Is it safe to operate an all alloy housing circular saw. My
15-year old industrial saw is reliable but the only thing aging is the cord. The cord's insulation is cracking and deteriorating. Last I'd check the ground wire is open but hidden from view. What would be the hazards if I continue to use it?Thanks
The ground protects YOU. Replace the cord and connect the ground. The bottom line is: How many more years do you wish to do woodworking?
Only death.
Open the case and replace the entire cord. Then you can use it for another
15 years.
We'll all laugh at your funeral when they bury you in a cardboard box for being a skinflint.
It's a fecking power cable. Coupel of bucks most, even for good quality cable, and a few minutes job to fix. I have sympathy for people who get hurt from damaged cables by accident (this is why workshop tools should be tested and inspected, not just ignored) but to _know_ that it's a bad cable and to carry on using it is just pikey.
It is quite an easy matter to replace the power cord and ground but even with a grounded device you're depending on a chain of secure grounds to keep your tool safe. I would also obtain a GFCI pigtail and only run your power tools from that. They're required on all jobsites I've been on and all the electrocutions I've studied have been from workmen bypassing them. Richard
Possible death. Replace the cord.
A couple years ago I moved an outlet by putting a hand on each side, contacting the hot with one and the neutral with the other. (I thought "the other guy" had opened the breaker) I was rather surprised to be alive and unhurt afterwards. I did some research and found out it is almost impossible to get a lethal shock from 120v under normal circumstances. Virtually all the electrocutions on record have been from 4000v or higher.
Accordingly, I am wondering about those fatal accidents you have studied. If my understanding is incorrect, I certainly want to get it adjusted. (no, I do not treat 120v casually; "almost impossible" means it is possible...)
You would be risking a fatal electrical shock, should the saw develop an internal insulation fault (as it very well could if it's that old).
Replace the cord completely. If you lack the requisite skill and/or tools to do so properly, you should take the unit to a professional repair shop. Any place that repairs power tools should be able to handle it.
IT ISN'T THE VOLTAGE! When I was in USN, they had studies showing deaths from relatively low voltages. It's the amps, or more precisely the milliamps, and where they travel. A certain milliamp current can be lethal if it passes through the heart/chest area because it will cause the heart to go into fibrillation, while a relatively high current may just cause the heart to stop, but once it is removed the heart will restart on it's own. I don't remember the exact numbers, but seems like it was around the 90-100 milliamp range that was lethal due to causing fibrillation.
Your heart operates on considerably less potential. You're betting that the jolt won't find the proper pathway to interfere or stop it? Foolish wager.
Two in my experience on 120 Volts, but that's 50% of electrocution fatalities I've had.
I certainly agree that the cord should be replaced; but it is not particularly dangerous. To get any shock, you would have to both short the hot to the frame and break the neutral. While certainly not impossible, it isn't likely. (Though I just threw out a 60 year old waffle iron with exactly this problem; well actually it was shorted before the switch, so it was like a broken neutral.) Even then, the bigger danger is dropping a saw with a spinning blade than electrocution.
My oven, like millions out there, has the neutral attached to the frame; which is essentially a deliberate short. Unless the neutral is broken, it is harmless. It is a foolish setup, and is now contrary to code, but you would be hard pressed to find anyone hurt by it.
Once again demonstrating that you have _no_business_ giving electrical advice to anyone. _Of_course_ it's almost impossible to get a lethal shock under "normal circumstances" because "normal circumstances" don't include doing stupid stuff like putting your hands across a live circuit. It's _abnormal_ circumstances that are dangerous, and it is indeed quite possible to receive a fatal shock from 120V when something has gone wrong - like installing a stove with its equipment ground connected to the circuit neutral conductor, as you recently told someone to do.
And only an idiot would assume that "the other guy" had opened the breaker, and not check first. Hell, I check before touching even when *I* am the guy that opened the breaker - just to make sure I opened the right one.
If you work on your own wiring, I hope you live alone. I'd hate to see anyone else's life jeopardized by your ignorance.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?
Either this is a troll or you are a moron. Take your pick.
You are correct; 100ma is about the lethal threashold. But it is difficult to get 100ma off 120v unless you are in saltwater. Naturally adverse medical conditions, or just plain bad luck, will change everything!
Glad I'm not the only one that does that.
After a delivery truck hit a power pole and knocked down some power lines I questioned the gentleman managing and keeping an eye on the crew repairing the power lines. He indicated that 220 is more likely to get you as it tends to hold on to you. The much higher voltage lines will more likely throw you away.
Neither of you are (the only one). I do, too. It's too easy to check, and the potential consequences of not checking are too high.
I think the OP was trolling, judging by his lack of response. It looks like he hauled in a whole netfull.
Bob
At the risk he was just an ignorant fool, I decided to respond anyway. But I think you're probably right.
I haven't found the time to work on the cord. I will now.
Someone please explain why do some modern factory drills, grinders and saws get away without a ground plug?
(Here's an ignorant question) Is it true that I can receive a fatal shock if I touch my skin from either neutral or hot and then ground? If so, then why not replace the ground with a safer model which doesn't allow a shock?
Lastly, a hot or neutral short to ground shuts down my entire electrical system. Is this the GFCI?
Thanks
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