Author - Sarge
Submitted By -Parallel Secondary
Summer 1999 doing what I thought was a routine double srevice entrance hook-up. I was on the pole at the Transformer and my partner was in the bucket at the building entrance. We ran a 4/0 tri-plex service from the pole to the building, and my partner connected both entrances to the 4/0. I connected the neutral and one live leg up no problem, when I brought the second live leg over and put it into the connector.BOOOOOM!!!!! I found out that this was a parallel run service and my partner had connected two of the entrance wires to the same point. So when I energized one leg, it went in the one service entrance and out the other back on the other live leg in my hand. So when I put it in the connector I created a perfect 240v short about 10 inches from my face. I had to get new Safety Glasses and underwear. Things learned: Why you should always wears your glasses. Go into the buildings confirm condition and type of connections inside. Make sure if it is a parallel entrance that the wires are marked and then connected properly. Before you make that final connection take a voltage check between the new wire and the connection point, if it reads 240v please don't hook it up.
Sarge