I was taking the front off of a 480 box and found that someone before me had lost one of screws and substituted a much longer one. It had wedged the four gauge wire against the side of the box. Running the screw across the wire putting it in did not wear thro the insulation. Taking it out did. It was like a cherry bomb went off inside!
The worst scare I got was having a 1.5” flexible conduit against my chest while I fed wire thro it. I forgot that my phone was in my shirt pocket and it went off in vibrate mode. I nearly pissed myself!
Second story is funny.
First story is so true — people do crap work. Something as seemingly innocuous as a longer screw. I am always paranoid when closing up a box. Is everything dressed properly? No loose screws? Nothing sticking out anywhere? Nothing pinched? Screws right length? All screws in place? Then I’ll do a double-check.
Previous homeowners are the worst. I’ll never forget the wiring to a porch floodlight in my first home. In the attic, Romex went into half inch metallic conduit. In the exterior box for the floodlight, lamp cord entered. The jerk had run out of Romex and spliced on the zip cord with electrical tape right inside the conduit!