UK DIY Shocker!!!

[DIYer Gaz]

Hi guys,

I hope everyone is well.

So to detail my experience, I had a loose wire behind my electric cooker mains plug, so I tested the plug after sorting the wire forgot to turn off the mains at the box and yes as you can guess as I went to push the socket into the wall to screw in, two fingers on eight hand touches the metal box behind the socket all whilst being barefoot standing on the kitchen floor. Never felt anything like it, straight up my eight arm fuzzy head and all that. This was late last night about 10.30pm. Should I be worried? It is fair to say I will be staying away from electrics from now on.

 

[Midwest]

Glad your okay.

 

[DIYer Gaz]

There are two type of protection in general use that go by the title "Automatic Disconnection of Supply" (ADS) and they are:

• Over-current protection, which is intended to deal with a major fault that could cause the wire to overheat (and ultimately catch fire)
• Earth leakage (residual current) protection, which is intended to protect against electric shock (and to a degree fires from insulation damage such as mice chewing the PVC layers)

Every circuit (with very few exceptions) will have over current protection, but that will not save you from electric shock as the difference is levels are enormous! Your cooker is rated at 30A, and typically you would need 5 times that to disconnect in a fraction of a second, so somewhere around 150A.

Recently (as in last decade or two) there have been moves to cover more circuits with RCD protection but it is still not universal. In particular, a fixed circuit like a cooker may not have had an RCD fitted until recently. To protect you from electric shock an RCD would be designed to trip at 30mA = 0.03A or 5000 times smaller!

If you can post a photo of the fuse box we can tell you more, but from what happened it seems very unlikely you have RCD protection on that circuit.


Without signs of burns, a normal ECG, and no other feeling of problems, it would be very unlikely you have anything to worry about!

Hi, Thanks for the reply. So I think you would be correct to say there is no RCD on the fuse box. I have attached 4 photos which were sent to me upon purchase of the property in 2016. So the white one is currently what is installed and was done so in 2016. I am just curious to what the black box is and what the item is that is in the white cardboard box photographed?
[automerge]1589189604[/automerge]

Glad your okay.

Thanks.

 

[pc1966]

Hi, Thanks for the reply. So I think you would be correct to say there is no RCD on the fuse box. I have attached 4 photos which were sent to me upon purchase of the property in 2016. So the white one is currently what is installed and was done so in 2016. I am just curious to what the black box is and what the item is that is in the white cardboard box photographed?

Photos have not shown up on the forum, I'm afraid
Site has been having trouble with that for a week or so...

 

[DIYer Gaz]

Photos have not shown up on the forum, I'm afraid
Site has been having trouble with that for a week or so...

oh ok, that is not great. Is there any other way of getting the photos added?

Photos have not shown up on the forum, I'm afraid
Site has been having trouble with that for a week or so...

Oh no, that is not great. Is there any other way of popping the photo on here? Would be very keen to know the extent of the fuse box safety features for future. Thanks.

 

[pc1966]

If you can put them on some image-sharing site (not Facebook!!!) and post a link to it then we can have a look.
[automerge]1589193409[/automerge]
Another trick is to put them in a PDF document, the site seems happy to have those still.

 

[DIYer Gaz]

If you can put them on some image-sharing site (not Facebook!!!) and post a link to it then we can have a look.

Never knew you could do this. Have these worked?

1

Image 1 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

2

Image 2 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

3

Image 3 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

4

Image 4 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

 

[GBDamo]

Anyone claiming to have been thrown across the room is telling whoppers.

That's interesting can you explain why?

Whilst labouring as a kid I was on the third rung of a step ladder and chasing a horizontal chase in a travel agency.

I'd have been 15-16 at the time and most of the details are those I was told as my recollection is very limited.

Anyway, one minute I'm chasing away the next I'm ten feet away, on my arse, covered in travel brochures, bleeding from my head with (bizarrely the only thing I vividly remember) a cracking view up the skirt of the travel agent lass who had come over to help.

I was told I had gone through a "415V armoured".

I saw the bolster that had a two pence sized semicircular chunk missing.

The lass in the travel agent said there was a flash and bang and I "flew backward and up, hitting the shelves on the wall (10ft)behind me"

Their was blood and hair on the top shelf, which was highr than I was initially working.

It may be possible I jumped backwards and up??

Would like to know why being thrown is not a possibility though.

 

[DIYer Gaz]

That's interesting can you explain why?

Whilst labouring as a kid I was on the third rung of a step ladder and chasing a horizontal chase in a travel agency.

I'd have been 15-16 at the time and most of the details are those I was told as my recollection is very limited.

Anyway, one minute I'm chasing away the next I'm ten feet away, on my arse, covered in travel brochures, bleeding from my head with (bizarrely the only thing I vividly remember) a cracking view up the skirt of the travel agent lass who had come over to help.

I was told I had gone through a "415V armoured".

I saw the bolster that had a two pence sized semicircular chunk missing.

The lass in the travel agent said there was a flash and bang and I "flew backward and up, hitting the shelves on the wall (10ft)behind me"

Their was blood and hair on the top shelf, which was highr than I was initially working.

It may be possible I jumped backwards and up??

Would like to know why being thrown is not a possibility though.

That sounds nasty! I take it you were okay then? Is something like that worse than what is described in the OP? I would imagine 415v would be deadly.

