Appreciation post: Saw a guy at a site in Tampa using a screwdriver to check for voltage

He was poking around a 240V panel with a regular metal driver, saying his meter was in the truck. I had to stop him and explain how a $50 non-contact tester could save his life. What's the most dangerous shortcut you've seen someone take on a job?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey8431mo ago

Cardboard shims under a water heater is a straight up fire waiting to happen. That stuff compresses and turns to pulp the second it gets damp. Seen a guy use a whole stack of pizza box scraps once. Ended up with a slow leak that rotted the floor. For something that heavy, you gotta use the plastic or composite shims made for it. They sell them right next to the heaters for a reason.

joel_young5d ago

Cardboard shims under a water heater is actually fine for leveling as long as you're not stacking them a foot high. The heat from the bottom of the tank isn't going to ignite cardboard unless you've got a gas leak or something else seriously wrong. I've seen plumbers use old roofing shingles and even hardwood floor scraps for decades without any issues, and those aren't fire rated either. The main thing is keeping the floor dry and checking your connections once in a while, the shim material barely matters if you're not letting water pool under there.

gonzalez.vera1mo ago

Watched a guy try to level a water heater with cardboard shims. The whole stack was two inches thick. It was on a concrete pad, too. Just waiting to slide right out.