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| Electricians - an awkward bunch to deal with |
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| paulca:
--- Quote from: tggzzz on March 29, 2023, 10:17:49 am ---He had isolated the ringmain in one kitchen, and checked sockets weren't live. He started removing one socket, and got a nasty shock. That one socket was on a different ringmain. Yes, he acknowledges he should have checked 100% of the sockets, but only checked 90% of them. "There, but for the grace of God, go I". --- End quote --- Seen Artisan Electrics do similar in a kitchen job. Discovered "just in time" the circuit was borrowing a live via a boiler install by a plumber. If the boiler is switched on, the ring main became live again. It was just an after thought to check something unrelated that made him aware there was power. Might have been a microwave clock flashing or something. |
| tggzzz:
--- Quote from: paulca on March 29, 2023, 11:12:42 am --- --- Quote from: tggzzz on March 29, 2023, 10:17:49 am ---He had isolated the ringmain in one kitchen, and checked sockets weren't live. He started removing one socket, and got a nasty shock. That one socket was on a different ringmain. Yes, he acknowledges he should have checked 100% of the sockets, but only checked 90% of them. "There, but for the grace of God, go I". --- End quote --- Seen Artisan Electrics do similar in a kitchen job. Discovered "just in time" the circuit was borrowing a live via a boiler install by a plumber. If the boiler is switched on, the ring main became live again. It was just an after thought to check something unrelated that made him aware there was power. Might have been a microwave clock flashing or something. --- End quote --- Ah yes. Plumbing. Daughter was in a 1930s house that had been converted into student accomodation. The boiler failed completely, but they still had hot water in one bathroom. No, it wasn't an electric shower etc. The only possible explanation was that the water for that bathroom was coming from the adjacent house. Don't ask for any details, since there isn't a (rational) explanation. (I'll ignore where the electricity entered the house, and the sparky refused to approach it - sensibly saying the electricity supply company would have to touch it) |
| paulca:
For me I tend to set myself boundaries. If it involves high voltage (>50V) I either find another way or I fully research the application until I feel I understand it. For mains 240VAC, I will do things which are considered "temporary" or "minimal". Like replacing a light switch, putting a double plug onto an unused shower circuit would be minimal. Running 240V up my DC 3 core as a test, might be a temporary class item. Something that only needs to be safe within the time bounds of my elevated interest in it. In that it's a "Lab" style feature that requires technical management to be safe. Anything that needs to be permenant, especially to the extent it would be considered as "part of the estate" during a house sale, needs to be done by a certified spark. Anything in the meter box/consumer unit. Anything involving "structural wiring". 99% of my home automation stuff I added can be removed in a matter of hours and previous dumb functionality restored. It's all DIY. |
| coppice:
--- Quote from: paulca on March 29, 2023, 11:12:42 am --- --- Quote from: tggzzz on March 29, 2023, 10:17:49 am ---He had isolated the ringmain in one kitchen, and checked sockets weren't live. He started removing one socket, and got a nasty shock. That one socket was on a different ringmain. Yes, he acknowledges he should have checked 100% of the sockets, but only checked 90% of them. "There, but for the grace of God, go I". --- End quote --- Seen Artisan Electrics do similar in a kitchen job. Discovered "just in time" the circuit was borrowing a live via a boiler install by a plumber. If the boiler is switched on, the ring main became live again. It was just an after thought to check something unrelated that made him aware there was power. Might have been a microwave clock flashing or something. --- End quote --- Anyone who touches a fitting without checking that actual fitting is not live is a fool. It can be hard with some fully wired in fittings, but things like lights and sockets are trivial to check. Things like lights are specifically wired up to be intertwined between circuits, so a single breaker going doesn't leave you in total darkness. |
| themadhippy:
--- Quote ---Seen Artisan Electrics do similar in a kitchen job --- End quote --- And could have been cured in a few minutes without ripping half the house apart. |
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