[quesera]

> Touching the circuit breaker handles on the service panel is a "competent adults, paying close attention, only at need" activity.

This is not accurate.

Circuit breakers are just lightswitches with the ability to switch themselves OFF.

The larger breakers (you mention "handles" instead of "switches") are the same, although rated for higher current than typical household lightswitches.

The breaker panel is just a grounded metal box. It is not dangerous to touch, except in fault cases where the whole building has dangerous power.

And just like you should not unscrew a lightswitch cover unless you know what you're doing, you should not unscrew a breaker panel cover.

Same rules -- but if you break them, the difference becomes important: Inside the breaker panel, it's possible to come into contact with higher current sources than inside a lightswitch box.

[dkarl]

You're right, but given that some people subject their breaker boxes to amateur fiddling, leaving loose or missing covers and poorly done wiring, I sympathize with his point. I wouldn't send a kid to flip a breaker unless it was my own house and I knew the breaker box was safe. I realize that in theory a light switch can be unsafe just like a breaker box, but in practice, I would never worry about sending a kid to flip a light switch.

[quesera]

Fair enough. I would never live in a house that had sketchy service panels, and in an unknown/presumed-dangerous environment, I'd never send an inexperienced person to mess with service panels (or lightswitches) I hadn't inspected myself.

[jimmaswell]

A breaker has bare live metal exposed inside that will shock you if you touch it. Maybe newer designs don't, but mine does.

[quesera]

Right, just like a lightswitch. But in both cases, only if you open the protective enclosure with a screwdriver.

[jimmaswell]

Mine has no such enclosure, just a door that takes no tools to open.

[quesera]

That might be a 1960s-70s-era Zinsco.

If so, you should get it replaced right away. Easy access to the internals is the least of your concerns -- these panels are unsafe as designed, and responsible for much fire and death.

[dylan604]

Yikes! Did this pass an inspection like that? I'd highly suggest moving this higher up on the TODO list. Whether its a panel that needs replacing or just a cover needs to be replaced, it should be corrected. Please, don't become a statistic! </randoInternetNanny>

[jimmaswell]

I have no idea when's the last time an inspector saw this place. It's a mobile home manufactured in the 60s so a lot of lax code is probably grandfathered in. The panel is too high and out of the way for a child to reach and I'm smart enough not to touch it. I imagine whoever I sell the house to is going to demolish it anyway.

[jyounker]

In other words, contemporaneous with the Chevy Corvair, and pre-dating most modern safety regulations.