Top 5 Dangerous Short Circuit Videos (What Went Wrong?)

How does Electrical Fire happen?
A high current fault can create an electrical fire by forming a high energy arc flash which rapidly vaporizes metal and insulation material. An electrical explosion is the sudden release of energy due to a short circuit between power phases or a phase to ground. It is important to realize that a very large amount of energy is available on the bus of most electrical panels when they are operating within their normal design parameters. For example a phase to phase short circuit on a 400 Amp, 120/208 Volt panel can instantaneously release over 100 kilowatts of energy during a fault condition and not blow the protective fuse or circuit breaker. An electrical explosion of this magnitude will destroy the panel and can start a fire causing severe injuries.
In simple terms a short circuit is a low resistance path for an electric current to flow between two conductors supplying electrical power. Since the volume of current flow is huge this may cause the electrical power source to get damaged, sometimes permanently. If ever we have a fuse in the circuit it will act as a protection device and blow out thus opening the circuit and preventing any further damage.
Join 'Engineering World' like many others to get access to very special perks:
/ @engineeringworld.
Also, kindly consider subscribing to our channel if you liked the video: geni.us/Subscr...
Watch some of our other interesting videos:
Are Wind Turbines really Environmentally Friendly?
Link: • 5 Wind Turbines Which ...
Which is the best seaplane ever made?
Link: • Top 7 Seaplanes from A...
Can SpaceX rockets really land from the space?
Link: • 5 AMAZING SpaceX Rocke...

[@BixbyConsequence]

"What went wrong?" "What is an electric arc?" "What precautions should be taken?" - "Our video fails to answer all these questions -- AND MORE!"

[@AYouTubeChannelwithNoName]

You didn’t have to go that far, Samsung voice assistant.

[@HeyJerry55]

Haha

[@LoganT547]

True

[@alexanchannel]

^underrated comment ^

[@yourdaddy6030]

Quite sure they're not promising any answers. You must have bumped your head

[@oechikr]

1:51 when the bass drops

[@emoneydev8684]

😂

[@AYouTubeChannelwithNoName]

Too much POWER

[@toainsully]

1:28 The tree branch is screaming in pain as it gets electrified.

[@CaLiCatch22]

😆🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

[@EJayy13]

@@CaLiCatch22 are you ga-

[@GNelke]

Seems like all elements in it are vaporized until its mostly carbon then it became a carbon arc light until it vaporized.

[@AlcyoneSong]

Thought it was a snake

[@thecockatiel3381]

2:29 car: beep beep beep pylon: buuzzzzzzz (don't beep to me )

[@aashirsiddiqui5203]

Don't beep at me! It's not my fault! It's the tree that broke me down!

[@rondohunter8966]

Don't just beep your car horn at it. Get out and move it out of the road so others can get by. Be a good citizen. Be a Darwin Winner.

[@possiblyrandomgaming]

Rondo Hunter and be electrocuted? That would arc to you if you were to touch it.

[@mercenarycorruption1821]

Beep beep *ANGRY POWER LINE SOUNDS*

[@karimRemi]

Warning

[@richardt8604]

The worst thing I have seen in 45 years in the electrical industry was a direct hit by lightning on an 11kv ocb and transformer at a factory , metres away from where I was working as a 3 week old apprentice electrician , just a massive fire ball at the ocb !was starting to wonder was I in the right trade !! Lol !

[@jonnyprice9957]

Wow you were an apprentice at 3 weeks old!?

[@prashanthm2446]

@@jonnyprice9957 he was new to that job?

[@greenbean2222]

@@prashanthm2446 no, just very young!

[@orcvsivstitia7608]

Omg he was joking

[@africanelectron751]

Good to see you got in the trade early, must have been nice to apply for management positions at 13 with the minimum 10 years experience.

[@armandpitout1307]

This is amazing to see, im CURRENTly learning about fuses and circuit breakers and seeing the arcs and the amount of electricity going through the lines is mind blowing. Beautiful to see the plasma go through the air like that. I hope everyone in these videos were safe and unharmed. Thank you for the upload! Stay safe and stay awesome😎

[@bitonic589]

Reply "Yeah, revolting." if you're goofy argh 💀

[@ZilogBob]

@@bitonic589 Yeah, revolting.

[@TarmoHermann1978]

It was sometime in the 1990s in Estonia. Two guys wanted to make fun of and threw an audio cassette tape over 110 kV high-voltage wires. A powerful arc was formed between the phase conductor and the ground. The guys who were standing on the highway were thrown into a ditch and their shoes got stuck on the asphalt and they just pulled out of them. The guys were seriously injured and taken to the hospital.

