Be very careful out there,it might hurt

[cliffed]

Had to fix a trailing swa,with 2g socket on the end of it.
Maintenance sparky checked it,peculiar voltage,40v.
I checked it with my volt meter ,sure enough 40v.
Plug my plug tester in,dead.
Checked the zs & v on my test kit,dead.
Checked with mains continuity tester dead.
Cut it with hacksaw,bang.
Radial serving a number of sockets,no Rcd,16 amp mcb,1.5mm 3 core.
Thinking,the sheath of the live not contacting terminal on socket.
Never take anything for granted.

 

[ferg]

Recently I was scrabbling about in a loft looking for a JB feeding an outside light that was not working.

Isolated all the lighting circuits, stuck my hand in blind to pull out the JB.

Got a belt of an old ceiling rose used as a JB without the cover.

The moral of the story....

How hard is it to say 'I'm going to turn the power off while I have a look'

FWIW whatever earache I get on here I've already said to myself.

 

[telectrix]

few years ago, my lad was with me on a job. 6.0mm redundant shower cable was to come out. "that cable is dead" says the wet pants. laddo cuts cable Bang Flash, sidecutters wrecked. moral of the story... never trust a plumber, they're raised from birth as congenital liars.

 

[johnduffell]

test between metal parts and earth

totally spot on. it would be negligant not to test between any metal parts withnig 2m.
e.g leaning on a metal water pipe/scaffolding/steel beam/washing machine casing, testing in a light switch. no cpc continuity for whatever reason. Measure live to earth, nothing, touch the pipe, 240v shock.
Any metal that's part of the electrical installation or extraneous can create a hazard. That's why bonding/earthing causes a danger and shouldn't be done except where necessary (class I equipment or extraneous conductive part that cannot be insulated) .

 

[The Ghost]

How hard is it to say 'I'm going to turn the power off while I have a look

That is the reason for many electric shocks, not being arsed to get out of the loft go down the ladder, down the stairs and isolate.

 

[gazdkw82]

Abit unsure how you measured 40v then nothing. Alarm bells would be ringing at that point. I always test between line to earth, neutral to earth and then earth to neutral with an approved voltage indicator. I then run my voltage pen around it.

However even if proven dead, I still wouldn't work unless I confirmed which circuit it was and the circuit was locked off. Had a nasty belt once because I thought I had isolated the correct circuit, turned out it was fed from another mcb :-o

 

[a-z electrics]

assume is a word that makes an --- of u and me..

 

[weevilward]

totally spot on. it would be negligant not to test between any metal parts withnig 2m.
e.g leaning on a metal water pipe/scaffolding/steel beam/washing machine casing, testing in a light switch. no cpc continuity for whatever reason. Measure live to earth, nothing, touch the pipe, 240v shock.
Any metal that's part of the electrical installation or extraneous can create a hazard. That's why bonding/earthing causes a danger and shouldn't be done except where necessary (class I equipment or extraneous conductive part that cannot be insulated) .