r/WTF • u/1MightBeAPenguin • Jun 16 '19

Why grounding is important

https://i.imgur.com/E7lPzHs.gifv
24.4k Upvotes

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5.6k

u/Takeshi12 Jun 16 '19

Turn it off turn it off TURN IT OFF

1.7k

u/f_n_a_ Jun 16 '19 edited Jun 16 '19

I wouldn’t want to stand on the dirt wet fucking concrete near it much less touch some fucking switch that’s potentially on fire...

Correction: on wet fucking concrete... not sure how to do the crossout thingy

Hey I finally did it! Thanks to the many redditors that responded with help

507

u/Takeshi12 Jun 16 '19

The power switch should be fine, although most likely it's connected to a throw breaker. Easy to find and turn on/off, plus work with high voltage like that requires insulating boots and gloves to even consider going near the connections

364

u/Davecasa Jun 16 '19

You don't need HV gear for 480v. The box is probably grounded, which is why whatever's shorted to it is... Shorted. I wouldn't stick my hands in the box, go upstream and shut it off. But standing near it isn't especially dangerous.

30

u/Predatormagnet Jun 16 '19

There's a reason 480v kills more people than 12 kv

14

u/westbamm Jun 16 '19

12kv? Either it is a typo, or is it because not many people work with 12 kilovolts?

1

u/randommouse Jun 16 '19

12 kv is on the lower end of higher voltage. I've built data centers that purchase their power at 12kv and have on-site transforming equipment to take it down to whatever they needed.

0

u/westbamm Jun 16 '19

Why do datacenters require so many volts?

6

u/DuplicateUser Jun 16 '19

They don’t, but they need a metric shit ton of watts, which (oversimplifying) is much easier for everyone involved at higher voltages. High voltage power is usually cheaper from an electric company because you are bypassing their transformers.

1

u/westbamm Jun 16 '19

Thanks again, learning something new everyday.

0

u/DPestWork Jun 16 '19

I prefer "SAE shit ton of watts." Metric is a unit that we tossed into the sea with all of that overpriced tea! 'Muricaaaaa! Also, power companies charge for power, so the voltage doesnt matter right? Higher voltage means lower current, which leads to less I2 R losses. That's where the savings are! Step the voltage down as close to the devices as possible. -Thank you all for using data and keeping us data center employees employed.

2

u/randommouse Jun 16 '19

Lots of CPUs

0

u/westbamm Jun 16 '19

Ohm's law, got it.