[meyer]

During the early 1900s, American cafes and diners adopted numeric codes for handling customers' orders. "86" was used to "Cancel an order". From there, "86" was adopted to mean kill something - like "That project got 86-ed".

In the world of electric power and transmission, relays designed around breaker tripping and automatic schemes have a function number. An example, a "51" function is an overcurrent relay, designed to initiate tripping of a circuit breaker if a line or device is overloaded.

Of course, there is a function number "86" which is a lockout relay - this prevents any circuit breakers from re-closing (turning back on) until manual intervention is done, to prevent the accidental re-connecting of the errant equipment to the energized grid. If a power substation is "86'ed", it is not going to come back on line automatically.

[tang-soo]

Of course, there is a function number "86" which is a lockout relay - this prevents any circuit breakers from re-closing (turning back on) until manual intervention is done, to prevent the accidental re-connecting of the errant equipment to the energized grid. If a power substation is "86'ed", it is not going to come back on line automatically.

interesting. Thanks for that!