This is very true. The contractor that I hired to do the utility side of my Solar room took one look at my plans and said 4ft from the panel box and pv box to the back wall was too small. He stated he would not work on it unless it was built with at least 5.5ft of clearance. He said in case of a spark they needed sufficient clearance for knee jerk reactions to the spark or shock.It is so tragic when things like that happen. Working in some of those same conditions I can also offer this bit of advice if you are working on a high-voltage solar setup that might not arc, but will POP and scare the heck out of you if something goes wrong.
Watch for secondary jerk-reaction injury. I have approached and tested terminals, and changed arm positioning, because if something does go off with the sound of a shotgun shell, you are going to jerk involuntarily whether you are ready for it or not.
So, knowing that, if it appears that a possible jerk will ram my arm/elbow, or whatever into something even worse and cause injury, I'll change my angle of approach to allow for a safe involuntary reaction.
Ie, if you are on a roof near the edge checking out something high(ish) voltage and the big POP occurs for whatever reason, make sure your involuntary secondary reaction doesn't take you off the roof and change your positioning if you can.
I used to have sonys most expensive kbr61 projection tv. One day I got home from work and turned it on, immediately heard a loud pop and smoke and flames were visible from the bottom of the cabinet. I took it apart later, and it seems a mouse had got into it and was perched on the high voltage power supply board right when I powered it up. 32kv had gone through his body and went to ground, and went into the back side of every IC chip in the chassis.working on high voltage you learn to take off jewellery and keep one hand in your back pocket.
if you dont know how to do that you shouldnt be there. in the right conditions a 400v solar array can throw a few inches of plasma at you.
i used to repair big screen (commercial size) back projector tv sets and they were spicy enough. once a drip of sweat fell off my brow and hit the pcb like a 12 bore shotgun cartridge and thats with only a tiny current behind it
That sounds incredibly dangerous. Hi voltage kills people, I think thats why its called potential? Ive been hit by 6kv from a neon tube like used in a beer sign, fortunately I wasnt grounded and it was extremely low current as it was just a single tube. Nice tickle though.I've spent a lot of time working on airfield runway lighting systems, the threat is real. These are series wired, ungrounded systems with power supplied by constant current regulators . The voltage is 5000v for a closed loop and can reach 9000 if there an open circuit. The regulators are designed to increase the voltage to maintain the amperage. This is done so that a mile long runway with 70 lights plus taxiway signs doesn't have debilitating voltage drop. The regulators don't care if it's a load or a person , it just ramps up the voltage to maintain the amperage. In the 70s and 80s the 5k volt wires were sometimes direct buried in sand.
It was actually Sony i worked for. kbr was not one of the worst built products. i can easily say sony was one of the best brands i worked on other than panasonic pro gear. i also used to service betacams. youngsters may laugh at the od projector sets but in the day they were a marvel.I used to have sonys most expensive kbr61 projection tv. One day I got home from work and turned it on, immediately heard a loud pop and smoke and flames were visible from the bottom of the cabinet. I took it apart later, and it seems a mouse had got into it and was perched on the high voltage power supply board right when I powered it up. 32kv had gone through his body and went to ground, and went into the back side of every IC chip in the chassis.
My $5000 tv was toast, and it was just 1 month out of the extended warranty I had purchased.
Funny sony had put wire screens on most but not all of the vent holes in the case. It was also shocking to see how cheaply the whole thing was made, a bunch of boards screwed to the insides of a giant particle board box.
It was cool in its day, multisize p in p you could move to each quadrant, and would display everything that was on 16 channels all at once. (In stills, each updating every three seconds)
I dont think tvs even do that today because they all go through cable boxes.
Back in the late 80s to early 90s you would walk into any electronics store and in the TV section there were Sony Trinitrons with their gorgeous pictures... then there was everything else. I dont think I saw anything better until IIRC, "Proton" TVs came out? Before I had that KBR I had a Pioneer 40" projection, it was a big deal when it came out around 88 or so. God that was long ago that a 40" tv in a box the size of a small closet and needed to be serviced yearly was something to covet!It was actually Sony i worked for. kbr was not one of the worst built products. i can easily say sony was one of the best brands i worked on other than panasonic pro gear. i also used to service betacams. youngsters may laugh at the od projector sets but in the day they were a marvel.
ok you had over 100kv in the big ones and had crt life rated in triple digit hours but they were the best thing available and most people had never seen a tv bigger than 28"
mice are c#*nts though. im now rewiring my old soviet truck because mouse ate the tickle wire on the alternator and shorted out the whole system.
also my neighbours 2000E posh comuter controlled baking oven went tits up and on teardown it had a family of ex-mice nested in the glass fibre insulation and half the insulation chewed off the wires to the cables
This is why I rewire so many houses...That sounds incredibly dangerous. Hi voltage kills people, I think thats why its called potential? Ive been hit by 6kv from a neon tube like used in a beer sign, fortunately I wasnt grounded and it was extremely low current as it was just a single tube. Nice tickle though.
Who hasnt touched a live 110v house wire? I have probably 10 times in my life, again just a tickle because wasnt standing barefoot in water or anything.
A workbench in a duplex I used to rent with really old 2 conductor receptacles always had some weird kind of stray voltage going through it that would shock me from time to time. Sitting in my chair I would touch the bench, holding a meter probe with one hand and touch the other probe to the asbestos tile over concrete floor, and regularly see 80 volts displayed on the meter. Never figured it out nor got hurt either.
cotton wrapped copper is also a temptation for the dreaded mouse too. its a pretty good insulator if wax impregnated but not as good as it is for starting firesThis is why I rewire so many houses...
Cloth isn't a good insulator, it's amazing how much the power bill drops on houses I've rewired...
Lotsa lost watts...