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My journeyman told me to always check for backfeed on a disconnect. Saved a job in Tacoma.
We were swapping a 30 amp disconnect for a new AC unit at a small office building. Power was off at the main panel, meter pulled, all good. My journeyman, Frank, always said 'Trace every wire. Assume nothing.' I found a 12/2 tucked behind the conduit, hot. It was feeding a small subpanel for the security lights from a different service. Would have fried my meter and maybe me. That was two years ago. Now I check every single conductor with two testers before I touch anything. Anyone else have a rule from an old timer that stuck with you?
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carter.jennifer16d ago
I read a similar story over on r/electricians last year where a guy said his granddad told him "the meter lies if you trust it too much." Apparently he had a meter read zero on a line that was backfeeding from a generator through a transfer switch that was miswired. Took him two testers and a wiggy to catch it. Honestly that's kind of the same vibe Frank was giving you. Ngl I think the old heads who drilled that into people probably saved more lives than they ever knew.
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