Advice - cutting live cable, house

[electricpostman]

I know what happens if a live 240V wire is cut inside the house, but what happens if the cable is cut outside the house before it goes into the box? is it just the same small flash and muffled noise?

Thanks

 

[Darkwood]

Very strange question but curiosity is sometimes an educational thing, it all depends on so many factors but if it's the DNO supply cable it is usually an explosion not a bang ....if that helps?

 

[electricpostman]

Very strange question but curiosity is sometimes an educational thing, it all depends on so many factors but if it's the DNO supply cable it is usually an explosion not a bang ....if that helps?

Thanks, but I assumed it would be 240v as inside the house. It's the mains supply that comes up the wall of the house and into the meter, if it is cut before it goes into the meter is the bang any any worse than if it were cut inside the house?

Cheers

 

[Simonslimline]

Interesting.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmnrJa7Zk0A

 

[electricpostman]

interesting yes but not domestic supply.

 

[haptism]

I know what happens if a live 240V wire is cut inside the house, but what happens if the cable is cut outside the house before it goes into the box? is it just the same small flash and muffled noise?

Thanks

Careful with those snippers, merry christmas

 

[Blademan_98]

Usually a large bang followed by a surprised yelp!

 

[Darkwood]

Domestic internal has small fuses with fast time curves, the DNO network you enquire about has very large fusing with longer time curves, so regardless of how small the cable seems, the upstream device is large and thus not a little pop but an explosion..... why do you ask?

 

[7029 dave]

Usually a large bang followed by a surprised yelp!

No large bang, followed by filled trousers.

 

[electricpostman]

Domestic internal has small fuses with fast time curves, the DNO network you enquire about has very large fusing with longer time curves, so regardless of how small the cable seems, the upstream device is large and thus not a little pop but an explosion..... why do you ask?

Thanks Darkwood. I ask because we are doing up an old house and the electrics are mess inside and we need to do allsorts of work. The electric company has been impossible to get hold of on the subject of reconnecting the supply once we have done the work, but in the meantime I want to just cut the power supply to the house. Im not an electrician (as you have guessed) and don't understand the ancient 'box' the current supply feeds into on the outside of the house. I just want to cut it so no power goes to the house at all. I was going to use some snips with plastic insulated handles, plus thick rubber gloves and of course thick soled rubber boots, oh and safety goggles when I cut the cable. But you reckon it will explode rather than bang?

 

[davesparks]

I know what happens if a live 240V wire is cut inside the house, but what happens if the cable is cut outside the house before it goes into the box? is it just the same small flash and muffled noise?

Thanks

What happens in the inside the house scenario can vary greatly depending upon circumstances so you can't really know what will happen. The possibilities include an RCD tripping with minimum fuss, an loud bang and a fuse or mcb clearing the fault, an arc occurring which starts a fire or blinds the person who cut the cable or even that person receiving a fatal electric shock.

External to the installation the outcome will generally be towards the more serious end of the scale, you can pretty much guarantee some form of serious injury, most likely requiring hospital treatment.

 

[electricpostman]

Davesparks,
Thanks for the reply, I understand. just that when I used to do groundworks on sites I saw guys go through street light cables with their shovels and there was a flash and small bang and no one got hurt, was a pretty minor event. I just thought the external house mains would be similar, but wanted advice.

 

[Darkwood]

Thanks Darkwood. I ask because we are doing up an old house and the electrics are mess inside and we need to do allsorts of work. The electric company has been impossible to get hold of on the subject of reconnecting the supply once we have done the work, but in the meantime I want to just cut the power supply to the house. Im not an electrician (as you have guessed) and don't understand the ancient 'box' the current supply feeds into on the outside of the house. I just want to cut it so no power goes to the house at all. I was going to use some snips with plastic insulated handles, plus thick rubber gloves and of course thick soled rubber boots, oh and safety goggles when I cut the cable. But you reckon it will explode rather than bang?

You have a misleaded understanding of electrics here, you attempt to do what you suggest and you will receive serious injury if not get killed, if by some miracle you get out of it unscathed then the fact you brought out the local Sub station supply down and took out part of your local community will leave you with a hefty fine and possible legal action as this isn't your property and the DNO are not sympathetic or lenient to deliberate abuse of network cables... Its not like cutting a household cable, if you breach a supply cable you often don't come out of it good.. forget silly hearsay about wellies, gloves and insulated tools, the fact that copper and whats left of your snips will be vapourised and spat in your face as a molten mist will be enough to 'if you survive' give you life changing injuries...

On that note I'm closing this thread due to the dangerous nature of the suggestions by the OP... you hopefully have been persuaded that this is by no means a wise course of action and we strongly suggest you do not entertain this thought any longer!

@electricpostman - if you need to reply, please PM me.