Funny / Satire

wittaj said:
How many violations @Teken lol

www.yahoo.com

Someone installed an electrical outlet on a Florida traffic light. ‘Are you kidding?’

“Someone out there decided the traffic light was not functioning to its full ability.”
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com
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Although the traffic signal indications are powered by 120VAC, pedestrian push buttons are 24VDC so as to help protect people if they get knocked off by a vehicle or vandalized.

That was just vandalism of public property which, as stated in the article, is unlawful. I doubt that outlet is functional with 120VAC unless they were able to tap onto one of the hot conductors and a neutral going up the pole headed toward the 7 ft. level pedestrian signal or the 10 ft. level vehicle signals. If so, it would only be hot when that particular indication (red, yellow, green or upraised hand or walking man) was energized.

Prior to about 1970 when most traffic signal controllers were electro-mechanical, those same pedestrian push buttons were 12VAC, still way below the 120VAC for the actual traffic signal lamps.
 
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TonyR said:
Although the traffic signal indications are powered by 120VAC, pedestrian push buttons are 24VDC so as to help protect people if they get knocked off by a vehicle or vandalized.

That was just vandalism of public property which, as stated in the article, is unlawful. I doubt that outlet is functional with 120VAC unless they were able to tap onto one of the hot conductors and a neutral going up the pole headed toward the 7 ft. level pedestrian signal or the 10 ft. level vehicle signals. If so, it would only be hot when that particular indication (red, yellow, green or upraised hand or walking man) was energized.

Prior to about 1970 when most traffic signal controllers were electro-mechanical, those same pedestrian push buttons were 12VAC, still way below the 120VAC for the actual traffic signal lamps.
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About 98% of the controls we build @work are 24 VDC to the PB's. It's very rare to see 120 VAC to PB's and SS's anymore.
 
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TonyR said:
Although the traffic signal indications are powered by 120VAC, pedestrian push buttons are 24VDC so as to help protect people if they get knocked off by a vehicle or vandalized.

That was just vandalism of public property which, as stated in the article, is unlawful. I doubt that outlet is functional with 120VAC unless they were able to tap onto one of the hot conductors and a neutral going up the pole headed toward the 7 ft. level pedestrian signal or the 10 ft. level vehicle signals. If so, it would only be hot when that particular indication (red, yellow, green or upraised hand or walking man) was energized.

Prior to about 1970 when most traffic signal controllers were electro-mechanical, those same pedestrian push buttons were 12VAC, still way below the 120VAC for the actual traffic signal lamps.
Click to expand...
Theoretically (not by code) you could do that by just parallel tapping one 120 VAC wire and using the pole as ground, to connect to your neutral on the receptacle.
 
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Smilingreen said:
Theoretically (not by code) you could do that by just parallel tapping one 120 VAC wire and using the pole as ground, to connect to your neutral on the receptacle.
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Yeah, a cop for a City that I was also an employee of and who thought he was an electrician did that with a one hot leg of a parking lot lighting pole that was 240VAC in the police car parking lot to charge a radar speed sign trailer, and tied the neutral to the outlet (for the charger) to the pole.

I was curious when I saw the trailer plugged in and I knew there was no outlet on that pole the year before and I was responsible for the city's traffic signals and all outdoor lighting. I pulled a neutral from the power panel for the receptacle and removed his connection to the pole, put an inline fuse holder with a 15 Amp fuse in the base of the pole for the receptacle hot, replaced his regular NEMA 5-15R with a GFI receptacle and a weatherproof cover.

FWIW, his #14 hot was NOT fused and the #10 hot furnishing the lighting power was on a 30 amp 2-pole breaker over 50 feet away....upwards of 30 amps on a #14....and people wonder how fires get started.

I told him that if he would not try to do electrical work on City facilities in the future that I would not try to perform law enforcement in the City.:cool:
 
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TonyR said:
Yeah, a cop for a City that I was also an employee of and who thought he was an electrician did that with a one hot leg of a parking lot lighting pole that was 240VAC in the police car parking lot to charge a radar speed sign trailer, and tied the charger's neutral to the pole.

I was curious when I saw the trailer plugged in and I knew there was no outlet on that pole the year before and I was responsible for the city's traffic signals and all outdoor lighting. I pulled a neutral from the power panel for the receptacle and removed his connection to the pole, put an inline fuse holder with a 15 Amp fuse in the base of the pole for the receptacle hot, replaced his regular NEMA 5-15R with a GFI receptacle and a weatherproof cover.

FWIW, his #14 hot was NOT fused and the #10 hot furnishing the lighting power was on a 30 amp 2-pole breaker over 50 feet away....upwards of 30 amps on a #14....and people wonder how fires get started.

I told him that if he would not try to do electrical work on City facilities in the future that I would not try to perform law enforcement in the City.:cool:
Click to expand...

Good thing your lot lighting wasn't 277.

I have seen all kinds of crap like that through the years working equipment maintenance and as a field service engineer. Depending on the insulation rating on the wire, @90C, he would have been at 25 FLA. He would have had to graduate to #12. Chances are, he was probably using 75C rated wire, so he would have had to go up to a #10 +fuse and GFCI.

One of things I always watched out for was incoming power to a fused disconnect box where they brought the 3 Phase 480 power into the bottom of the fuses instead of the top of the disconnect switch. More than once I stopped myself before I grabbed the fuses, using my meter and finding out some dumb SOB wired the disconnect up wrong. I am the QC inspector for all of the control enclosures our company fabricates. On occasion with one of the greenhorns, I catch incoming power wiring on a breaker, being wired to the bottom of the breaker in the panel instead of the top.
 
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At a winery, the regular wine taster had died and the director started looking for a new one to hire.
An old drunkard, with a ragged and dirty look came in to apply for the position:
The director of the winery wondered how to nicely send him away in this all too Politically Correct world.

He gave him a glass of their low-end wine to drink.
The old drunk sipped it and without the traditional sniffing or swirling said.
“It’s Muscatel, three years old, grown on a north slope, matured in steel containers. Low grade, but acceptable.”
“That’s correct.” Said the boss.

Then he gave him another glass.
“This is a Cabernet, eight years old, a southwestern slope, oak barrels, matured at 8 degrees. It requires three more years for the finest results.”
“That’s Correct.”

And he gave him a third glass.
“It’s a Pinot Blanc Champagne, high grade and exclusive.” The old drunk man said calmly.
The director was astonished.

He winked at his secretary, secretly suggesting something.
She left the room and came back in with a glass of urine.

The alcoholic tried it of course.
“It’s a blonde, 26 years old, three months pregnant and if I don’t get the job I’ll name the father!”
 
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