# Stealing Electricity



## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

Wait til you neighbor goes to work (or to bed). Run an extension cord to his house and plug into his outside receptacle. Make sure it is GFCI.

Seriously no one is going to abet a crime (or not many of us).


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## watsupbud (Nov 2, 2010)

im actually wondering how they are bypassing the meter and how its done. just curious


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

watsupbud said:


> im actually wondering how they are bypassing the meter and how its done. just curious


You wouldn't really want us to tell you how to break the law, would you?

let's just say; it can be done and if a person screws up while doing it; they can get electrocuted. When they get caught, they can go to jail.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

They are not being safe and connecting to the conductor before the meter. I've seen pictures of holes in basement walls to tap the underground feeder, taps on the weatherhead for above ground services, meters that have been removed and bypassed in various ways.


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

Install solar panels and "steal" all you want to from the sun. It won't mind one bit!

DM


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

My guess is some kind of vampire tap type connectors. I would NOT do it. Maybe someone is familiar with the charges that can be laid. I know it's high up there. 

You can theoricly touch a hot cable one at a time without getting shocked, but it's a huge risk. You have nearly unlimited amps available to you. you only need 1 to kill you.

Edit: I just realized the pun in "charges being laid".


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## hungry4knowhow (May 11, 2011)

Its relatively easy until the electric company finds out and charges you a buttload of money and then begins putting locks on your meter box.

I highly advice just finding a way to get your electricity on in a legit matter. They may give a VERY firm warning the first time, but you do it 2 or 3 times and your going to be looking at heavy duty trouble.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Here is how to do it legally. You will need a kite, an antique door key, some wire and and a thunderstorm.


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## vsheetz (Sep 28, 2008)

Years ago I managed a mobile home park with many rental units. Each had their own electric meter via the park rand the park billed the tenant directly. In the case of non payment we would disconnect service via a locked box. One one occasion I saw that a disconnected unit/tenant had lights on and stereo playing. They had made a double male extension cord and plugged into a common area light socket to an outlet in their unit.


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## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

I hate to touch this topic because it borders on inquiring about how to do something illegal, but what I want to say is that if you're asking how it is done safely, my response is that it isn't done safely.

Last year there was a round of house fires in Detroit. Electricity theft is often something that leads to house fires and sometimes deaths or injuries to the person attempting the hookup, although when I searched for stories the more prevalent theme seemed to be death of copper thieves.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/03/detroit-house-children-kills/
http://www.dipnoid.com/2009/06/man-electrocuted-stealing-electricity-to-power-meth-lab/
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?7369-Clowncil-blasts-fire-and-police

60,000 illegal electrical hookups in Detroit.:no:


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

hungry4knowhow said:


> Its relatively easy until the electric company finds out and charges you a buttload of money and then begins putting locks on your meter box.
> 
> I highly advice just finding a way to get your electricity on in a legit matter. They may give a VERY firm warning the first time, but you do it 2 or 3 times and your going to be looking at heavy duty trouble.


POCO aside, stealing electric can result in criminal charges of theft.


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## RickyBobby (Nov 19, 2009)

You really gotta give the guy an A for effort in Willk's second link. Say no to drugs kids.


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## waterman1971 (Apr 19, 2009)

This is what can happen when you steal electricity.


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

Thanks waterman. Sometime's it takes the gory to get people to realize certain things.


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

Not their "brightest" moment, eh? 
(well, ok, maybe for a SECOND they were bright....)
It's sad the lengths people will go to be dishonest.

DM


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

I think that is ready. 

And LOL at the second article. Even if this guy had succeeded, what is he going to do with 7000 or more volts? That's 58 light bulbs in serries. I guess it's doable lol.


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## The Deez (Jul 9, 2010)

lol a metal ladder and jumper cables...genius. Anyways dude if you think were gonna tell you step by step instructions on how it's done, your an idiot. On second thought, get a 30' metal ladder and some jumper cables. When you get that stuff, let us know, we'll tell you what to do next.


