DanG wrote:
The phone lines are safe. You won't feel any shocks.

Umm, yes, phone lines CAN shock you! Especially if you're talking analog
lines, and: Especially if you use your teethG! The actual shock you'll
feel though comes from ringing voltage, which is 100V ac riding on nominally
48VDC. The full current available if you were right next to the CO could be
up to 110 mA, so it's relatively safe from a life threatening view, but
still plenty enough to make you fall off a ladder or get a bad bruise on
your elbow or whatever.
Stick the normally reg/green wire pair on your tongue and you'll
immediately feel and taste the electrical flow. The surface of your tongue
makes an excellent conductor for the 48V DC nominal battery voltage present
on the wires when the phone is hung up.

Sorry; couldn't let that one pass. Lots of people with lots of bruises can
attest to these facts g, myself included.



Power lines are a bit different.There should not be power on the
colored power wire, usually black, when the breaker is turned off.
Neutrals, the white one, are usually shared by two circuits. In a
perfect world there should not be power on the neutrals if
everything is wired correctly. DO NOT assume so. You do not tell
if your wiring is new enough to have a ground, either green or
bare. Turn off the breaker, check between black and white - no
power; then use your tester between the black and the green - no
power; use your tester between the white and the green - no power,
you're good to go.

It is good practice to never use both hands around electricity
that can allow current through your heart. If you are not
grounded, barefoot, in a puddle of water, or some other grounding
you might feel a tingle, but the current can't go through you. I
am not suggesting this, but some old electricians might use their
finger in a light socket to check for power.

Absolutely accurate; good info! I just felt a need to comment on the phone
wiring.

Pop`



"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..
A couple three basic questions that I'm not willing to test
myself.

When pigtailing wires together, you won't get shocked so long as
1) the breaker to that circuit is off 2) you aren't touching
both the neutral AND the hot wire. Meaning, if I grab two hot
wires and pig-tail them (like when adding in a dimmer) I won't
get shocked so long as I'm not touching the neutral wire AND the
breaker to that circuit is off. I'm not trying to be ultra safe
here so much as I'm trying to make sure that in situation where
switching off the breaker isn't a guarentee that power is off
for that fixture.

Second question, if I take the probe leads from my volt meter
and jam them into an outlet, it's not gonna short the circuit
but do exactly what I would expect it to do - read the potential
difference between the two sockets in AC volts (assuming your
voltmeter is reading AC volts).

And finally, when splicing phone line, do the wires normally
carry voltage sufficient to shock or could you essentially
splice them with your teeth if you had to?