[@berrybee9242]

Bruh our physics techer sent this to us as a homework.. I am so confused

[@montypython3014]

same here

[@motorhead6763]

2 and 3 done on purpose...I hope police catch them. This causes huge damage to grid equipment and can easily kill. A kid died years ago doing that to 50kv lines near here.

[@KenKen-ui4ny]

It's can be look at as criminal mischief since it is on purpose causing destruction to the grid and lines other then just being grossly stupid

[@Engineer9736]

I dont understand the anger. Just let them. Their idioticy will take care of themselves. Just don’t look when the arc hits them, it’s not a nice sight. And one sweep of arcing doesn’t hurt a powerline. It’s a Jacobs Ladder.

[@123TauruZ321]

How do someone die from that?

[@lukasantos6991]

@@123TauruZ321 wtf 😂

[@nesto9889]

@@123TauruZ321 Touch it.

[@artaxerxesgp]

Did that person seriously shoot a taser at a powerline?

[@engineeringworld.]

Yes he did and its HIGHLY dangerous !

[@mreckes9967]

Most likely video or audio cassette tape, looks very spectacular.

[@EphemeralProductions]

it's some kind of trick they use where they can throw some kind of string over the line and yank at it, getting it to ground out just below the line. I have NO clue how they do it. especially without being vaporized.

[@EphemeralProductions]

***** Ummm no it wasn't just luck. You can see that he's using a string or light wire if you look closely.

[@fpstina]

it's suicidal... Darwin is over in the bushes taking notes on how "this one" became extinct....

[@warnpassion]

I finally found a popular video on KZbin without a clickbait thumbnail.

[@Walkerjet200]

That number two at 1:50 looks like a dangerous experiment!

[@NelsonBigGunP200Fan]

and an illegal one, Get caught it could mean serious jail time. Also you would NOT see me throwing anything onto a live electrical cable like that. Its asking for a death wish

[@KenKen-ui4ny]

Criminal mischief is probably the only thing they can charge the person to the full extent in that case, and certainly a good lecture about how stupid their act was

[@jefdamen2977]

He tased the power line...

[@standardaussie]

I did #2 several times at about 9 years old. It just occurred to me how close I was to not even being aware of never writing these words lol.

[@doodlebob7511]

holy shit dude lol

[@standardaussie]

I know 🤦‍♂️ I remember two of them well and one of them was with a nylon type rope with a truck bearing on the end for a catch on the line and it was in the sleet (light rain), the other was with thick twine with the same bearing but with a metal bar for us to hold on our end as the bigger lines were hard to pull together. The one in the sleet sent arcs across the lines from where we pulled them down the entire length of our street (150 meters or so) ill never forget it and another mate that lived up the road later told us that his and a lot of other houses "black boxes" ? Were humming and glowing so he came out where we told him why. Sounds ridiculous to say I understand but I'm not an idiot I swear, well . . . but what I mean is I still don't understand how we thought it was ok to do kid or not? I was building electric motors through primary i knew electricity was dangerous. . but the power was mezmarizing.

[@Cat-fy5lw]

Gosh,that's scary. But cool at the same time.

[@Pandallum001]

Is this bad that I find this incredibly terrifying? Makes me go into flight or fight mode instantly when I hear/see it.

[@MrDoboz]

It is terrifying. Also absolutely deadly. The really bad part tho is that you can't really fight it, and running away isn't always your best option either. There are cases when your only chance to survive is to just sit in the car and wait until someone turns off the power.

[@grimreeper8008]

The guy at 2:05 got saved for going at the right time

[@broadwayboysinconcert9458]

1:51 electricity look thunders

[@meetreason1731]

#5 was not a short circuit, it was transmission line switch failure. #4 was not a short circuit, it appears to be insulator failure. #3 was not a short circuit, it was fallen branch with enough moisture to conduct. #2 was not a short circuit, it was magnetic tape that catalyzed a plasma arc. #1 was not a short circuit, it was the tree branch catalyzing a plasma arc. "Short Circuit" is too often misused to characterize electrical issues, especially arcing which aren't necessarily shorts.

[@choirulfadilah3683]

Nice

[@brynyard]

Nitpicking on the other hand, is something we see way to little of on the internet.

[@EphemeralProductions]

For anyone that is curious, the explosion of #1 happened at the intersection of Edgewater and Gorge Rd in Cliffside Park NJ. Not too far across the river from Manhattan. :) I found the exact intersection on Google Maps. :)

[@D0ubleSwipe]

tall32guy slick detective work

[@miguelnogueira8180]

easy to find the sign is readable and there's also a building name on the other side of the road

[@EphemeralProductions]

Miguel Nogueira: exactly. :)

[@mikeymcmikeface5599]

@@EphemeralProductions And why is that funny?