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

I think we're being hypocritical here. :laughing: After all, we give advice to the folks growing pot in their basement all the time - I mean people with questions about full spectrum lighting, dehumidifying and hydroponics.

And WOW that picture is GROSS!


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## dmxtothemax (Oct 26, 2010)

I think the question was how is it done with out electrocution ?
If things are the same in USA as to in Australia then it goes like this -
The supply comes into the board and first goes to the main switch.
From there it goes to the meter,
And from meter goes to breakers.

So if you first turn off the main switch,
Then you can remove the wire that goes to the meter,
And insert a wire that goes to the breakers,
And if the main switch is still off,
Then this side of the switch is not live.

NOT THAT I AM ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO DO THIS !
CAUSE YOU WILL GET CAUGHT !

but on a technical level that is how it is done.
I have seen a few cases of this happening.


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## kbsparky (Sep 11, 2008)

On most installations in the US, the meter is first, then the service disconnect.

You have no way of turning that meter off, unless you violate the utility's domain.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

in the US, there is no disconnect, typically, from the POCO connection (all the way back to the transformer) all the way to the service disconnect at the service with the meter being in that path. One would have to work it hot to be able to tap the line side of the meter.


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## Wildie (Jul 23, 2008)

nap said:


> in the US, there is no disconnect, typically, from the POCO connection (all the way back to the transformer) all the way to the service disconnect at the service with the meter being in that path. One would have to work it hot to be able to tap the line side of the meter.


 Some grow op people manage this while tapping into underground service feeders.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Leah Frances said:


> I think we're being hypocritical here. :laughing: After all, we give advice to the folks growing pot in their basement all the time - I mean people with questions about full spectrum lighting, dehumidifying and hydroponics.


Haha I love those type of questions. 

"I am mass growing corn in my house..."

Suuuuuure. :laughing:


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## rickinnocal (May 11, 2011)

This is actually a very hot topic here in 'Babylon by the Bay' at the moment. 

With the rash of foreclosures there are many hundreds of vacant properties that have been boarded up by the banks that own them that have been, inside, converted to pot farms. With the massive demands that such houses have for power when there's hydroponics in every room, many burst into flames each week. The firefighters, when they enter, often find homes festooned with a spaghetti of crosslinked extension cords, often wirenutted together because regular power strips won't hold, connected to PG&E's service lines upstream from the disconnected meter - a popular method is to wrap heavy gauge copper wire - your 'service main' - around a C-Clamp that you then screw down onto the PG&E line. (Wearing heavy rubber gloves, I assume)

Richard


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## watsupbud (Nov 2, 2010)

I mean i know its not a good thing gzzzz. I was just wondering how people were doing it without getting caught or electrocuted.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

Wildie said:


> Some grow op people manage this while tapping into underground service feeders.


yep and I know plenty of people that have done this as part of their job. There are ways to do this reasonably safely, if you know what you are doing but for the average idiot, it's a quick way to get turned into a ripper (that's a hot dog that splits open when you deep fry it).

I've always like these pics




























but what I want to know is: in the first pic; what is the photographer on that he is eye level with the guy standing on top of a pole?


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

He's probably on a cherry picker from the power company asking the guy what hell are you doing there. You know you can be killed in a split second?


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## COLDIRON (Mar 15, 2009)

Long story short, many years ago had a buddy who picked up the power lines at the peak of the house and spliced in a cable to his attic (couldn't see it from the ground) before the meter, installed a 60 amp fused disconnect and ran the line all the way to his garage where he had a 60 amp panel that fed a clothes dryer, outlets, electric heat, lighting, A/C and tools. Well he had a house fire and the fire dept responded pulled the meter and put out the fire. Afterward he thought about how a firefighter could have been killed and ripped the entire thing out within a day or two.
He then hooked the garage up to his main panel. Talk about a close call and scared. He's been law abiding all these years later.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

I can't remember now if it was on the news or a picture that one of my LEO or fire fighter buddy's had, but in one instance in Detroit last summer, I remember clearly seeing a pair of automotive type jumper cables running down from the entrance cables at the top of the mast, obviously ahead of the meter. What the heck? About the same O.D. as my service entrance cables, maybe even a bit bigger. Should be no problem.


