time. It is sad when HO or handymen wire up a house all wrong, and people end up getting hurt or dead from their mistakes.


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## user823 (Feb 3, 2009)

"Warning: The topics covered on this site include activities in which there exists the potential for serious injury or death."

You're telling me!!!!!!!!!!


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## UnclogNH (Mar 28, 2009)

Seeing this video makes me angry :furious:. When I saw it all I could picture was the HO calling how much for? and says too much. someone else goes and gets a massive shock. Proving yet again how dangerous or risky jobs can be. Hope your ok?


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

I wonder how the K-60 would fare in the same situation with its built-in GFCI?


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## user823 (Feb 3, 2009)

Herk said:


> I wonder how the K-60 would fare in the same situation with its built-in GFCI?



I think most new ones have them built in for just this sort of thing. My 10 year old Spartan 300 has one.

I changed an old water service gate valve this morning in a basement. Came up copper, then brass fittings, then gate valve, then union and then galvy the rest of the way. I noticed there was a jumper ground type wire from the copper to the galvy going around the gate valve. I thought hmm, what's going to happen when I break this glavy union? Well nothing happened but I'm still wondering why they had that jump going around the gate valve and union, past problem? I put in a new ball valve and a short piece of Viega pex. Then sold them on a repipe, I hope.:thumbup:
You can never be too careful out there.:thumbsup:


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## Plumber Jim (Jun 19, 2008)

Herk said:


> I wonder how the K-60 would fare in the same situation with its built-in GFCI?


When that same thing happened on my spartan 1065 it sparked but it popped the gfci on my machine. So, it will still spark just not long.


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## Associated Plum (Nov 4, 2008)

I know a plumber who moved from Mountain Home AR. to the Dallas area to be closer to his daughter and was rodding a drain and that was the last thing he did while on this earth. He is now with the Plumbing Gods looking over the rest of us.

Rest in Peace Lynn


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

Another plus side for metallic piping:whistling2:


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## Herk (Jun 12, 2008)

[quote"Ironranger"]I changed an old water service gate valve this morning in a basement. Came up copper, then brass fittings, then gate valve, then union and then galvy the rest of the way. I noticed there was a jumper ground type wire from the copper to the galvy going around the gate valve. I thought hmm, what's going to happen when I break this glavy union?[/quote]

I've had plenty of experiences with those. I usually carry electrical clamps and heavy wire to extend the ground before I break the union. I was changing one in a crawler under an ancient house and it zapped me pretty good. I was lying on the ground because that's all the room there was. 

Many electrical codes required both a ground rod outside and a ground to the plumbing. We were required to run at least 5' of metal pipe outside the house for the ground.

These days, with plastic taking over, I'm sure the grounding practices are changing.

It can be any old device leaking juice to the ground. 

I was doing something around a gas furnace once and realized something wasn't right. I checked outside and there was 120 volts on the gas main. The furnace had just been installed and the fool wired the power to the ground.

On a lighter note: my ex once called me to her new house because every time her boyfriend's daughter ran water in the sink she got shocked. I got there and got out my tester and picked up about 30 volts in the water flow. 

Looking around, I saw an old electric frypan and a lid that touched both the frypan and the sink. I lifted the lid off the counter and the electricity in the water went away. :laughing:


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## user823 (Feb 3, 2009)

I had an electrical problem a few years back in a bathroom. It was one of the old steel medicine cabinets with the mirrors, lights and a plug in at the top. For some reason I touched it with wet hands on got a good zap. Told the HO about it and she said oh don't worry, it only happens if you touch it with wet hands otherwise it's ok. WHAT? Call an electrician today before you kill someone!!!!!!


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

*Sparks Fly !*

I Had The Same Thing Last Summer In S.l.c. Ut.
I Started A Repipe Of A Old House With A Bad Water Pressure Problem

When Started Cutting Galv. The Electric Lights Flickered And Then
Went Out In The Basement Where We Were Working,

Sometimes Could Only Get A Yellow Flicker Out Of Drop Lights

Had To Have Electrician Come In And Rewire Ground To Solve Problem

Oh Yes The Pipes Were Sparking Like The 4th. Of July While They Were
Being Cut Out


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

Plumber Jim said:


> When that same thing happened on my spartan 1065 it sparked but it popped the gfci on my machine. So, it will still spark just not long.


 The juice is coming from the pipe to ground! Your machine is the better ground hopefully and not you. The GFCI of the machine would have nothing to do with it. I was replacing an electric water heater at a vietnamiese tanning salon/nails place and turned the breaker off and checked the wires with my meter(showed 0 power) i proceeded to cut the pipes and remove the wires. Then the Poop hit the fan!!! POW!! Blue sparks!!! i was like wtf? i checked it,maybe the meters broke. Not the meter it checked out ok. went to the breaker box and checked the breaker and it was off.......went back to the wires......showed no power... I'm still like wtf is that the correct breaker??? so i went back to the breaker and flipped it on......went to the wires and had 220......WTF ok went back to the breaker panel and turned the breaker back off.......went to the wires and got O power.....ok. Went to the van and got some copper fittings and other crap and went back to the water heater room and checked the wires again and I got 120 volts...WTF??? I went to the panel box and took the panel off and found that they ran out of breaker spaces so they needed 220 for the tanning bed so they stuck one leg of the tanning beds 220 into the water heater breaker and then the other leg from the tanning bed to another breaker. When the tanning bed was turned on....110 volts would pass through the bed and back to the water heater. Bottom line is CHARLIE is still trying to kill us. becareful out there......and hope this made sense!


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## para1 (Jun 17, 2008)

TheMaster said:


> The juice is coming from the pipe to ground! Your machine is the better ground hopefully and not you. The GFCI of the machine would have nothing to do with it. I was replacing an electric water heater at a vietnamiese tanning salon/nails place and turned the breaker off and checked the wires with my meter(showed 0 power) i proceeded to cut the pipes and remove the wires. Then the Poop hit the fan!!! POW!! Blue sparks!!! i was like wtf? i checked it,maybe the meters broke. Not the meter it checked out ok. went to the breaker box and checked the breaker and it was off.......went back to the wires......showed no power... I'm still like wtf is that the correct breaker??? so i went back to the breaker and flipped it on......went to the wires and had 220......WTF ok went back to the breaker panel and turned the breaker back off.......went to the wires and got O power.....ok. Went to the van and got some copper fittings and other crap and went back to the water heater room and checked the wires again and I got 120 volts...WTF??? I went to the panel box and took the panel off and found that they ran out of breaker spaces so they needed 220 for the tanning bed so they stuck one leg of the tanning beds 220 into the water heater breaker and then the other leg from the tanning bed to another breaker. When the tanning bed was turned on....110 volts would pass through the bed and back to the water heater. Bottom line is CHARLIE is still trying to kill us. becareful out there......and hope this made sense!


 
*:laughing::laughing:"charlie dont surf!!":laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:*


*DUNBAR, you went back for seconds???????????:laughing::laughing::laughing::no:*


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## Bollinger plumber (Apr 3, 2009)

para1 said:


> *:laughing::laughing:"charlie dont surf!!":laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:*
> 
> 
> *DUNBAR, you went back for seconds???????????:laughing::laughing::laughing::no:*


 I LOVE THE SMELL OF FLUX IN THE MORNING
ROBERT DUVALL IS NUMBER 1:thumbup::thumbup:


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