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2007 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Darwin Electrician

2007 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Darwin says, "Thanks for the submission, Tom Miles! I guess the fellow didn't think things through because of the emergency nature of the situation. Poor guy, being in "hot water" was the least of his worries. THis reminds me of some personal accounts in the archive -- Repeat Offender, Electric Eccentric, Mother Love, and Pain in the Neck."
I own rental properties. The thermostat on an electric water heater stuck and the water heater overheated. The safety valve worked as designed and vented hot water and steam to lower the pressure to safe levels. The tenant, an obvious Darwin Award contender, thought it would be a good idea to disconnect the wire powering the heater. Our Darwin Electrician did not know there is something called a circuit breaker that you turn off to cut the power to the appliance. Also, our Darwin Electrician did not know that water heaters use twice the voltage of most appliances (220 volts Vs 110 volts) Thus, our Darwin Electrician was standing in the grounded puddle of warm water surrounding the heater and working on live 220 volt wires bare handed. Our Darwin Electrician now has a very sore arm but no permanent injury. I told the Darwin Electrician to run out and purchase a lottery ticket ASAP, as he is the luckiest (insert profanity of choice here) I ever saw.

I turned off the electricity at the circuit breaker and fixed the water heater without incident.

Submitted on 01/21/2007

Submitted by: Tom Miles
Reference: none

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

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James said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
A pretty funny story, Tom, especially considering you fixed it quickly and without incident! This sounds like a gag right out of a Laurel & Hardy short! I'll keep this as a PA! Good write-up!

Graham said:
Neutral: Personal Account
This wannabe 'Sparky' sure is lucky! Not only are water heaters higher voltage, they draw a much higher amperage (which is what actually kills people). I guess his number just wasn't up. Yes, a Lottery ticket purchase may be a good idea!

Jack said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
All I can say is this: I hope that you have a good lawyer, Tom! Sounds as if ;your (hopefully!) former tenant is the sort to sue you for damages. Good story. Thanks!

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