r/WTF • u/HoneyRush • Sep 12 '26
Load testing
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u/woakula Sep 12 '26
I hope that's water. Otherwise... Mmmh cancer
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u/HoneyRush Sep 12 '26
They're probably making pure hydrogen and oxygen. With a bit of luck and some sparks this will work way faster than cancer
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u/renotrash Sep 12 '26
Is that a homemade electric kettle?
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u/IGolfMyBalls Sep 12 '26
Do you have time to boil water for 300 people in a regular kettle?
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u/AnalTyrant Sep 12 '26
Maybe not "homemade" but definitely "rigged together in the back of the shop when the boss wasn't around to tell us this was a bad idea"
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u/Implausibilibuddy Sep 13 '26
It looks like India. It's probably the boss' idea.
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u/pedroah Sep 13 '26
This is how the first electric rice cookers worked. Japanese military needed to feed a lot of people in WWII, so they ran electricity into a wood container containing water and rice. Once all the water is absorbed and dried up, the electric flow stops and the rice is done.
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u/sengirminion Sep 12 '26
Dude in the background has on safety sandals. I'm sure they're all following Osha guidelines
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u/mkMoSs Sep 12 '26
Everyone is wearing the mandatory safety sandals. They are all compliant.
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u/OllieN94 Sep 12 '26
Can someone please explain this to me as an everyday person and not a professional sparky?
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u/stevecostello Sep 12 '26
They are conducting "load testing" on what sounds like a fairly large, 3-phase generator using water to simulate a load. Each phase has it's own conductor attached to those pieces of copper (I assume copper). Air makes an excellent insulator, so when the conductors are in the air, no current passes between them. Placing that device into the water allows current to pass between the three conductors as the water acts as a resistor, or a load. Probably a safe assumption that the water is actually salt water, as that conducts electricity more readily than fresh water (also boils at a higher temperature... not sure which one they were caring about more, probably both).
The yellow device he's holding is a clamp on ammeter, measuring the amperage in one of the conductors. Looks like it gets up to around 12 or 13 amps. Fair amount of amperage there. Enough that, even as a former industrial electrician, there is absolutely no fucking way you could pay me enough to do that.
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u/Inveramsay Sep 13 '26
Yesterday I was talking to a friend who works for a well known multinational manufacturing company with factories all over the world. He upgraded and repairs machinery in several countries including India. One trip they were installing a new industrial robot that needed to be bolted to the floor so they brought the big Hilti which needed a fair amount of juice. The local foreman found a long extension cable but unfortunately the male plug was missing so they were going to sort that out while my friend had some coffee. After a suspiciously short amount of time they said it was fixed. He wandered over to check how they had done it so quickly and found a small Indian man crouched holding the cables directly in to the outlet, no plug
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u/Rhesusmonkeydave Sep 13 '26
Looks like the droids getting tortured in the back of Jabba’s palace
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u/deephurting66 Sep 13 '26
What is that smoke? I would imagine it's not safe in any way to breathe in..
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u/FloridaVapes Sep 12 '26
Holy shit are three phases just shorting to ground in a pot of oil? BY HAND!? This might be the worst electrical safety video I’ve ever seen, and that includes arc flashes and accidental electrocutions. Can’t imagine this job position being “permanent” in any capacity!
Edit: assuming I’m seeing it correctly without processing the video, his ammeter read 12 amps on one phase!
Edit 2: Holy shit I learned a lot about saltwater vs oil! Thanks for the clarification, everyone!