On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:28:53 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article , Mark Lloyd wrote:
On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 13:11:41 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article ,
(Larry) wrote:
In article ,
Eigenvector wrote:
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.

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.

Care to explain how that's going to happen with the breaker off?

Maybe it's the breaker you THOUGHT was off, or there's another circuit
in there and you don't know it.

Yes, of course -- but the question asked was whether it was possible to get
shocked with the breaker turned off. Turning off the *wrong* breaker is not
the condition specified in the original question.

Of course, anyone can (and does) AT ALL TIMES distinguish between
"knowing the breaker is off" and "thinking the breaker is off, but it
isn't".