Did you call the guy back to have him touch that spot for personal electrocution?
How do I know if the electricity to light switch is off?
Jan 05, 2006
31 Replies
Are you sure that they didn't remove the meter from the base to cut the power? Sometimes the meter base box has the main breaker far away from the panel. I'm not saying it can't be done with power on. I wouldn't do it. OTOH I routinely mess with a breaker box with power on . I will add circuits, change breakers etc. without throwing the main. Kevin
Even if it did, this would be one of those cases from grammar school where the child asks, Can I go to the bathroom? and the teacher replies May I go to the bathroom?
Or do teachers still care about that? In this thread they should.
Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.
In my case (shared neutral), it's just one outlet. I think it'd be better to rewire it so it gets both hot and neutral from the same circuit.
A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of the other 49% - Thomas Jefferson...
BUT the 49% say..that's alright, it was a fair vote.- Levon
Here are a few simple tips to help you:
1) Learn where your circuit breaker switch is, and know which switch does each outlet.2) You can purchase a simple fluke, greenly, etc... conductivity meter to use for checking for voltage without having to touch or open wires. These "wands" run on typically AAA batteries and a light will turn on in them if they are next to live conductors.
3) If it is safe to access the wires / terminals you can use a volt meter (ac) to check for 120Vac on your line. Ensure your meter can handle upto 120Vac. Place one meter lead on your hot (typically black), and the other lead on neutral (typically white).Of course if your dealing with a multi-phase system you can run each phase with a common neautral wire. This has not been my experience in residential systems; however, I've not experienced every situation yet.
JW
'does the code even allow one outlet box to have 2 seperate breakers powering it?'
If it doesn't, can you please explain a 240Vac receptacle to me please. :)
JW
Here are a few simple tips to help you:
1) Learn where your circuit breaker switch is, and know which switch does each outlet.2) You can purchase a simple fluke, greenly, etc... conductivity meter to use for checking for voltage without having to touch or open wires. These "wands" run on typically AAA batteries and a light will turn on in them if they are next to live conductors.
3) If it is safe to access the wires / terminals you can use a volt meter (ac) to check for 120Vac on your line. Ensure your meter can handle upto 120Vac. Place one meter lead on your hot (typically black), and the other lead on neutral (typically white).Of course if your dealing with a multi-phase system you can run each phase with a common neautral wire. This has not been my experience in residential systems; however, I've not experienced every situation yet.
JW
Here are a few simple tips to help you:
1) Learn where your circuit breaker switch is, and know which switch does each outlet.2) You can purchase a simple fluke, greenly, etc... conductivity meter to use for checking for voltage without having to touch or open wires. These "wands" run on typically AAA batteries and a light will turn on in them if they are next to live conductors.
3) If it is safe to access the wires / terminals you can use a volt meter (ac) to check for 120Vac on your line. Ensure your meter can handle upto 120Vac. Place one meter lead on your hot (typically black), and the other lead on neutral (typically white).Of course if your dealing with a multi-phase system you can run each phase with a common neautral wire. This has not been my experience in residential systems; however, I've not experienced every situation yet.
JW
'does the code even allow one outlet box to have 2 seperate breakers powering it?'
If it doesn't, can you please explain a 240Vac receptacle to me please. :)
JW
Most 240V circuits are powered by a dual breakers that are tied together with a pin or clip so that if one side trips it will pull the other side off also.
The OP was referring to having multiple 120V circuits in a box. Most (novice) people assume that the entire box is dead when they flip one breaker for the circuit they are working on.... Then after arcing something or recieving a shock. "Oh! There must be a code vioaltion here!!"
Kevin
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