# So I just grabbed a live 230V wire. Why was I OK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-grabbed-a-live-230v-wire-why-was-i-ok/739516 "2015-12-05T15:07:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-grabbed-a-live-230v-wire-why-was-i-ok/739516/41 "2015-12-10T16:13:38Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I’m not a fully qualified electrician but I’m smart enough to have spent $15 on a voltmeter. I recommend it. Don’t be a fool and “test” a circuit with a body part. Darwin may send you an award. Exactly! It takes about the same time to test for power as it does to buckle a seatbelt. I don’t know why someone would skip over that. I have asked some professional electricians and one told me it saved them time from having to walk back to the service panel to turn a circuit off working on something while the power was on. Hey, you want to save time, don’t watch 3 hours of football a week. Skipping safety measures to save a little time sounds really stupid to me and I question how careful and safely they are doing installations and repairs when they are willing to cut corners for their own safety. Electricity is a stupid thing to test how macho you are. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-grabbed-a-live-230v-wire-why-was-i-ok/739516/42 "2015-12-10T17:10:25Z")
(A reminder that it’s not the volts that kill you, it’s the amps) I’ve worked on enough wiring projects to know how houses theoretically should be wired, and done enough remodeling to know that houses aren’t always done right. That’s why I always test outlets and wires with tools now. Especially since moving to our current home, where the electricians must have been drunk. We’ve found the fuse box isn’t the most accurately labeled. It has a nice large office with one outlet, which is on the same switch that turns on the lights in the laundry room? The bedroom outlets are each on their own circuit, but all the overhead lights upstairs are on one? Replacing a fan in the kitchen was a pain, as all the wires were white. I’m not about to be careless with anything in this house. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-grabbed-a-live-230v-wire-why-was-i-ok/739516/43 "2015-12-10T17:34:53Z")
> [@](#): > > (A reminder that it’s not the volts that kill you, it’s the amps) Oversimplifications like this help no one. you can’t have amps without volts. A car battery can supply 1,000 amps given the opportunity, but you can grab the terminals with both hands and not have to worry about anything because the voltage is too low. What will be a hazardous voltage depends on the resistance through your body, and that varies based on a host of factors (wet vs. dry skin, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-grabbed-a-live-230v-wire-why-was-i-ok/739516/44 "2015-12-11T00:38:28Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Umm… I know I’m the idiot OP and shouldn’t be lecturing on electrics, but why would you assume that a light was on the same circuit as a socket? AFAIK lighting and household socket circuits are generally totally separate. Depends on what he meant by “under the light”. If it was a double outlet and a lamp was plugged into one, it would be on the same circuit as the other. If he’s talking about a ceiling light that’s different. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-grabbed-a-live-230v-wire-why-was-i-ok/739516/45 "2015-12-11T01:00:54Z")
I have a very nice breaker finder tool. There’s a transmitter that plugs into the receptacle, or into a light socket with an adaptor. The receiver is then run over the breaker panel and it beeps when over the correct breaker. Confirmed by the little led on the transmitter going out. Works great. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-grabbed-a-live-230v-wire-why-was-i-ok/739516/46 "2015-12-11T04:40:04Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Umm… I know I’m the idiot OP and shouldn’t be lecturing on electrics, but why would you assume that a light was on the same circuit as a socket? AFAIK lighting and household socket circuits are generally totally separate. All we can know from **kayaker** ’s post is that he made the right assumption in THIS Universe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-grabbed-a-live-230v-wire-why-was-i-ok/739516.md?page=2)