[@EphemeralProductions]

Mikey McMikeFace did I say I was laughing?

[@bsdjail]

1:48 It's not a taser, it's a wire that was connected to the ground and he shorted it to a powerline.

[@yoursweetestdream1770]

Something tells me if it was a taser, they would have been electrocuted along with making the power line arc.

[@filter4now]

Another case of an "arc" is actually caused by a circuit starting to unwantedly open - which causes many house fires. A staple can be pounded in too hard which damages the NM cable insulation or conductor, creating a short or weakening the wire itself. I hate those 59c outlets they always use in residential wiring. The prongs are weak and wear out which sometimes creates such a bad connection the plug literally falls out (best case scenario). They also have these holes in the back where you can insert a wire, and rather than screwing them down there is a small tab that barely bites the wire. In nearly all cases I have seen the following load simply daisy chained to the bottom holes. After 10 years or so this can also become corroded - and when a large load such as space heater is connected it heats up until the circuit opens. There is a circuit breaker that prevents over-current, and also a GFI can be used to prevent a ground fault - but what if it is not enough current to trip the breaker and the arc is in-circuit rather than to ground? 15a x 120v can create enough heat to start something on fire. Today they have the AFCI which will prevent this - but not all circuits have them, and they can also false-trip which makes them unattractive for use on circuits supplying critical equipment.

[@denniscampbell7501]

Number 2 should be number 1! That was awesome!!

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

What caused # 2 ? That was bad ass!

[@DarkCupcake]

The Number 4th electricity short circuit was the most dangerous bro can you see that it was dark there and when it was sparking it was looking like morning

[@discordcuenta2290]

1:19 Dat FlashBang XD

[@0icekold7]

Always make sure your feet are clean and wet and use only metal handles objects when working on electrical lines.

[@whiteknightcat]

LOL - tree took out the line and I'm sitting here counting through the recloser cycles

[@SJR_Media_Group]

I get a real 'charge' watching videos like this...

[@bektassoglu61]

love electric sound

[@hanafysullivan2186]

Last video like final destination

[@Dysturbed-00]

Electricity be like: *I'ma go here now*

[@orangeofficer528]

0:50 Looks like Pensacola, Florida!

[@yapwilson666hulksmash5]

1:19 BOOOOOOM!!!

[@RayoBeatz]

1:41 now you will experience the full power of the dark side.

[@thomashara7760]

1:28 Damn kids throwing sticks up on power lines

[@sapelir]

1:19 flashout!! -csgo

[@j.c.f.m.2486]

#2 Thor playing with the powerlines

[@williammoses6232]

no, STUPID playing with the power lines. if we are lucky, he was killed pulling this stupid stunt . if he was , it will keep him from reproducing. it's call the law of natural selection . only the smartest of the species survives.

[@JohnJones1987]

@@williammoses6232 .... he survived, soo...

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Everyone's gangsta til *BZZzzzbbZZZbbBBzzzzBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZ* 😂

[@grabasandwich]

1:50 I think I saw this posted by the actual person years ago but I forget when or where. Maybe before KZbin? Wonder if they're still alive lol.

[@apollothecreator1320]

0:15 you can see what looks like a weak arc on the right side in between the two pylon thingys

[@supertrain1236]

Even a spark can cause an electrical fire.

[@gwmax11]

2:04 - So that's where they got the effects for Back To The Future!

[@kofijo10]

last clip a tree fell over on a power line and arcs ⚡⚡⚡⚡

[@centosys]

1:51 terrified me a lot 😅

[@SpeedBird6780]

You can see that the final one's grid is properly protected.

[@stargazer7644]

They're all properly protected. An arc across an open phase won't trip a protection device because it is still just seeing the normal load on the line. It isn't until the arc gets across another phase or ground that the real fireworks start and the protection opens the line.

