I feel so un-smart when I speak with an electrician.

[Darth-Baiter]

I’m a civil engineer.  I took a single electric engineer class and even passed it with flying colors. But, I understand home electronic systems with a blind faith.  I plug things in, and turn things on.
 

I have an electrician at the house installing our Tesla charger.  I can hear the dumb questions coming out of my mouth!  
 

I need to step back and telework and shop fall fishing baits.

[DaubsNU1]

Oh heck no!!...stand and watch (from a safe distance...and so as not to bother the electrician).

 

My Dad (now retired at 80 years old), built houses from the ground up in the 50's and 60's...he could do it all...lay out foundation, pour footings, to framing, electrical, plumbing, etc. In 1966 their crew split up, and he specialized in the interior trim area of home building...but retained all his knowledge and skills.

 

Electrical isn't all that complicated. I've wired three basements and my shop. Even ran 220 from house to the shop (trenchers are cool!). I did not want any part of getting in the box...so hired a buddy to help with that. Going to be a lot of juice running to that charger!

 

Ask questions, see if he's willing to show you a few things...always good to see how things work, in case something goes wrong down the road.

[813basstard]

Don’t feel bad, I don’t know how anything works. 
I’m 40 and still think electricity is magic. 

[Darth-Baiter]

Haha

[Tennessee Boy]

When I was about 2 years old,  I enjoyed unscrewing the bulbs on our Christmas tree lights.  My mom told not to  play with the lights because I might get shocked.  I thought that sounded cool so when she was out of the room,  I unscrewed one of the bulbs and stuck my finger in the socket.  She was right about getting shocked and I've never had any interest in playing with electricity since then.  

[J Francho]

Most of the circuits in my house are 15 amps, so they really don't hurt, mostly annoying.  Get nailed with something higher, like what's in the kitchen, and it does not feel good.  I got nailed through both arms across my chest in my early 20s, and it was terrifying. Threw me off a ladder across the room, and arc welded the pliers I was using.  That was the last time I trusted anyone when I asked if they killed the juice.  I can do some basic stuff, like add a circuit, run lines, wire outlets, switches, lighting, but I MUST have all the juice off.  All of it.  I watched my guy add a GFCI in my old house to a live box, and I was like, uhhh....NOPE!  Always have a pocket tester at the ready when your about to do anything electrical, and know if you're dealing with a hot line, so you can disconnect it.

 

 

[flyfisher]

My dad is an electrician and I have a healthy respect for it and also can do pretty much anything I need to without worries.  While my dad is not physically able to help as much as he used to, I can always call him and send pictures or whatever and he can tell me exactly what to do.  We were doing up some lights in my kids room once and he was working and basically he was testing to see if they were live by holding his thumb on the neutral and touching the hot.  I was like what are you doing he said it is only gonna go through my hand because that is where it wants to go to get to ground so it isn't that big of a deal.  He then said now don't you do it without me here...so I did it and it was a tingle but not bad.  He also said if you are ever not sure if a circuit is out just ground it and it will pop the breaker lol

What I always get confused with though is when you start getting into 3 and 4 way switches...I always jack those ups at first until I take my time to think it all through lol.

[J Francho]

Sounds like we had similar teachers, I know that trick. It's how I know not to mess with anything more than 15 amps. Its also AC. Car batteries and wiring is another story. I don't get near that stuff. I always think of 3/4 way relays and switches like a plumbing valve. It helps me get my head around what's going on. It's when you get into a three wire deal like a ceiling fan with a light I get screwed up and need my tester to figure out what's going on. 

[slonezp]

Understanding electricity is a difficult concept for many and for that reason, many shouldn't mess with it.

[Russ E]

I started out as an electrician, Then went back to school to become an electrical engineer.

this thread has a lot of misinformation on electricity.

I have been shocked a few times in my career. Can't recall any of them being enjoyable or on purpose.

here are a few considerations when working with electricity.

1: 200 milliamps passing through your body is enough to stop your heart.

2: Any voltage can be dangerous, but in general 30 volts is considered the threshold to break the resistance of your skin and be deadly. 

3: A 15 amp circuit is just as deadly as a 20 or 30 amp circuit. they all carry the same current up to the point the breaker trips. if you trip a 15 amp breaker at 120 volts from electricity passing through your body, chances are damage is already done. (It only takes 200 milliamp to stop your heart).

4: Electricity will follow the path of least resistance. While yes touching a neutral wire with your thumb and a hot wire with your finger will not kill you.  Touching anything grounded with any other part of your body can be lethal...... I don't know of any electrician that would purposely do this on a regular basis.

 

Unfortunately I have seen a few bad electrical accidents in my lifetime.

Almost all were from carelessness or lack of understanding.

 

don't be a statistic. If , you are unsure get help from someone who understands electrical theory. 

 

As a last note. be careful around 36 volt trolling motor circuits. 30 volts is enough to break the resistance of your skin.

 

[DaubsNU1]

5 hours ago, J Francho said:

Most of the circuits in my house are 15 amps, so they really don't hurt, mostly annoying.  Get nailed with something higher, like what's in the kitchen, and it does not feel good.  I got nailed through both arms across my chest in my early 20s, and it was terrifying. Threw me off a ladder across the room, and arc welded the pliers I was using.  That was the last time I trusted anyone when I asked if they killed the juice.  I can do some basic stuff, like add a circuit, run lines, wire outlets, switches, lighting, but I MUST have all the juice off.  All of it.  I watched my guy add a GFCI in my old house to a live box, and I was like, uhhh....NOPE!  Always have a pocket tester at the ready when your about to do anything electrical, and know if you're dealing with a hot line, so you can disconnect it.

