Drilled through a wire

[Scottg]

Hi guys so I need some advice/help if possible, im a complete noob with electrical stuff so be nice lol, I was putting up a roller blind in my kitchen (drilling the pilot holes) and went through a wire that tripped out all the sockets at the back of the house, I then went to the fuse box and turned it back on and everything is working fine I.e all sockets etc are working without tripping out, what should I do please guys ??

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Turn it back off. Various hazards exist until the cable is repaired: The earthing might be compromised, the cable fault might arc, the masonry (if is is a brick wall) around the fault might become live due to leakage through moisture, the opposite leg of a ring circuit might be overloaded if the line conductor is severed.

Depending on the location, it is often possible to repair the cable in-situ with only a small hole around it to be made good afterwards. The exact details would depend on the severity of damage, type of cable, available depth to house the repair, etc.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Deleted, typed as the same time as LN.

 

[Scottg]

Turn it back off. Various hazards exist until the cable is repaired: The earthing might be compromised, the cable fault might arc, the masonry (if is is a brick wall) around the fault might become live due to leakage through moisture, the opposite leg of a ring circuit might be overloaded if the line conductor is severed.

Depending on the location, it is often possible to repair the cable in-situ with only a small hole around it to be made good afterwards. The exact details would depend on the severity of damage, type of cable, available depth to house the repair, etc.

Thanks for the quick response, how would I go about fixing it ?

 

[Spoon]

Thanks for the quick response, how would I go about fixing it ?

im a complete noob with electrical stuff so be nice lol,

As you don't have much electrical experience, the safest thing is to advice you get an electrician in to look at it.

 

[pc1966]

As Lucian has pointed out there may be very real danger after the damage even if the breaker resets "OK" and sadly folk have died from the results when a 2nd fault has occurred later on.

 

[brianmoooore]

The only thing you can reasonably do without professional help is to turn off the power and carefully chip away the damaged plaster from around the wire to be able to assess the damage.
Is the point where you drilled the hole directly above, below or to the side of any existing electrical fitting?

 

[Scottg]

As Lucian has pointed out there may be very real danger after the damage even if the breaker resets "OK" and sadly folk have died from the results when a 2nd fault has occurred later on.

I've turned the power off, chased out the wall cut the cable on either side of damaged wire and put one of those white connectors on if that makes sense

 

[pc1966]

I've turned the power off, chased out the wall cut the cable on either side of damaged wire and put one of those white connectors on if that makes sense

Can you post a photo of this?

 

[James]

Sounds like a reasonable temporary repair.
Fancy posting a picture?

This still should be looked at by a professional as a matter of urgency

 

[Scottg]

Can you post a photo of this?

I've already plastered over it, but this is the thing I used.

 

[Scottg]

Sounds like a reasonable temporary repair.
Fancy posting a picture?

This still should be looked at by a professional as a matter of urgency

I've already plastered over it, but this is the thing I used

 

[James]

No, No, No.

Totally unacceptable

Turn power back off immediately

 

[pc1966]

Firstly those type of connectors must be in a suitable enclosure that clamps/supports the main cables, not just open or taped up, and secondly they are not "maintenance free" and should never be used at inaccessible joints. They can loosen with time due to thermal cycling and then present a fire hazard.

No self-respecting electrician would condone putting that in a plastered up area!

You can get approved maintenance-free types of connector and matching junction box for exactly this sot of problem, if you had simply asked before plastering it up it would save you a LOT of trouble!

 

[Scottg]

Firstly those type of connectors must be in a suitable enclosure that clamps/supports the main cables, not just open or taped up, and secondly they are not "maintenance free" and should never be used at inaccessible joints. They can loosen with time due to thermal cycling and then present a fire hazard.

No self-respecting electrician would condone putting that in a plastered up area!

You can get approved maintenance-free types of connector and matching junction box for exactly this sot of problem, if you had simply asked before plastering it up it would save you a LOT of trouble!

Power is now off, do you have any links of what I need to get please ?