A little electricity 101 if you please (2025 Update)

By code, it has to have at least one

Based on the number of open neutral questions we get around here, I would not say it is very unusual. Unusual maybe, but I would not bet my life on it, especially if I were working on a application I did not trust.

But by code, the main doesn't necessarly kill everything in the panel.

Tom J who has 1 of thousands like that

For new boxes maybe, but not for ones put in the 1950's and 60's.

Put the phone wires in your mouth and you can see when someone's calling :-)

I'll get right on that .

-- Oren

"Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly."

Check back, this idiot does NO research as the questions have been asked and answered many times! So don't waste yours.

If you are standing on a conductive surface such as possibly a damp concrete floor, or if your hand comes into contact with a metal junction box or other grounded surface, you could still get a serious shock. That's one reason electricians favor wooden or fiberglass ladders.

Correct. It's worth noting however that most meters, are sometimes _too_ sensitive and will read "phantom" voltages. A solenoid-type tester or a test light is often easier to use as well as better suited to checking for presence of voltage.

IIRC they can be in the 90 volt range when ringing. I believe the current is limited to a non-fatal value but I can state from personal experience that a telephone wire can give an unpleasant shock.

Yes, even services from the fifties and sixties required up to six main disconnects

Your main disconnects can be separate main breaker panels, or main fuse panels, or all six main disconnects can be in one panel

And every house in America doesn't have six main disconnects. Most have only one, but the NEC allows up to six. and yes, they all have to say "main"

In these thousands of panels like mine that was installed in the '60's and are still in production and being sold today, the breaker marked MAIN only cuts off the 110V circuits that are below it. All the 220V breakers above it and the buss for them is still hot when the MAIN breaker is off. None of the 220 breakers say MAIN, and even if they did, the buss bars are still hot. People that don't understand how panels are wired really need to get an electrician when it comes time to add things to the service panel.

Tom J

RBM wrote:

Yep, that's a split buss panel, and all the breakers on top are "mains" and yes, that panel has main lugs and upper buss that is always live

bull.

you'll feel them if you strip them with your teeth, like the OP asked.

although it is only a little tingle, unless someone calls at the exact moment you have the wires in your mouth. found out the bad way.......

Not true. The on-hook (phone just sitting there) voltage is nominally

But the ring voltage is something like 90-100 V, so you will feel that if you're holding onto the phone conductors when someone tries to call you.

Dave

What brand of foreign assed panel is that? Never heard tell of such a thing.

Well not arguing with you really, but just trying to clarify.

My panel doesn't have a "main" nor do any of the houses in my neighborhood - all circa 1960. I'm positive they all passed inspection.

So somewhere there's a disconnect in this conversation. You say they all HAVE to have a "main", mine doesn't nor is there a place for it on the GE panels from that era. It doesn't seem likely that GE would even manufacture a panel that didn't have a "main" slot if the NEC required it. Again, perhaps you're referring to modern construction and/or updates to the panel - that sounds reasonable and certainly something that I'd prefer to have. It sure beats working on a box that is hot all the time - not that a "main" switch is a guarentee of safety.