HiI had a new electrical service put in, they connected the new wires to the old wire from the pole, My question is can you touch one wire at a time without getting zapped, (100 amp) the service wires coming from the poles to the meter.Because when they changed my service he striped the old wires and connected the new wires to the old wires.thank you
A qualified professional electrician can but for an untrained person it is very dangerous. Using the old power drops from the transformer to the weather head is the common practice and the power company is the one to make the change from the transformer to the weather head. Your electrician did the work as it should be done.
Never, never touch any wire until you know it is dead. And even then, check it with a voltmeter. Standard installation the electrician installs a new panel in the house, runs a conduit up to the roof. He then runs his wires from the new panel up through the conduit and weather head. The utility electrician runs the service drop for the pole and attaches it to the weather head. He then splices the wires at the weather head. Warning, the insulated wires have defective insulation. You touch one, 240 volts and 5,000 amps. The bare neutral wire also can have some kick to it. Stay away.
No you can't touch the bare wires, They must have had the supply line made safe to do that work. They will often connect a temporary earth wire onto each wire in case the power is switched back on by mistake. 0.001amps can kill by making your heart stop, holding onto a live100 amp line could burn you very badly too. It is possible to do live work with stringent precautions, but it is only done in a few special cases.