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## Roddy (May 7, 2011)

watsupbud said:


> I mean i know its not a good thing gzzzz. I was just wondering how people were doing it without getting caught or electrocuted.


I know that a lot of the older homes with the mast in the wall have had a new mast installed outside so it's harder to steal. My uncle was renovating a house where they cut the mast in the attic, pulled the wires out and tapped into them with clamp-on connectors (and big ballz)


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## Roddy (May 7, 2011)

A great song about this practice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OciCzKgGY0


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## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

watsupbud said:


> I mean i know its not a good thing gzzzz. I was just wondering how people were doing it without getting caught or electrocuted.


I think that as far as not getting caught, certainly as far as Detroit is concerned with 60,000 illegal hookups, the problem is that there are so many and I kid you not, there is a movement by the Socialists to oppose disconnecting services. I'm not just saying Socialists in the sense that conservatives call things liberals do socialist, I mean seriously - when I was searching, a lot of links went to the World Socialist Web.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/util-m16.shtml

I suspect that the move to smart meters which allows the utility to remotely take meter reads might be part of trying to detect illegal setups by giving them a better capability to read legal usage in real time and thus identify where actual use is more than legal usage.

And I guess that kind of gives you that part of the answer, the only way to detect illegal usage is by identifying that your demand isn't fully accounted for, and if you need to have eyes on a meter to account for usage, it's very labor intensive. This will change as metering becomes networked.

As far as safety, of course there are safe ways of doing hookups and these methods are done by the utility companies. No idea what the training or equipment involved would be, I'm doing a service move and upgrade on my house and I've followed my POCO's manual to comlete my part of the work which includes the service mast wiring, meter socket, panel etc. but all of the work is done, of course, with nothing energized.


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## WillK (Aug 29, 2010)

Roddy said:


> A great song about this practice!
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OciCzKgGY0


Ack! I have a few ex-pats near my desk from south of the border! I don't usually listen to anything at work and for some reason I decided to listen to this before read the lyrics.:whistling2::no::laughing:


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## homerb (May 7, 2010)

DexterII said:


> I can't remember now if it was on the news or a picture that one of my LEO or fire fighter buddy's had, but in one instance in Detroit last summer, I remember clearly seeing a pair of automotive type jumper cables running down from the entrance cables at the top of the mast, obviously ahead of the meter. What the heck? About the same O.D. as my service entrance cables, maybe even a bit bigger. Should be no problem.


I heard a similar story about a meth head who's power was cut out decided to go out to his front yard and hook up jumper cables to try and steal power.

What was he thinking?? Seriously, what did he think he was going to hook up the jumper cables to?


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

COLDIRON said:


> Afterward he thought about how a firefighter could have been killed and ripped the entire thing out within a day or two.
> .


glad to hear he saw the light before anybody else saw "the light". Just in case he, or anybody else doesn't realize it but not only could somebody been killed but the guy responsible could have been criminally tried for negligently causing the death.

I remember reading several years ago where an electrician(?) installed a heater in a house. There was something illegal about the install. It caused a house fire, a child (if I remember correctly) was killed. The electrician(?) was setting in prison the last I heard.


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## Roddy (May 7, 2011)

WillK said:


> Ack! I have a few ex-pats near my desk from south of the border! I don't usually listen to anything at work and for some reason I decided to listen to this before read the lyrics.:whistling2::no::laughing:


Whoops, sorry about that. :laughing:


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## jeffrow1 (Jul 20, 2009)

watsupbud said:


> I don't understand how people are getting away with stealing electricity? Can someone tell me exactly how they are doing it without being electrocuted?


I remember the old meters at our marina would run backwards if you turned them upside down.