[@wasted.videos973]

It is usual in my city. Even kids are not afraid of it. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@michaelboccino5251]

Always Respect Electricity Like It's Live And Power Hungry '

[@test-cp8uz]

"How does Electrical Fire happen?" welllll high voltage *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

[@Duncan_1971]

At 1:40 that poor stick is screaming for mercy ;)

[@aasheesh4you]

@1:19 Pause and see how electricity makes it all clear lolz

[@filter4now]

I noticed there was lightning in the 2nd video, was the arc caused by a nearby lightning strike creating the ionized air, or the moisture creating a low resistance path? An electrical arc created by high voltage - when the potential between 2 points becomes strong enough the air between the 2 becomes ionized. Ionized air has little resistance, and a short circuit occurs. How this starts can be many ways. The first perhaps the insulator was wet, the second probably rain or perhaps lightning ionizing the air, the 3rd (mmmhmm... a connector was placed between the wire and ground) the 4th a stick, and the 5th a big f*** tree knocked the conductors together and on the ground. A great example is called a "Jacob's ladder", which is 2 conductors placed close together at the bottom tapered further apart at the top. When an arc starts at the bottom, the hot ionized air rises. Since electricity always takes the path of least resistance, the arc climbs as the hot ionized air rises. Once the 2 points are further enough apart at the top, the air is no longer ionized and the closest parts near the bottom become the path of least resistance.

[@iuploadcompleteutternonsen8568]

The second clip was terrifying I don’t know why

[@freemancarl]

@ 1:41 = *Back To The Future* ;-)

[@rackets001]

2:03 intersection of Edgewater Rd and Gorge Rd in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. The Savoy Plaza has had a major face lift since this video was shot.

[@liambaril1706]

Depending on the current, if an anode and cathode come in close contact, an arc can occur

[@AndersMidnatt]

It's a discharge caused by an electrical breakdown... So make sure the wires are insulated, or they don't touch any other objects in any circumstances.

[@Huvada]

I'm so happy powerlines are all underground in the Netherlands. For the long distance stuff it's still above ground, but those are so high that they never get hit by anything. Haven't had a singel outage in the past 19 years.

[@DONK8008]

There is one downside to underground lines and that's the repair times are loner. About 4 months a go the power in the street I live in would go out pretty much every night due to bad cables and this issue lasted for about a month before they finally dug the street up to replace the faulty cable.

[@MarcosAntonio-en3ly]

@@DONK8008 que.

[@rianrian-if3no]

The second was to dangerous 🥶

[@firestonevlogs6361]

What precaution should be taken? To be honest, that is a good question! There is no real good solution as we can not stop a tree from falling onto wires, plus, with how many people litter, it would be difficult to stop string, plastic bags, paper bags, and more from hitting the high power wires.

[@Religious_man]

Get rid of the excavators. Problem solved right?

[@ffjsb]

Don't plant trees under power lines for starters... I tried telling my neighbor that...

[@khaoliang]

I would simply say "FUCK YOU" to electricity and kick it in its face with my ENERGY LEGS that I got from drinking too much POWERTHIRST!!

[@ivand5699]

I would not like to be on germany in case of a flood lol.

[@loupole5654]

Don't play with it or lick it, just drop it in a nearby trash can.

[@Inseticidacontrahu]

0:12 It looks like fire but it's not. 0:26 goodbye fuse😊 0:42 Pole: I am not feeling gOO- 1:29 Stick: James I think I'm... *processes to fart* I'M BURNING AAAAAA- 1:42 Arc: Hi👋 voltage⚡ 1:48 Wires: I think I'll SHORT CIRCUIT HELP I DON'T WANT- 1:51 Arc: BRUUUZZZZZZZZ ZBUZZZZZZZZZZBZZZBUZZZZ*POU*CHIIIRITXIZIBUZI⚡💥😈 2:09 Tree: STEVE I THINK I'M GOING TO FALL AAAAH- 2:16 BRUUUZUZUZUZUZUZ😈😈😈😈 2:22 *High voltage chaos start* 2:29 Car: Beep Beep! 2:31 Arc: DONT BEEP TO MEEEEE BRUUUZZZZZZ BHXZZ BUZZZZZ BUUUZZZ⚡⚡♥️💥👿👿👿

[@84953]

These and some of the others I've seen remind me of a story about something that happened where I worked. At the time the facility was still using fuses instead of breakers. Well long story short it was a factory and the I believe shift manager ordered the maintenance people and electricians that were there to jump out the fuse block. We're talking about the mains coming into the power vault for the entire complex. 480 volts at a ridiculously high current. These people (maintenance and such) had refused and were told that if they didn't do it they would be fired. Fortunately it was one of these switches you had to crank up closing mechanism and then release it by pressing a button to close the switch. Well you can guess what happened. Even though they were in full gear and the person pushing the button was able to be a distance away kind of protected by a wall. If I remember correctly the electrician (outside hire) who did the deed actually did get pretty badly hurt. When the plant manager got there and found out what the shift manager had done he was fired on the spot.

[@coolandlongmusicalbumsmusi3666]

I just noticed that these fires look very similar to a fire benders fire blast. Just look at how instantaneous and dangerous it looks.

