Mac wrote:
....
Okay, so I shouldn't stand in a puddle of water and grab ahold of the bare
wires, got it.

The point was more that w/ a loose wire probing the ends in a crawl
space is likely a good chance to have a set of leads cross or other
"woops!" event. That would likely be nothing but a spark a tripped
breaker on a service circuit; on a main feed it could weld you to the
line and be fatal. It's just a iffy thing to be doing w/o a _lot_ of
care and w/ the questions asked and usenet being what it is, one doesn't
know to whom one is suggesting something. Hence, caution must rule...
....
My first thoughts were that the lines couldn't be hot but I checked the
breaker on the pole and it is a 200 amp breaker. Of course everything is
hidden in conduit so I can't see if it's hooked up.
I suppose I need to cal an electrician to access the box at the pole.
....
Unless that box is at the top of the pole and/or tagged by the utility
as a meter, don't see why you can't do that. But, again, it's where if
you need to ask and/or have doubts, one hesitates to suggest...

I'd say still given the tenor of the question and response the
electrician _is_ probably the wiser choice.

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