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Feb 11, 2022 at 13:30 comment added manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact @FreeMan The big difference is that in almost all cases, planned work on 120V or 240V circuits within a home (or even outside, but after the main panel) can be done 100% safely by anyone, simply by turning off the breaker first. Which in fact is why almost nobody (hopefully!) replaces a receptacle, switch, etc. with the wires hot - just no reason to do so. But that's not an option for this situation.
Feb 11, 2022 at 12:49 answer added FreeMan timeline score: 3
Feb 10, 2022 at 16:30 comment added FreeMan That they do (IMHO), @nobody, however removing them without making an answer out of it (something the OP or a mod can do), leaves a lot of confusion about the most recent set of comments. Please roll back your edits until the change is made, or follow TylerH's suggestion in his answer to the meta post.
Feb 9, 2022 at 23:10 history edited nobody
edited tags
Feb 9, 2022 at 23:09 comment added nobody Answers/resolutions go in the answer box.
Feb 9, 2022 at 23:06 history rollback nobody
Rollback to Revision 6
Feb 9, 2022 at 13:29 comment added FreeMan Of course, you can die of electrocution from a 15A/120V circuit and dying by electrocution from a 240V (or whatever) 200A circuit won't make you any more dead...
Feb 9, 2022 at 13:28 comment added FreeMan Happy to hear you survived and more so that you called the power company to do it properly. Just because the guy said "that's how we always do it" doesn't mean that he wasn't trained to do it that way and knows how to do it properly and safely. Despite the fact that he borrowed your "aluminum" ladder (do the quotes mean that it's not really AL, or that you're trying to emphasize that it is?) doesn't mean that all the rest of his equipment wasn't specifically designed to keep him safe while doing this job.
Feb 9, 2022 at 8:28 comment added dirkpiet @criggie Thanks for your concern I updated the post, kind regards Dirk
Feb 9, 2022 at 8:24 history edited dirkpiet CC BY-SA 4.0
added 918 characters in body
Feb 8, 2022 at 6:01 comment added Criggie @dirkpiet "Last seen more than 4 years ago" I'm concerned. Did you attempt to follow your initial plan ?
Feb 4, 2021 at 2:57 comment added Criggie @dirkpiet its now over three years later. What happened?
May 8, 2017 at 0:30 history edited Niall C. CC BY-SA 3.0
Remove irrelevant tags
Apr 13, 2017 at 12:22 history edited CommunityBot
replaced http://diy.stackexchange.com/ with https://diy.stackexchange.com/
Mar 15, 2017 at 3:47 comment added Criggie Please keep us updated with what you do and how it goes - this is fascinating.
S Mar 14, 2017 at 22:37 history suggested Mark Henderson CC BY-SA 3.0
Added info that the user left in a comment, as people seem to be very interested in the location of the question asker.
Mar 14, 2017 at 19:08 review Suggested edits
S Mar 14, 2017 at 22:37
Mar 14, 2017 at 19:07 comment added Mark Henderson @ThreePhaseEel OP says in a comment elsewhere that they are located in South Africa. I would absolutely believe the story about power company taking 6 months in ZA. I've also seen them do some of the things that would get a workplace shut down in some countries as just a matter of course.
Mar 14, 2017 at 17:26 comment added Steve Jessop @CortAmmon: could perhaps even make a case that a question like this is too open-ended with too broad a scope for the site. The full details of things that can go fatally wrong, and the list of alternatives to slicing a live supply and how to choose between them, is too long to fit in a reasonable answer. Hence, as you say, even if you completely trust the person giving the answer, an answer on this site can't train you to work up a power pole. Likewise, don't ask on medicine how to set a broken bone: even with an accurate answer you'll mess it up, which is why nurses train for that stuff...
Mar 14, 2017 at 15:20 comment added Softec Also remember to earth non live part of cut cable to discharge any static charge for safety reasons.
S Mar 14, 2017 at 13:18 history suggested SDsolar
Added two tags
Mar 14, 2017 at 9:14 comment added Martin Please do an google image search on the term "electrical injuries". Maintenance on non-secured lines is something even full fledged electricians have the utmost respect. And no, if you do not know how to handle this then even some fancy protection systems like insulated shears, rubber gloves/foil etc. won't protect you
Mar 14, 2017 at 4:00 review Suggested edits
S Mar 14, 2017 at 13:18
Mar 13, 2017 at 20:44 comment added J... So... how, exactly do you plan to reconnect these cables? Shearing live cable is insanity - that's just not the right way to do it. You go back to the disconnect and switch the power off. If you need the cables changed, you remove them at the disconnected lugs once the power is off.
Mar 13, 2017 at 19:19 comment added Bohemian @insta where I come from, 3-phase is 440V. I assumed this with my comment, in which case "plasma" is an over statement.
Mar 13, 2017 at 19:15 comment added Bryan B @Bohemian: "may cause heat damage to the insulation" is a bit of an understatement with mostly unlimited 20kA going through the plasma of what's left of the bolt cutters.
Mar 13, 2017 at 17:23 comment added Cort Ammon So I've had a bit of amusement answering questions like these, but it looks like the answers have it covered. The one addendum I would give is my standard disclaimer for high voltage power: If you have to ask StackExchange for advice regarding high voltage power, you shouldn't be messing with it. Electricity is one of those things where you either already know the answer, or ask someone you trust. You only get one heart, and it's silly to entrust it to random people on the internet, no matter how much good advice StackExchange may provide on average!
Mar 13, 2017 at 15:21 comment added Bohemian I've cut my own cables before, and lived (obviously) - you'll be fine. But I'm not going to post this as an answer because I don't want the downvotes from all the naysayers and overly-cautious. When you cut it, cut 1 copper wire at a time. Otherwise, your cutting tool will touch multiple copper wires at once and current will flow through your cutting tool. This won't electrically affect you, but may blow fuses somewhere and cause heat damage to the insulation. Also, wrap the handles of your cutting tool in some cloth to put space (air is an excellent insulator) between you and voltage.
Mar 13, 2017 at 14:00 history tweeted twitter.com/StackDIY/status/841287887387783168
Mar 13, 2017 at 6:22 answer added Imaginary timeline score: 4
Mar 13, 2017 at 3:40 comment added SDsolar Since you have cable degradation I think the power company would react nearly instantly to a report about it.
Mar 13, 2017 at 3:39 answer added SDsolar timeline score: 29
Mar 12, 2017 at 23:58 history edited wallyk CC BY-SA 3.0
format and spelling
Mar 12, 2017 at 23:00 answer added Harper - Reinstate Monica timeline score: 13
Mar 12, 2017 at 20:07 answer added Ecnerwal timeline score: 64
Mar 12, 2017 at 19:42 review First posts
Mar 12, 2017 at 21:55
Mar 12, 2017 at 19:34 history asked dirkpiet CC BY-SA 3.0