Electric wire all 3

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Geo422

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My brother just called me. Here the problem,,,, new dishwasher ,he at work his wife decided she would install it.
She turned the power off ,disconnect the wiring , put all 3 wires together in 1 wire nut ,turned the electric back on ,
Her husband Joe came home found the wiring welding together, he cut the welded wires apart put a wire nut on each one.what damage could this cause
 
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Reach4

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My brother just called me. Here the problem,,,, new dishwasher ,he at work his wife decided she would install it.
She turned the power off ,disconnect the wiring , put all 3 wires together in 1 wire nut ,turned the electric back on ,
Her husband Joe came home found the wiring welding together, he cut the welded wires apart put a wire nut on each one.what damage could this cause
The breaker should have opened the circuit before the wires welded together.
 

Jadnashua

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A little knowledge can be dangerous! No knowledge can be disastrous!

A circuit breaker needs to see its current capacity exceeded, and often for a moment, before it trips. Now, that time is short, but it doesn't take long to weld the wires together! That current can momentarily exceed the rating when there's a direct short. If the current being drawn is very near the spec, if the circuit is on for a long time, it may also trip which is one reason why there's an 80% rule for some devices on the size of the wiring and protection circuits.
 

Jadnashua

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If you happen to get a screwdriver across some hot wires, it's not at all uncommon for the arc to take a chunk out of the shaft of the screwdriver prior to the breaker popping - steel melts at a higher temp than copper...wiring the hot and neutral together then closing the breaker can produce a huge surge prior to the breaker tripping. On a time scale, the time is very short, but think about spot welding something...only on for a moment.
 
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