Simply _looking_ for a dead short in a 240 line can easily be
done without the line energized and is perfectly safe.


Ah, but did Doug tell him to deenergize the circuit? How can you be
sure the OP will do it?

But, since the breaker trips, lets just assume that the circuit is
dead, and go on a hypothetical:

What if the OP thinks he has found the short, say maybe a cable clamp
too tight.

So he yells to his wife to flip the breaker.

And then we find out that the good news is that yes, the OP found and
corrected the short.
The bad news is that some part of his body is in contact with a now
exposed circuit.
And now the homeowner is dead.

Or, perhaps the HO finds the short in the cable, repairs it with
electrical tape, installs the hot tub, and all is well.

Until the one night somebody splashed a bit too much water outside the
tub, and now there are multiple fatalities.

Can't everyone now sue Doug? Didn't Doug tell someone to go look for a
short?

Would the homeowner/and or guests be dead if Doug hadn't told him to
look for a short, and instead kept silent or told him to call an
Electrician?

Info is Info, good or bad.

If people can die from bad info, then it's also true that good info can
kill them.