 

[ipf]

That's interesting can you explain why?

Whilst labouring as a kid I was on the third rung of a step ladder and chasing a horizontal chase in a travel agency.

I'd have been 15-16 at the time and most of the details are those I was told as my recollection is very limited.

Would like to know why being thrown is not a possibility though.

I must admit to something like that, at a similar age. There was a big bang and a power down resulted. Then the bloke in charge grabbed me by the collar and threw me across the room.

Seriously, this instance is just another example of the danger involved with DIY electrical work. Glad you're OK.
Live and learn, not all do.

 

[DIYer Gaz]

I must admit to something like that, at a similar age. There was a big bang and a power down resulted. Then the bloke in charge grabbed me by the collar and threw me across the room.

Seriously, this instance is just another example of the danger involved with DIY electrical work. Glad you're OK.
Live and learn, not all do.

I have definitely learnt from this experience. I just worry of the lasting effects such instances can have on the body.

 

[telectrix]

I have definitely learnt from this experience. I just worry of the lasting effects such instances can have on the body.

metinks you worry too much. over the years i've had similar several times, and i still got me own hair at 73. back in the days before safe isolation and meters that didn't need winding up, we used to test for a live cable by swiping the finger on. if it tingled it was live.

 

[pc1966]

Never knew you could do this. Have these worked?

Yes, it has!
The first image is of an old Wylex fuse board with the rewirable fuses, they were common until the 70s and very reliable in use (many are still working today). By the 80s boxes with circuit breakers became the norm, and no more faffing about with fuse wire after a light had gone pop! and taken it out.

Picture 3 is simply the box the new consumer unit (CU, what the fuse box / fuse board became known as one it no longer had actual fuses in it) came in, you can buy them more or less empty (fit your own choice) or sometimes with a common selection of devices fitted.

Pictures 2 & 4 show, of course, your new CU. It shows one with RCBO - these are combined over-current protection (MCB = miniature circuit breaker) and RCD (shock protection) devices as a single unit and so I am a little surprised it did not trip when you got a zap. Each of them has a test button at the top - if you press that it simulates and earth fault (with a lot less pain than poking the wires) and should result in the device tripping.

I guess you never do this test?

You really should test them! Not necessarily every month, but at least twice per year, say when the clocks change. Best if you switch off stuff that might not be happy with the power going off and back on quickly, like mains powered computers, broadband modems, TiVo boxes, smart TVs, some fridge/freezers, etc., and press each test button in turn. That should result in the main leaver tripping off. You then reset it by pushing the main leaver up again.

Finally remember to put stuff back on once more, especially any fridge/freezers that were powered off!

If any do not trip from the test button then you really should get a sparky out ASAP to investigate it.
[automerge]1589202430[/automerge]

metinks you worry too much. over the years i've had similar several times, and i still got me own hair at 73.

Yes, great hair and a nice wet nose, judging by your picture

 

[Andy78]

Never knew you could do this. Have these worked?

1

Image 1 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

2

Image 2 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

3

Image 3 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

4

Image 4 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

Your consumer unit seems to have been upgraded in 2016. Each circuit breaker incorporates RCD protection. You can test the devices by pressing the black test button at the top of each one. the lever should trip down. To reset, push the lever back up.

 

[telectrix]

wet nose... never did get the hang of getting all the beer in gob.

 

[DIYer Gaz]

metinks you worry too much. over the years i've had similar several times, and i still got me own hair at 73. back in the days before safe isolation and meters that didn't need winding up, we used to test for a live cable by swiping the finger on. if it tingled it was live.

Yeah I am a worrier! Wow what a way to test. I unfortunately started losing my hair at 19 years old!

Yes, it has!
The first image is of an old Wylex fuse board with the rewirable fuses, they were common until the 70s and very reliable in use (many are still working today). By the 80s boxes with circuit breakers became the norm, and no more faffing about with fuse wire after a light had gone pop! and taken it out.

Picture 3 is simply the box the new consumer unit (CU, what the fuse box / fuse board became known as one it no longer had actual fuses in it) came in, you can buy them more or less empty (fit your own choice) or sometimes with a common selection of devices fitted.

Pictures 2 & 4 show, of course, your new CU. It shows one with RCBO - these are combined over-current protection (MCB = miniature circuit breaker) and RCD (shock protection) devices as a single unit and so I am a little surprised it did not trip when you got a zap. Each of them has a test button at the top - if you press that it simulates and earth fault (with a lot less pain than poking the wires) and should result in the device tripping.

I guess you never do this test?

You really should test them! Not necessarily every month, but at least twice per year, say when the clocks change. Best if you switch off stuff that might not be happy with the power going off and back on quickly, like mains powered computers, broadband modems, TiVo boxes, smart TVs, some fridge/freezers, etc., and press each test button in turn. That should result in the main leaver tripping off. You then reset it by pushing the main leaver up again.

Finally remember to put stuff back on once more, especially any fridge/freezers that were powered off!

If any do not trip from the test button then you really should get a sparky out ASAP to investigate it.
[automerge]1589202430[/automerge]

Yes, great hair and a nice wet nose, judging by your picture

Thanks for the info, I will give the test button a push! It has tripped in the past when we have had the oven and the 4 rings on the hob on. So I assumed it was working. But I have not tested it recently.