Knew an electrician( in big,big  company) that went in to service some 'gear', grabbed partners pliers to use and was killed. The 1st guy's pliers were rubber coated(insulated) , the partners NOT. After that incident , I've never, EVER worked on live power, ALWAYS check 3 x to be sure the wires are dead.

Dang that was 50 +years ago, still remember like it was yesterday cause he left wife and 3 youngins.

 Chit,,Shameless,,,thas why they invented BREAKERS for,,,dang,it,!! USE EM. That juice-tricity flat scares the chit outa me,,even 115,,, If I can't flip a breaker,,I ain't changin no switch or nuttin,,,!!!

  

  I never will forget,,when still workin,,,we had a #1 juicetrician that had NO BUSINESS workin with electricity but union rules said otherwise,,,,,,We were having to shut down a Wet Gas Compressor driven by a 4000 HP motor, and he was sent to PDC to kill the breaker,,,we hear a hellacious loud boom coming from the PDC and this guy is layin on the floor unconcious but still alive,,,,! After a few minutes he comes around and tells us the BIG slide-in breaker was ,,,stuck,,,so he sticks his screwdriver under it and tries to pry the breaker loose,,,,,,,,,"4160 volts" is not something to do that to,,,he's as lucky as a man can be to still be alive,,,,,,, 

 Another incident with juicetricity is a Son of a well known person up where the inlaws live had got a bid on salvaging the copper wire out of a bunch of old houses scheduled to be demolished...... A contract juicetrician (wife's brother) had "secured" the power to all of the houses as per his bid,,,,,, They found this poor guy next day in the one house that did not get "secured",,,,,,,I think the case is still being argued in court,,,,SO SAD,,the guy was only 28.

I've finally learned to leave the phone (no pager any more) laying somewhere else.    I guess I'm a little gun shy as yes, i've been nipped a couple times by 110.  It definitely gets your attention.

   Hey Good Buddy,,,,I'm just wonderin WHY you ain't thought bout this easy and quick fix for thet Geyser in your basement,,,,,,

 See,,,you takes you a battery powered drill so you don't get shocked or worse,,,with a LONG "Drain Opener",,Ya may have to weld bout 4-5 of your old bits together to make you bout a 2" "drain opener,",,,,then get a piece of bout 1/2" rebar bout 5-6 feet long and weld to ALL the ends on your "drain opener",,,then just go to the farthest cawnor and drill you a "escape hole" for all thet water to drain out,,,,,Ya see how easy it be,,,?? Thas what friends are for,,Ya know,,,,You can thank my Engineerin mind for thet great idea later,,,,

 ps,,I bet ole JC gots a nice pic of my idea,,,,,

 I don't have my mind around all that farmer engineering( I would of used other terms  but am being PC ) . But am with you all the way to help friends  out.

I learned to never trust them sparky fellows. A little shameless down the road helped my kid (my kid was not that destructive, until he had help thinking of it) shoot out a light bulb way up under the eve of the barn roof. I am up as high as I could get on a 24 foot aluminum ladder with pliers in hand to screw out the base of bulb. I   get this tingly in my arm as I get close to the socket.  I knew the switch was off cause there are more bulbs on the same switch.  That is when I learned you can turn lights off by cutting ground rather than power. 

 That sparky helped wire the nuclear power plant as the job he retired from. It only needs to last 3 or 4 years till it gets retired as that is cheaper than fighting "fruits and nuts".

I agree with you on those AMPS, but when you are lying on the ground with a SHARP BURNING BOILING pain down your RIGHT ARM and stops behind your HEART, at that moment, AMPS, OHMS, Volts really don't matter. 

Shameless, you be careful. I want to see you at Hutchinson.

Well you can't have one without the other now, can ya!

 

Shuffle your feet across the carpet an hit the screw on the light switch, and you might get 20,000 volts zap across, but it's over in a fraction of a second. 

 

Ohm's law says Volts = Amps x Resistance.

 

Typical dry human body might have 100,000 Ohms of resistance. 

Rearrange the equation, 120 Volts / 100000 Ohms = .0012 milliamps.  A mere tickle.

 

Wet or broken skin can reduce that resistance all the way down to 1000 Ohms.

120 V / 1000 Ohms = .12 amps.  .1 to .2 is considered lethal, so we're starting to go beyond a painful sting here.

 

If the juice stays connected for any length of time, electrical energy breaks down the skin, dropping the human body resistance to about 500 Ohm, now you have .24 amps going through you. 

 

So, you can say "the amps is what kills you".  Just remember, it doesn't take very many of them.  Now go work on your range, dryer, or welder!  And see how many "amps" the "volts" can "cause to flow".