Re: Why deliberately shorting equipment to blow breakers might be a bad idea . . .

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z wrote:
> Robert Green wrote:
> > I can't recall whether it was here in CHA or in alt.home.repair (hence the
> > crosspost) but I am certain I read messages from people who short outlets or
> > wiring with a screwdriver (instead of using a meter or a fox and hound toner
> > set) to find the controlling circuit breaker for that branch.  The article
> > below points out the possible downside of that approach:
> >
> > Missouri: Inquiry Ties Wiring to Fatal Group Home Fire
> >
> >  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/us/20brfs-Fire.html
> >
> > By LIBBY SANDER
> > Published: December 20, 2006
> > Hours before a fire killed 10 people in a group home for the mentally ill
> > and disabled on Nov. 27 in Anderson, a maintenance worker trying to repair a
> > furnace short-circuited wiring in the attic, where fire investigators said
> > they believed that the fire started. The worker told investigators that he
> > did not know which circuit breaker operated the furnace and that he
> > deliberately tripped the system, according to a report from the Missouri
> > Fire Safety Division. The wiring may have become overloaded, the report
> > staid. The fire marshal said the home did not have sprinklers. The report
> > was obtained by The Associated Press under an open-records law.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Bobby G.
>
> Then what the Hell good are the circuit breakers?

The problem occurrs when there is some part of the system between the
shorting-point and the breaker that is not up to code.

Dave