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So you think you could be an electrician?

456 points · 414 comments · zdw

  1. dhosek · · focus · HN ↗
    A few years back, we hired an electrician to do some relatively small things for us—things I could do like replacing light switches with timer switches and the like, but didn’t have time to do. The thing that really blew me away was when I asked him if he wanted me to shut off the power at the breaker box and he said no and did all the work with live current in the wires. Yes, I know, gloves, rubber soled shoes, he was fine, but it still was somewhat terrifying to watch.
    1. bob1029 · · focus · HN ↗
      From the perspective of many electricians, "high voltage" doesn't happen until ~600v.
      1. pvab3 · · focus · HN ↗
        that's medium voltage. High voltage is over 15kV. Low voltage is usually 50V or less, at least in MEP electrical parlance. So there's a gap from 50V-600V that doesn't really have a clear name
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