OK, two more $0.01's :%)


I worked in an electric motor repair shop in Pennsylvania when I was in high
school.. it was a steel-foundry town, so the shop got some BIG motors in for
refurb once in a great while..  I mean *B*I*G* !!!  The one that I got to
help rewind the stator coils was big enough that you could walk into the
frame without bumping your head.. about 7 ft. diam.   I can't recall what
the HP rating was on this beast, (a couple thousand, IIRC), but the shaft
was about a foot in diameter, and it was 3PH 440VAC at something like 400
amps startup current.  They had to have a power service upgrade in the shop
just to be able to test it!  The beast was used for a very large crane; I
wish I could have seen it in use.
Anyway, after having rewound one of the stator coils, my coworker asked me
to make sure it was correctly phased and secure.   I grabbed my regular
"tool of choice" for putzing with coil alignment - the 12" long flat-blade
screwdriver - and proceeded to walk into the motorframe.   As I got about a
foot inside the frame, I felt my arm being pulled upward; natural instinct
was to grab onto the screwdriver so it wouldn't fly out of my hand (I
guess!).   About that instant, I realized that there was a full-voltage test
in progress (Gee, I wish they'd told me!!!).   The field literally picked me
up and caused my screwdriver to jam itself into one of the coils at the
12:00 position, while my left hand flailed around until I made contact with
the face of the coils at the 9:00 position.   OWWWW!!!  I was in a
horizontal position when I felt the zap, and basically ejected from the far
side of the stator... I think about 3 mSec elapsed!  My entire left side
hurt for 2 weeks.  No idea why I wasn't "toast"!   But I decided a career in
motor repair wasn't the ticket for me... so I joined the software brigade!
:^)

Jim-the-lucky!

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