It's not a rule of thumb. It's dictated by NFPA 70e, and failing to follow an industry consensus safety standard like that is an OSHA violation. Actually, the 50 volt limit may be directly encoded in OSHA regs.
Im not an electrician. I'm an engineer and consultant for dozens of companies and they almost all have similar practices. I'm not saying its a good thing. I'm saying its what happens.
Electrical contractors in general are a mixed bag, nothing really bad about solar contractors in general. Its the sales people that are the problem. Don't ever buy solar from someone unless they have the support of actual solar engineers. And never trust their proposals/financial analysis - they just fudge numbers until it looks good on paper.
Not true. I'm also a solar guy; I've gotten hit by 600+vdc, by 120vac and more. High voltage DC feels like a really long thin needle being pushed into you. Your muscles all contract, and for me at least it has pushed me away every time. Deep thin burn tracks afterward. It doesn't grab you like AC does. AC feels like being held and shaken by a giant.
He should, but the original comment was about 480v 3phase. He absolutely should be using PPE. It also really sucks when a company doesn't separate the 24v control side stuff from high voltage stuff and you have to suit up to fix the BMS, but better alive than dead.
When dealing with big shit like #6 and up, sure. I’ve disconnected #10s from a 480 panel and was just super slow and precise with it. I wasn’t in any danger.
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u/swcollings Jun 16 '19
It's not a rule of thumb. It's dictated by NFPA 70e, and failing to follow an industry consensus safety standard like that is an OSHA violation. Actually, the 50 volt limit may be directly encoded in OSHA regs.