janaw11•2mo agoProlific Poster

My journeyman told me to always check for backfeed before touching a panel...

I thought he was just being overly cautious on a residential rewire in Tempe, but I found 240 volts coming from a generator hookup the homeowner forgot to mention. Anyone else have a close call that proved some old advice right?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan4882mo ago

Oh man, did I ever learn the hard way about assuming a circuit was dead? I was replacing an old light fixture and my non-contact tester lit up like a Christmas tree. Turns out some genius had backfed a 15-amp circuit with 12/3 from a DIFFERENT breaker. My heart about stopped. That tester is my best friend now.

campbell.max2mo ago

@susan488, my tester's my only friend too?

richardk2611d ago

Yeah that's exactly why I started keeping a cheap plug-in tester on me at all times. Found out the hard way one time when a switch leg was wired weird and the non-contact tester gave me false confidence. Plug-in tester caught it right away before I touched anything stupid.