 

 

 

The guy who pulled the big wires for my shop in to the main house box is an electrician for the local power company. Can't remember how big the wires were, but they were as big as my thumb...it was a 250 foot run from house to shop / 125 amp circuit. 

 

Anyway, he was pulling those wires behind the big wires coming in to the house(!). I asked if he was going to shut off power...he said, "nope. I have a rule...if I get shocked three times in a day, I call it quits and go home. Ain't been shocked yet today...we are good." 

 

Scared the crap out of me! Nope, Nope, NOPE!!!

[Glenn]

Son of a journeyman electrician here.  Learned a lot from my dad, running wires for commercial sites...220 and more. Seeing him work his craft, listening to his experience.

 

I've replaced all the lights and switches in my house, including 220 outlets, thanks to his training.

 

I'm not a fan of higher voltages, but have worked on those too, under his supervision.

 

Respect electricity, follow all the safety requirements, communicate with everyone working on the same line, and you'll be fine.

[gunsinger]

I’ve wired all of the house my wife and I have built (5). I’m comfortable around it but have a healthy respect for it. However, I have been known to change a light switch out without killing the power. Shame on me.  

[VolFan]

220…221…whatever it takes…

[Crankin4Bass]

21 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Oh heck no!!...stand and watch (from a safe distance...and so as not to bother the electrician).

I always do this when people come fix stuff for me, but I always wonder if this annoys the guys. I really just find fixing and building super interesting and never learned anything from my father who is an accountant. I tried to take an auto-shop class in HS, but the teacher had a heart attack the second week and they never replaced him. 

 

How do you guys, that do this kind of work, feel about a customer watching you?

[volzfan59]

My dad was an electrician that went to school to become an electrical engineer. If it was powered by electricity, he knew it all from theory to application to installation. I'm a reasonably smart guy and he taught me the basics, but mostly I stood on awe. 

[Russ E]

35 minutes ago, Crankin4Bass said:

I always do this when people come fix stuff for me, but I always wonder if this annoys the guys. I really just find fixing and building super interesting and never learned anything from my father who is an accountant. I tried to take an auto-shop class in HS, but the teacher had a heart attack the second week and they never replaced him. 

 

How do you guys, that do this kind of work, feel about a customer watching you?

I did not mind people watching. If they did not get in the way. 

Most of my job was electrical work in Robotics .  480 volt 3 phase down to 24 volt control wiring.

Often times machine operators were watching as I was troubleshooting their machines.

There were a lot of interesting questions over the years.

 

 

 

 

[Darth-Baiter]

5 hours ago, VolFan said:

220…221…whatever it takes…

Great movie reference

[Skunkmaster-k]

3 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

Great movie reference

What movie is that?

[VolFan]

Mr. Mom with Micheal Keaton - great scene, reminds me of some contractors lately

[The Bassman]

9 hours ago, Crankin4Bass said:

I always do this when people come fix stuff for me, but I always wonder if this annoys the guys. I really just find fixing and building super interesting and never learned anything from my father who is an accountant. I tried to take an auto-shop class in HS, but the teacher had a heart attack the second week and they never replaced him. 

 

How do you guys, that do this kind of work, feel about a customer watching you?

I paint for a living and can't focus when I'm talking with a customer. That said, when someone's in my house I have to remind myself not to pester them with questions. Just slows them down. We had some things done this week and it helps to remind me what it's like to be in the customer's place.

[jbsoonerfan]

I am very "handy" and can do just about anything when it comes to home projects. I can replace an outlet, hang a ceiling fan, run a can light, etc. However, I have decided that moving forward, I will hire someone to do it so I am not held responsible for burning my house down. 

[CrankFate]

On 9/24/2021 at 4:22 PM, J Francho said:

Most of the circuits in my house are 15 amps, so they really don't hurt, mostly annoying.  Get nailed with something higher, like what's in the kitchen, and it does not feel good.  I got nailed through both arms across my chest in my early 20s, and it was terrifying. Threw me off a ladder across the room, and arc welded the pliers I was using.  That was the last time I trusted anyone when I asked if they killed the juice.  I can do some basic stuff, like add a circuit, run lines, wire outlets, switches, lighting, but I MUST have all the juice off.  All of it.  I watched my guy add a GFCI in my old house to a live box, and I was like, uhhh....NOPE!  Always have a pocket tester at the ready when your about to do anything electrical, and know if you're dealing with a hot line, so you can disconnect it.

 

 

I got zapped trying to move the box for an outlet to run surround sound speakers. Got shocked through a visegrip that I was trying to move the metal box with and got stuck to the current. It went all the way up my arm, but not across my chest, because I was using one hand. I still felt it in most of my body. Was able to push away from the wall with my left hand. Not cool. 20 amp line. Ever since then, I cut the breaker. The surround sound is great, though ?

[Columbia Craw]

How timely.  I just changed numerous plugs, switches and light fissures at my mother’s home.  I have been bit many times over the years.  Getting tased is no fun either.

[islandbass]

On 9/25/2021 at 10:45 PM, jbsoonerfan said:

I am very "handy" and can do just about anything when it comes to home projects. I can replace an outlet, hang a ceiling fan, run a can light, etc. However, I have decided that moving forward, I will hire someone to do it so I am not held responsible for burning my house down. 

Now you tell me. I just installed a ceiling fan, lol.