This is a story for electric for dummy's;

Make sure you have the power turned off do not take someone's word on it,  I was at my uncle's house and he put a pool room up in the attic good area for a pool table plenty of room he installed 240 wall heaters but they were not working so I asked is the power off he said yes (ok my uncle thought he would know) well I took the end plate off of the wall heater and found the problem the wire wasn't connected.  I grabbed the wire the back of my hand hit the wall heater creating a ground and WOW!!!! 240 into me I flew over the pool tablwe landing on the other side with my hand black but just numb not injured any.  So take note double check makes it safe.

LOL!
Sorry I'm laughing, but I never learned that either.
 It happens to me once in a while, but typically it's that they turned off the wrong breaker or I'm too lazy to go down and check.
Also the lazy thing comes into play. Just last week I got zapped, but with 120, when working on moving a bathroom light.
I was too lazy to figure out what breaker and was working on it live.

Check and turn it off people!

(By the way, it was 120 that bit you, one wire to ground on a 240-volt circuit is typically 120, but getting hit unexpectedly, it feels like 440!  Sure makes muscles do things you don't expect them to do and that's what throws ya' !)

Gerry is that why you went with Reddi Kilowatt as your signature line? I was putting a complete basement under my existing house once and had to remove the glass globe off the meter, to attach a new ground cable and run it inside the meter box. Instead of paying the electric company to come shut the power off for a five minute job, I decided to do it live. About the time I was tightening the ground cable to the box's clamp something distracted me, I turned my head, the screwdriver slipped out of the slot and all I heard was a loud sizzling noise. When I regained my thoughts and looked the srewdriver was considerably shorter.

Wow! thats shocking!

Looks like Hi ho silver had his finger in the socket when he hit post lol!

I think JUST TALKING ABOUT ELECTRICITY gives hi-ho the "jitters" LOL

Maybe he's got a "past history" story ???? LOL



eeyore

Posted By eeyore on 06-27-2010 02:00 PM
I think JUST TALKING ABOUT ELECTRICITY gives hi-ho the "jitters" LOL

Maybe he's got a "past history" story ???? LOL



eeyore

ROFLMBO! 

I had that same exact experience. I told my friend to turn off the 2 breakers feeding a subpanel. I got the first shock and asked him to double check that he turned off both breakers. He double checked and told me they were both off. I figured I was just nervous and had actually just scraped myself and mistook it for a shock. I got shocked a second time and was positive that it was electricity. I checked the breakers this time myself. He had turned off breakers 3 & 5 instead of 5 & 7. Don't trust someone else unless they put their hands in their first.

I stut...stut....stutter.....

Working with a helper is not always safe. Two of us had been working for hours in the A/C room and I was inside the air handler changing filters when my partner( I hesitate to use that word anymore) turned the fans on by mistake - I was standing on the axle and was left hanging by my armpits on the filter frame. Fortunately I have a loud voice so he immediatly turned it off. Scareddacrapouttame!

The thing your partner????? the guy working with you or mayyyyybeeeee against hmmmm thats sounds more like it will do andyea it was 240 volt bebacuse he showed the breaker tome after |I got my sences back ack ack huhmp sorry after effects lolol he had it with the clothes dryer.

Please be careful.  We don't need any burnt bodies around here and especially don't need anyone missing suddenly.  Good advice here. 

The resolution is ALWAYS turn it off yourself! 
If there is any sort of possibility of someone turning it on, use a piece of duct tape over the breaker handle and then verify with test equipment that there is no power.

Commercial set-ups allow for "Lock-Outs" devices with physical locks to lock a switch in the off position.
In standard circuit breaker boxes we do not have that option.

Besides having your own "Lock Out Tag Out" on the whole panel, I always have a hot wire tester with me. once I found a wire was crossed over from another circuit and energizing the circuit I had turned off. The zap I got made me a believer in those tester.

That is why you buy a cricket tester... Best $20 you will ever spend.

Yo Gang,  True story, When I worked at Atlantic City airport, A tech that worked alone at nite wanted job security, He made copies of all the breaker panels and removed the labels. There were at least a dozen panel boxes. I was changing a ballast on an aluminum ladder. The black wire was stuck so I removed the white one to get to it. my elbow hit something & I got bit . After getting bit twice , I told me partner to do it. I said you're a Tech2 ,I'm only a tech 1. He laughed & finished the job. The nite tech got fired for leaving a box-cutter on his cart in the terminal.  I don't know if they have traced all the lines yet. True,I kid you not.             Later, Herm
  P.S. The way we knew he did it was after he was fired ,we found one of the copies in his locker.  He always said he knew the breakers  because he was there from day1 & had a photographic memory.

I have a bad habit of working with it hot. I just try to remember one at a time. I have bin bit a few times. And my wife DOES NOT think it is funny. The one that scared the heck out of me was when I was working in the panel box and my screwdriver sliped and hit the side of the panelbox ( OH BOY ). that learnd me for alittle while. Later all. Stay safe!!!

I lost the end of a very good screwdriver when an electrician asked to borrow one.

Made it into a plastic handled center punch, tho.