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
Your question states “maintain grounding”. It is to avoid grounding.
There are two buckets in a proper setup. A fiberglass outer shell and a plastic liner internally that can be removed for cleaning. Usually the arm (boom) of the buckets have fiberglass sections as well. When being tested,, the entire contraption is tested after cleaning and often waxing the booms. The hydraulic systems operating the bucket/boom are specifically non-conductive as are the hoses being used. There have been tragic accidents where a mechanic has inadvertently used a steel reinforced hose.
Pure water does not conduct, but dirty water is a great conductor and the environments the crews work in are often filthy. Once the bucket/liner/boom are all wet, the opportunity for tracking goes up. A hole in the bucket provides that path.
Bear in mind that the insulation in the bucket is to isolate the worker in the bucket, but the truck frames themselves are solidly grounded to the system neutral. There have been occasions where an ungrounded truck became hot from an undetected contact with the line. With it sitting on rubber tires, no one knew until the first poor slob that went over to open a bin, get a tool, and was electrocuted from frame to ground. If a system neutral can’t be obtained, the truck needs a barrier around it.
So isolation isn’t just for the guy in the bucket. It protects the ground crew too.
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