[@daverobinson6184]

Cool on all the sparks & arc's it help's keep the earth's ozone layer in good shape. YA SURE

[@victorrobison5069]

Firestone888-An electric arc is created when the resistance between two or more conductors fall below that necessary to keep them separated. The change of resistance can be caused by damaged insulation, debris, moisture in the air, slight movement by the conductors, anything that makes a path. Once an arc is established, it does not always stop just because proper distance between conductors is restored.

[@techcheckreviewde2493]

Victor Robison the reason why it doesn't stop is the plasma that generates a path for the electrons to have fun flowing through.

[@princezzdoom8701]

electricity arcs same way as lightning. it looks for the shortest path. however, lightning doesn't carry amps. so don't mess around with current unless you know what you're doing!

[@marcoschagas9646]

#2 was scary af

[@educatedmanholecoverbyrich8890]

It always amazes me why American power companies don't kill the power.

[@controlandpower]

an ionized path through the air

[@MREnderman1234]

Wow look at all of the credit given

[@notgreatnotterrible48years63]

Number two was cool

[@treyw3867]

photonicinduction would love this lol

[@dlchallenges4880]

number 2 was so satisfying

[@nilmaniyadav5884]

Jio sher..Esi type ka video laya kro.....

[@Sabba7h]

the third one was creepy because the stick actually changed shape for a second

[@TheDr502]

#1: Imagine if that pickup truck driver had driven just a few miles per hour slower. Dude was very lucky.

[@sparky3489]

3, 2 and 1 are actual results of a "short". 5 and 4 are actually opens.

[@pyrofreak3402]

1:19 Holy crap!!!

[@DevinSeeleyDevilO]

1:50 wow lightning

[@audreyglass2732]

I saw something just like number 4 happen while I was at my grandma's house when I was 9.

[@amy-joe5772]

That branch is getting the death penilty

[@myfriendjenonline7831]

This feels like ‘Final Destination’. 😳

[@leeorshimhoni8949]

clip #2. once a dielectric break is done, the air is ionized, the arc would sustain itself.

[@chasefrank8143]

First one looks like the blades were never closed the whole way. 2nd one looks like the cutout failed. Probably old porcelain

[@blazed85]

Johnny 5 is... alive!

[@arthamaddalena3135]

What 8s the song in the introduction of your videos? I love it, its so perfect !

[@elsainnamorato2231]

The trees that really scared me

[@utsuhoreiuji9850]

I find it so cool how electricity in a plasmic state looks so much like fire. It's pretty

[@stargazer7644]

Well, considering flames are plasma....

[@utsuhoreiuji9850]

@@stargazer7644 I realize that now, thanks!

[@railevator4000]

And at 2:14 on the video, the tree fell down, cut the power out, but the traffic lights stayed on!

[@Rykst3r]

Number 3 sounds like air hissing.

[@CrazyBone101]

1:29 snake

[@spodule6000]

What makes an electrical arc after all? - Electricity, What precautions should be taken? - Don't.

[@CoolGear12]

On the last video the protection operated the first time and then a automatic circuit recloser operated to check if the fault is still there

[@ddeeddee1380]

Living in New Orleans I see alot of this when bad weather come.

[@donaldblackmon36]

as a human I'm glad pickup driver missed it

[@ernestbywater411]

best precaution to avoid an electrical arc is to use gas.

[@engineeringworld.]

Which gas would you suggest?

[@_who_cares_1123]

Engineering World Nitrogen (N)

[@engineeringworld.]

Don't we use SF6 generally ?

[@_who_cares_1123]

In our Server room here in Germany the air has 70% Nitrogen.

[@Chwibon]

Il our toilets the air has 79% nitrogen, maybe that's for avoiding arcs in fart gas

[@manlikeamz3708]

I just short circuited a plug socket in my bedroom

[@tracynation2820]

An arc-cellent video. 💙 T.E.N.

[@UpcycleElectronics]

This was totally unrelated to my actual search results but I just had to procrastinate my way here anyways. Sub'd I have heard about the distance HV can jump many times before, and while #2 (1:50) appears to have been done under dubious circumstances, that clip illustrates the point well. This is the first time I've seen the reach of a bridging HV arc like this. I was always exceptionally worried about this kind of thing when I was operating heavy equipment around HV lines. It's so easy for an operator to get into a working rhythm and forget about such a peripheral danger. #2 Really drives that worry home. Thanks for the interesting upload. -Jake

[@liamhayne6873]

Can I just say what a genuinely good comment this was 👍

[@calirican9163]

The first one, that whole ass city of people are dead.

[@alexandreo.3083]

1:29 WHO is the dumb guy who put a branch over 2 electrical wires?!