I put a screw in a panel (left middle, old ITE) and huge POP and blew the breaker. The 4 of the 6 screws were wrong for the panel. Tried to reset the breaker and it almost caught fire. Does anyone use gloves when handling the panel for safety?
I don’t. But one thing I do is look at the screw locations before putting the cover back on. If there are wires that look like the screw might make significant contact, I will carefully adjust them.
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The panel was painted closed. I cut it open but left side stayed in tact so panel opened like a door. Not sure if that had any bearing.
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I don’t have gloves.
I do have insulated screw drivers to use whenever I’m dubious about a screw/panel.
https://a.co/d/dY1bpqU
I had an arc flash at a panel on the past year that vaporized some metal in front of my face. I wasn’t hurt and wasn’t wearing safety glasses at the time, but I do every time now! I got a case and have them clipped to my belt.
https://a.co/d/iMJpawQ
I also have a couple of these magnetic handles to take the dead front off whenever I’m dubious of a panel. They’re great.
https://a.co/d/9UdIKQE
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Sometimes breakers get caught on the edges of the knockouts if you don’t take the dead front off straight toward you. But yea that’s happened to me before lol. The old latex hinge.
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I don’t wear gloves. I do check to see if there are any wires behind the pointed screws. I have made my own mistakes with panels including one the very dumbest things like I carelessly stuck my screwdriver against the bus making a massive arc that cut my screwdriver in half. I stood there like a deer in the headlights wondering how I could be that stupid.
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I’ve had that happen before, but I ALWAYS make sure the front is clear and off. All it would take is for some paint to slowly let go, and the edge of the front to get into the bus bar on the way down and ruin your next few months getting it resolved. It also might peel off a 3 foot section of the drywall paper before it’s off completely.
Not to mention, I have dropped dead fronts before and the corners get bent. I used to work in factories and took dead fronts off constantly.
You never want chaos and random chance to protect you and property from a misshape.
I have insulated gloves and hand magnets but usually only use them for commercial inspections. Many times the dead fronts on commercial panels are heavy and the hand magnets help.
Regardless, always be sure to wear eye protection when you remove the dead front. In addition, never replace the screws if they are pointed/to long/improper. I always carry extra panel screws to replace the improper ones.
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Haven’t done anything like that since I was a kid. Took my pocket knife and cut a lamp cord that was still plugged in. Pocket knife did not fare well.
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A customer came into my old hardware store looking for electrical rated gloves so he could replace a circuit breaker or something. I told him to call an electrician and keep his hands gloved or not off anything electrical for his and his families safety. If a person thinks they need rubber gloves to do an electrical repair in their home they are not definitely not qualified, I don’t care what the YouTube video said.
Never do the “paint hinge” thing, that is just asking for trouble, either electrical accident or ripping up the wall if it falls. On heavily painted covers I’ve started loosening the screws and then cutting around the cover. That way if it pops loose it’s still held in place, and once freed from the wall it easy to handle.
When the cover is off always look for wires that have been cut or too close to the cover screw locations (that should be part of inspecting it). There isn’t any reason to hit a wire putting the cover back on after inspecting the panel.
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Always ware gloves, safety glasses, a pair of insulated magnets to remove fronts, kicked everyone out of the room or made them look away until the front was off, and did not let anyone close to the panel.
So to answer your question, dam straight. PPE for electrical inspections.
Be safe out there guys and gals.
Gloves are a good idea along with safety glasses. You never know what’s going to go wrong with electrical panels. Once I started to unscrew a dead front and the person before me had a wire pinched by a screw but it didn’t short, but as I loosened it, that was enough to pierce the insulation and short out. The paint hinges never seem to land correctly when reinstalling the dead front and can shift breakers. Finally manufacturers of some panels leave the two tabs at the top that hold the cover in place, gives us a break.
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I am always appreciative when I come across those.
No. Tactile feedback is vitally important when doing most electrical work. Wearing gloves is usually less safe than not wearing gloves. A notable exception is when doing high-Voltage work.
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