It's an old house and it has a fuse box, when the fuse is pulled- no electricity is going to the designated area? Does that mean that as long as that fuse is not present, the wires fromthe fuse out that were previously connected are no longer dangerous and can be taken out?
2006-10-28 05:19:00 · 10 answers · asked by i'm him !!! 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I need to disconnect the wires leading to my shed b/c I'm tearing it down. The electricity doesn' work in the shed, and the piping that leads to the hous's fuse box is underground. I checked the fuse box and the wires coming from that pipe are connected to a fuse that is blown. If I remove the fuse, is it save to say I can cut the wires from the garage and remove them from the fuse box?
2006-10-28 05:28:12 · update #1
Yes, usually. But you should ALWAYS use a voltmeter or curcuit tester to check wiring that you are going to work with. Even better, for less than $10, you can purchase a small device that will light and beep if it gets NEAR charged wires. Doesn't even need to touch them. This is especially handy because in order to use a voltmeter or multi-tester, you have to remove wire nuts, etc. This other device is about the shape of a pen and can be placed next to an insulated wire and it will tell you if its safe to proceed. Get one at Lowes or Home Depot in the electrical aisle! A MUST HAVE.
Here are a few scenarios that I can think of where the downstream wiring from a blown fuse is still "hot". (1) some jackass who didn't know what they were doing crossed a hot in from another circuit somewhere along the line. This is rare, but your detector (1st paragraph) will protect you. (2) this second scenario can be legitimate --- the neutral wire running to the circuit is shared by another circuit running on the opposite hot wire. This means that the hot wire (usually black) for the blown circuit may be dead, but the neutral wire (white) is still bringing current back from another circuit. Watch out!
Always a good idea to don a pair of safety glasses when working with electricity. If you short something out and throw a spark, you wont be able to blink fast enough. Especially important when working with metal box work, armored cables, or conduit.
Good luck.
2006-10-28 07:47:22 · answer #1 · answered by firm_shake 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you were talking about a standard breaker box and the breaker for that circuit was tripped in order to do straightforward wiring, I'd say go for it. In an old house with an old fuse box type of situation, you could have had multiple add-ons from various changes over the years. I once had some idiot leave a live electrical wire dangling from the fuse box, and was told that its power had been cut. So there I was working around it drywalling and such, using the wet mud, thinking that the wire was dead when it was live. It's a miracle that I was not electrocuted. So, I must go by my experience, and say, never assume that someone else has wired something properly, especially when it is old wiring in an old fuse box. So have it looked at professionally. If you must do this yourself, use a multimeter along every step of the way where you could be exposing yourself to electricity. I'd hate to see you acting on someone's advice when your wiring could be cross-wired in such a way that you could potentially be hurt. Good luck!
2006-10-28 06:14:51 · answer #2 · answered by steviewag 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you can start working in your wiring in that particular area, Remember do not ground your buddy ( touching the ground or a metal while working) I have seen a circuit where a fuse cuts the Null, instead of Phase, in this case the area doesn't have power, but if you touch Phase wire with one hand and ground yourself with the other hand at the same time, you can electrocute yourself. Be careful when you work. Or use a Phase meter ( a screw driver which lit when it's touching Phase wire).
2006-10-28 05:39:46 · answer #3 · answered by TX-Man88 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. The fuse needs to be replaced, but so do the wires. Depending on the age of the home, the wires probably do need to be replaced. this doesn't however mean that they are dead so you need to be very careful. Old wiring can be very dangerous. You need to have a qualified electrician to check out the wiring on the home. This is a serious situation.
2006-10-28 05:29:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When a fuse blows or is removed, the wires downstream of it SHOULD be de-energized. But before you start taking apart the wires, ALWAYS check the connections dead with a working multimeter. Better Safe Than Sorry!
2006-10-28 05:28:51 · answer #5 · answered by sandislandtim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You said circuit breakers. If more then one breaker is tripping you should call an electrician. If just one is tripping and you can turn off the main breaker, take the wire off the breaker and put it on another one. If it trips that one too, you have a short somewhere and should get help. If it doesn't trip that breaker then the you have a bad breaker. If you haven't worked with electricity before, don't even take the cover off the breaker box. Call someone that has.
2016-05-22 03:09:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. As long as the wires in question did come from the circuit that the fuse is on.
2006-10-28 05:22:36 · answer #7 · answered by Professor Chitlin 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The answer is yes. However, one caveat, since you obviously know so little about electrical work, hire someone who does.
Before you get knocked on your as*
BTW, ask 'firm shak' what a "curcuit" is. Heard of a CIRCUIT, never a curcuit. And the others don't even bother reading the question.
2006-10-31 11:03:32 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it means the fuse is dead, just need to replace that.
2006-10-28 05:21:13 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes,its not dangerous bcoz de circuit is not complete..
2006-10-28 05:38:44 · answer #10 · answered by ladoo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