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[Ezzer]

On a normal phone line you get 50v dc at a low ampage, you can feel it, bit uncomfortable but thats all. if the line rings then thats 90v ac and you most definately feel it and it hurts!

ISDN runs at 95v, nowhere near leathal but gives an unexpected kick. DACS is the biggie at 140v. The biggest risk is when your hand comes back as an involitary action from the shock, Doing this on the frame in an exchange can result in cuts to the back of the hand as you catch the neigbouring fuses, known as frame rash.

HERES THE IMPORTANT BIT HENCE THE CAPITALS AND ANY ELECTRICIAN/ELECRTICAL ENGINEER WILL BACK ME UP ON THIS.

ALWAYS ASSUME THERE MAY BE MAINS/HIGH VOLTAGE ON ANY WIRING, INCLUDING TELEPHONY. I HAVE HAD QUITE A FEW JOBS WITH MAINS VOLTAGE ON THE LINE. TYPICALY ON THE INTERNAL WIRING. IT DOES HAPPEN

A BT ENGINEERS HAWK, 9083, BUTT PHONE ALL TEST FOR HIGH VOLTAGE FIRST FOR THIS REASON.

ALSO AS PREVIOUSLY STATED DO NOT TOUCH MAINS/TELEPHONY IN A THUNDERSTORM, SUCH SURGES DOWN THE LINE ARE COMMON. AND FOR SAFETYS SAKE I'LL REPEAT THAT, LIGHTNING SURGES DURING A STORM ARE COMMON! THATS THE ONE TIME BT ENGINEERS ARE NOT PERMITED TO TOUCH ANY OF THE NETWORK.

[Astral]

Doing this on the frame in an exchange can result in cuts to the back of the hand as you catch the neigbouring fuses, known as frame rash.

I haven't run a jumper for 35 years but the back of my hand started itching reading that. Funnily enough I was going to mention the "collateral damage" from getting a belt of ringing current.

[oldfogy]

Not wanting to digress from the original topic, but.

Back in the 60s BT used to charge the earth for installing extension phones, well we used to have the odd one or two going spare ( ££ ).
Any-way, one of our work colleagues had one of these spare phones to install himself over the weekend,
on Monday morning back at work he said it had "BLOWN-UP"

He had connected it to a 13 amp plug and plugged it in. 

[setecio]

Back in the 60s BT used to charge the earth for installing extension phones,

I've a feeling we're back in the 60s again.

[Ezzer]

Ther's and old story which I don;t know if it's true or aopocrphal.

 An engineer once was testing from an nte when the customer made a passing comment about a dog who goes nuts every time he hears a phone ring.

 Anyway the engineer could see the fault on his mole and summised it was in the underground lead-in to the house.

He then noticed that the dog in question was chained to a spike in the ground at a certain familiar distance (can you see where this is going ?)

He tried an experiment by getting to get the ring the line, but with apperatus plugged in so no ringing, but plenty of yelping and barking.

"Is that spike the dog's chained to new, perhaps put in the same time the fault occured ?"

sure enough they banged the spike through the phone cable so every time the phone rang the poor mutt got 90v ac in the neck.

Not so much Pavlovs dog but Pavlova dog

[Astral]

They certainly told me a version of that one on a training course in 1972. I think it was the earth on a shared service in that case IIRC.

[guest]

Must be me (or the influence of Dave ) but anything under a couple of hundred volts at a couple of amps isn't really much to be worried about.

I once got a 17kV shock off a bit of kit which we called "The Coffin". That hurt. That hurt lots

[oldfogy]

We had a party line once and I decide to move the phone.
Then our neighbour asked if by any chance we were having trouble with our phone.
As our neighbour started to receive our calls and we theirs.

When I realised it I managed to put it right.

You have to remember in those days the equipment all belonged to BT and no one else was allowed to interfere with it (just for you young ones that is)

[Floydoid]

I remember those days OF - big phones with *dials which were hard wired into the sockets.

* it would seem strange to use a dial now we're all used to push buttons... I think the first push button phone I ever saw was a variant on the old trim phone at a friend's house ca.1977, and I thought "Wow!".