Dish installer electrocuted -- wow!

[samalex]

I just read this on our local TV station's website:

Central Texas Satellite Installer Electrocuted
RAGLEY, La. (June 6, 2012)—John Peavy, 33, a satellite dish installer from Bryan, was electrocuted while on a service call in Louisiana.
Peavy died Monday, the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office said. Peavy, an employee of Dish Network, was on a call in Ragley when the accident happened, authorities said. Peavy went into a crawl space under the home where he came in contact with a pipe or wire possibly used as a ground, causing his death.

Central Texas Satellite Installer Electrocuted

Crazy... Did anyone know this guy?

 

[Bobby]

Ground to ground does not electrocute you. He touched something hot while laying on the ground. He became the conductor... There shouldn't be anything hot under the house, unless its the old open wire.....

 

[mike123abc]

Knob and tube wiring I would speculate. The cloth insulation on it breaks down over time.

 

[Bobby]

Knob and tube wiring I would speculate. The cloth insulation on it breaks down over time.

That's the phrase I was trying to remember! I haven't seen knob and tube for 30 years....

 

[samalex]

It's crazy though how things can be electrified due to problems... about 5 years ago our A/C quit working, so we called someone to check it out. I had the breaker off to the A/C at the time, and the repair guy told me to go turn it on as he looked at it. About 5 seconds after turning it back on I heard a slight buzz then a thud, so I ran outside and found the poor guy on the ground about 10 feet away from the unit shaking his hand. Apparently something was crossing a hot cable to the outside unit's cover causing the entire unit to be come electrified. After I turned the power back on he just tried to remove the cover and got a jolt.

Needless to say we replaced the whole unit at that point. SO yeah, it's nuts thinking what kind of stuff can have power going through it in a less than ideal situation.

 

[rvvaquero]

Sad story. I'm curious why he would even be there, over 200 miles away. There's got to be at least 500 dish installers between those two locations.

 

[sperry85]

I just read this on our local TV station's website:

Central Texas Satellite Installer Electrocuted
RAGLEY, La. (June 6, 2012)—John Peavy, 33, a satellite dish installer from Bryan, was electrocuted while on a service call in Louisiana.
Peavy died Monday, the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office said. Peavy, an employee of Dish Network, was on a call in Ragley when the accident happened, authorities said. Peavy went into a crawl space under the home where he came in contact with a pipe or wire possibly used as a ground, causing his death.

Central Texas Satellite Installer Electrocuted

Crazy... Did anyone know this guy?

I did not know him but we work for the same sub company. Believe he had just finished training and started on his own.

He was in Louisiana because that is the area we service while our main office is in central Texas

 

[bhelms]

... Apparently something was crossing a hot cable to the outside unit's cover causing the entire unit to be come electrified...

What you described had to have multiple faults. If properly grounded that cover never would have become live. A short to the cover/chassis would have immediately tripped the breaker and you would not have been able to reset it until the hot-side fault was cleared...

 

[navychop]

Knob and tube wiring I would speculate. The cloth insulation on it breaks down over time.

Sometimes, there isn't even cloth insulation. Ever.

 

[Tampa8]

Very sorry.

 

[manteca]

R.I.P.

 

[dare2be]

Electricity and plumbing are two things I will not do as a honey-do list item around the house. I'm comfortable and competent on most basic things, but if something were to go wrong that I wouldn't have the expertise on, it could go SERIOUSLY wrong.

 

[mike123abc]

Electricity and plumbing are two things I will not do as a honey-do list item around the house. I'm comfortable and competent on most basic things, but if something were to go wrong that I wouldn't have the expertise on, it could go SERIOUSLY wrong.

I have done quite a bit of electrical work on my house. But, I turn off the main breaker outside when I do, I take no chances... I have seen electricians get a pretty big shock when they worked on circuits that "had the breaker off"... Never know if there is a wiring mistake somewhere else and circuits are crossed.

I do not work on plumbing, way too much water damage can happen in a very short period of time...

 

[dare2be]

Even with the precaution of turning off the main breaker, if for some reason I wire something wrong, or don't create a quality connection, there could be a fire hazard down the road. I'd rather have the liability be on the electrician than myself if something ever does go wrong.