"J. Clarke" wrote:

Pete C. wrote:

"J. Clarke" wrote:

Pete C. wrote:

"J. Clarke" wrote:

Pete C. wrote:

"J. Clarke" wrote:

Pete C. wrote:


snipped

Have to agree. The normal snap in breakers are very much
comparable to a regular 5-15 plug connection.

You are holding an insulated breaker case equivalent to an
insulated plug, and you are connecting / disconnecting a spring
pressure connection just like a plug.

All is at the same voltages you get with normal plugs, even with
a two pole breaker since 6-20 and 6-30 and 6-50 plugs are common
household items as well.

With "normal plugs" you don't have an exposed 240 volt bus on a
100+ amp breaker.

With a quality panel (like a Square D QO) you don't have a lot
that's exposed either. It's also still only 120V to ground so unless
you stick both hands in and touch both legs the 240V part is rather
irrelevant.

With the cover off the entire bus except those parts covered by
breakers is exposed, and it's a lot easier to get your hand across two
lugs than it is to get it across one leg and ground, so you're more
likely to get 240 than 120.

First off you should take a closer look at the QO panels, they have a
"shielded bus" design that only exposes the actual breaker connection
points, the rest of the busses are shielded unlike most other brands.

So? Juice is juice. The "actual breaker connection points" are quite
sufficient.

Sufficient yes, but it's about 10% of the exposed live bus of most other
brands so there is significantly less area to potentially contact.


Second point is that 240V across your fingers may not be nice, but it's
still only 120V through your body to ground and that's what counts.

Are you really this ignorant?

Apparently you are.


Whether you get a lethal current across your heart depends on a lot of
factors, but your fingers contacting a single 120V terminal or bridging
across for 240V isn't one of them.

Depends on which fingers. One finger, no, one on each hand yes.

If you're dumb enough to manage to get one hand on one bus and the other
hand on the other bus we don't need you in the gene pool.



If you feel better turning off the main then by all means do so,
it's only your time to reset everything that you're wasting, but
don't insist that everyone else should do the same.

If you want to risk your own life to save resetting a couple of
clocks
that's your choice. But to advocate that to a complete stranger
who admits to being clueless with regard to electrical wiring is
irresponsible in the extreme.

I never advocated that the OP do anything, I corrected someone's
incorrect assertion that most people turn the main breaker off to
change a branch circuit breaker. The fact is that most people do not
turn the main breaker off to change a branch circuit breaker and in
a couple decades of misc. electrical work I've not run across a
single person that did.

You are asserting that this is a _fact_. I should like to see the
methodology by which you determined this. And don't say "everybody I
know" does it unless you are prepared to demonstrate that "everybody
you know" is a random and representative sample of the population.

I consider the fact that I have not seen a single person do it in 20+
years and hundreds of electrical projects with dozens of people a
sufficiently representative sample to conclude that most people do not
turn off the main. It would be a stretch to conclude that nobody did,
but it's a reasonable assessment that most do not.

I would say that rather than telling us what most people do, you are
telling us that you _really_ need to find some smarter friends.

Nope, at least 75% of those people were professionals and good ones at
that who primarily do commercial work, not the hacks that only do
residential because they aren't good enough for commercial.

If you are located in CT or MA I want a list of these people so I know who
to avoid in the future. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to your Darwin
Award.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Suggest you call around and as any licensed electrician if they turn off
the main breaker when replacing a branch circuit breaker (unless the
breaker being removed is physically damaged of course). Suspect you
won't get a single affirmative answer.

Do you also turn off the main breaker when changing a light bulb? Or do
you call an electrician to change them for you because you're afraid?

Pete C.