Why does the bucket in a bucket truck need to be solid to maintain grounding?

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I’m watching this arborist on YouTube and they have a truck with a bucket on an arm so they can reach heights without climbing. On/after a rainy day the bucket will accumulate water and they mentioned they can’t drill a hole to drain because it will compromise the grounding.

My understanding of grounding/electricity doesn’t explain this. Can someone help me understand why this would make a difference?

Edit: I get it, I/he should have said “electrical isolation” instead of “grounding”. Either way, a hole allowing a stream of dirty water seems to be the answer here. Thanks 🙂

In: Physics

17 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

A non engineered hole drilled into the bottom of the bucket comprises structural integrity of the bucket, a straight fiberglass bucket has no non-conductive properties by manufacturer. Drilling a hole in the liner would be an automatic fail during inspection not due to water but due to giving electricity an unintended path to ground. There is a non conductive insert that goes inside the bucket that provides 3rd level non conductive properties. The bucket liner, upper boom non conductive area and lower boom insert provide 3rd level dielectric saftey. The point of a dielectric boom is to not give electricity a path to ground. Just depending on the boom for non conductivity isn’t recommended. properly grounding the chassis to earth to give electric an easier path to ground than through the operator and wearing proper insulated gloves are primary defense.

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