3 ms·

Enough to shock a person. I used to take stuff like this apart as a kid. A call came in while I was in the middle of it (yes, I was playing with the incoming w

Enough to shock a person. I used to take stuff like this apart as a kid. A call came in while I was in the middle of it (yes, I was playing with the incoming wires). Ouch!

jetrink 5y ago
A fun coincidence: someone posted about a similar memory just this morning[1]! > Removing insulation from a live phone wire with my teeth (I had decided to put an extension in my room without asking for help...) was one of mine, that definitely made me more careful. Went just fine until I closed the circuit with my tongue by accident just as someone called. Not pleasant. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29613712 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29613712
- kingcharles 5y ago
  That's crazy. I did that too, once. I thought I was the only one stupid enough to accidently strip a live telephone wire with his teeth. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29621055 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29621055
function_seven 5y ago
I used to install T1s back when they were the "fast" way to get online. The vast majority of installations used HDSL to modulate the T1 onto the local loops. HDSL powered the remote card from the one in the central office, using (IIRC) 130VDC. One time I was at a customer prem troubleshooting an installation. The customer's phone vendor was out there with me as we were hunting for the right cable pairs in the terminal. I was getting ready to call another tech back at the CO to put a tone generator on the line when the phone system vendor told me to just run my fingers across the terminals until I got a shock. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. He looked at me like I was a weenie and went ahead and did it himself. Dragged his fingers down the line until I saw him twitch. "Binding posts 47 and 48, right there" I had accidentally shocked myself probably dozens of times, but never as a troubleshooting technique!

Enough to shock a person. I used to take stuff like this apart as a kid. A call came in while I was in the middle of it (yes, I was playing with the incoming wires). Ouch!

jetrink 5y ago

A fun coincidence: someone posted about a similar memory just this morning[1]! > Removing insulation from a live phone wire with my teeth (I had decided to put an extension in my room without asking for help...) was one of mine, that definitely made me more careful. Went just fine until I closed the circuit with my tongue by accident just as someone called. Not pleasant. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29613712 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29613712

kingcharles 5y ago
That's crazy. I did that too, once. I thought I was the only one stupid enough to accidently strip a live telephone wire with his teeth. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29621055 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29621055

function_seven 5y ago

I used to install T1s back when they were the "fast" way to get online. The vast majority of installations used HDSL to modulate the T1 onto the local loops. HDSL powered the remote card from the one in the central office, using (IIRC) 130VDC. One time I was at a customer prem troubleshooting an installation. The customer's phone vendor was out there with me as we were hunting for the right cable pairs in the terminal. I was getting ready to call another tech back at the CO to put a tone generator on the line when the phone system vendor told me to just run my fingers across the terminals until I got a shock. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. He looked at me like I was a weenie and went ahead and did it himself. Dragged his fingers down the line until I saw him twitch. "Binding posts 47 and 48, right there" I had accidentally shocked myself probably dozens of times, but never as a troubleshooting technique!