How to Avoid Getting Arc Flashed

After getting called out in the field to troubleshoot a large PV solar installation, [Derek] found himself suddenly in the midst of an arc flash, causing burns all over his …. How to Avoid Getting Arc Flashed. In a recent video he goes over the scenario that led up to this unfortunate event, as the holes in the Swiss cheese slowly lined themselves up, culminating in a high-current 480 VDC discharge nearly giving [Derek] a fatal embrace.

Despite being a professionally trained and certified professional, being called out to diagnose a weird issue on a slightly unusual solar farm’s electrical installation already worked against him. After having spent some time doing said troubleshooting, he finally tracked down the auxiliary transformer that normally powers the low-voltage gear, along with the spicy parts that should absolutely be unpowered after flipping the breaker into the ‘off’ position. Testing for no power confirmed that the power had indeed been cut, which was when the wiring that normally connects the auxiliary transformer was spotted still lying just out of reach in the back of the cabinet.

Clearly this was the cause behind one of the issues that the owner had been having. This was when [Derek] decided to go to the light reach for this spool of wiring with a pair of pliers, into the – as it turned out – still live high-voltage side. One massive arc flash and hospital recovery later, [Derek] learned that the layout of the lines in the cabinet were different from usual, with the position of the roll of loose wiring being a potential hint that something was off.