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## operagost (Jan 8, 2010)

rickinnocal said:


> The firefighters, when they enter, often find homes festooned with a spaghetti of crosslinked extension cords, often wirenutted together because regular power strips won't hold, connected to PG&E's service lines upstream from the disconnected meter - a popular method is to wrap heavy gauge copper wire - your 'service main' - around a C-Clamp that you then screw down onto the PG&E line. (Wearing heavy rubber gloves, I assume)


The irony would be if one of those guys who steals the copper wire out of abandoned and unfinished homes were to snag a grower's rigged-up copper main. :laughing:


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## ScottR (Oct 6, 2008)

Anyone ever watch the show Trailer Park Boys? It's a pretty good guide on stealing power. They only get shocked and burn things down once or twice. I believe jumper cables were involved on one occasion.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

ScottR said:


> Anyone ever watch the show Trailer Park Boys? It's a pretty good guide on stealing power. They only get electrocuted and burn things down once or twice. I believe jumper cables were involved on one occasion.


you can only get electrocuted once in life.



> Definition of ELECTROCUTE
> 
> transitive verb
> 1
> ...


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## ScottR (Oct 6, 2008)

nap said:


> you can only get electrocuted once in life.


You are correct. My dire error has been edited above so that future visitors to this forum don't accidentally infer that they've risen from the dead after receiving an electric shock.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

Electrocution works both ways. It's basically a boolan increment. If you are alive, it kills you, but if you're dead, it resurrects you. Doctors do it all the time on TV!


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## a7ecorsair (Jun 1, 2010)

Hollywood Algebra according to RS
A=Alive
D=Dead
E=Electrocution

(A+E=D),(D+E=A):thumbsup:


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

nap said:


>


Is this a retouched picture (perhaps using Photoshop)?

Looks like bare feet to me.

Hmmm. Let's make this into a "What's wrong in this picture" puzzle.

2. He has no tools or toolbelt.
3. What he is doing with his hands does not look like an electrician's activity.
4. The in-line insulator at his knee holding up the wire to the left of it is not attached to anything to its right.
5. (you finish the story)


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## a7ecorsair (Jun 1, 2010)

AllanJ said:


> Is this a retouched picture (perhaps using Photoshop)?
> 
> Looks like bare feet to me.
> 
> ...


6. The body size is out of proportion with that of the wire spacing and cross member size.
7. He is barefoot and touching one of the 7200 volt lines with his chest so I don't see how he could be smiling.
8. He is wearing a wrist watch which is a safety violation.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

1. bare feet. certain areas of the world, not uncommon and if he is stealing electricity, it would imply he isn't wealthy so bare feet doesn't seem odd to me. Besides, climbing a pole without climbing gear is easier if you are barefoot. 

check this out and tell me why shoes would be better than bare feet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H1zjRU8hBo







> 2. He has no tools or toolbelt.


if he is stealing electricity, I wouldn't expect to see him with a set of electricians tools.

if you saw me working, you wouldn't see anymore tools on me than what you see in the pic. I wear no toolbelt and tend to carry a minimum of tools which I keep in various pants pockets. 



> 3. What he is doing with his hands does not look like an electrician's activity.


hard to tell but when I see an electrician with a jackhammer, I don't doubt he is doing electrical work. There are many aspects to my job. The fact I cannot tell exactly what he is doing at the moment of the picture does not mean much.



> 4. The in-line insulator at his knee holding up the wire to the left of it is not attached to anything to its right.


I see that and cannot tell if there is some "shopping" going on there or if it is an optical illusion. 



> 5. (you finish the story)


he does have those stripped wires right in front of him running down the pole like he is prepping the stuff to make joints there. 

it's kind of funny what I just found. Notice the feet in this pic

http://www.pics4news.com/daily_news_photo/8154/KPTCL_Electrician.html

http://hardrainproject.com/hrpl?n=8403

It would appear that what you are looking at in the pic you have there is an official professional electrician hard at work quite likely in India.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

a7ecorsair said:


> 8. He is wearing a wrist watch which is a safety violation.





safety violation? In the states, yes. In India, apparently not.

I don't think the lines are not hot. I think that is a new install.


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