From the article: How to Test Electrical Current With a Voltage Tester
Hey, home remodelers: ever done anything less-than-smart, less-than-safe on your own home? Share your story (we'll let you stay anonymous) and let us know if you derived any lesson from this "event." Share Your Story
Operating on live wires--never again
- In the midst of splitting out my bathroom light switch so that it had separate light/fan controls, I got a bit emboldened. A bit cocky, you might say. OK, so I did not do ALL of my work on the light switch with live wires. But, at one point, I did want to have live wires and I did want my light switches dangling down, just so I could test it out...to see if the switch actually worked. I've done this thing a million times before (that should have been the tip-off right there). I flipped the switch. But the pressure of my finger also pushed this loose-and-dangling switch against another switch and-- BAMMM! GZZZZZIIIIT!!! Sparks pop. Darkness. Lesson: always shut off breaker.
- —RenovateHouse
