Originally Posted by
NightTrain
Oh, I haven't pulled residential cable since I was an apprentice... that crap got old in a hurry. These days I do integrations and play mostly with fiber & microwave. Last time I got bit was back in my apprentice days and I was on top of a 10 footer and the sparky apprentice had left live 277 without the wire nuts on the stripped ends. I leaned over the frame of the drop ceiling and that 277 went to work... for some reason that particular voltage hurts worse than the others.
The sparky apprentice saw it happen and thought it was funny, and he almost got a speed tune - I started coming off my ladder and his foreman grabbed him and steered him out of the room. He found me later after I cooled off and apologized.
I do hot work on DC as well... many of the cell sites we're working on can't go offline because of 911 traffic. I do it but I don't care for it and we turn it down whenever possible - shit happens and I try not to tempt fate. I have a nice set of hot tools and the mandatory rubber mat - the company credit card is generous whenever I want more tools. They never question safety.
277 and 208 or 240 hurt worse because they blow you off. However, 120 will kill you quicker. Because it only "tingles" and you think you can handle it, you're not as afraid. 277 is one leg of 480 volts. That neutral will knock you flat. It's "dirty" voltage. The return amps from all the damned lights attached to it. THAT sucks.
I don't have any "hot" tools. I've seen how you cable guys have a pouch full of useless tool. Give me 9" linesman's, a 10-in-one and I can do most anything. Of course you KNOW I have the duct tape and tie-wire on hand too!
“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” Edumnd Burke