DIYer fooled me

[fred55]

This one maybe a lesson for others. Modernising some electrics so to be safe pulled out the fuse, started to work got a tingle and could not believe it so touched it again got another tingle !! luckily nothing more. Checked the fuse and pulled them all out - now checked with meter and still live now that's strange. checked the fuse box and some DIYer had coupled both sides of the fuse to one end, totally bypassing the fuse. So beware buying DIYers houses.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Golden rule for me is I always and I mean always check the wires with a neon screwdriver before I touch them no matter what I think I've unplugged, switched off or tripped.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The same thing happened to me. Except I'm the DIYer and I bought the house from an electrician. :shock:

 

[Cheshirechappie]

A mate of mine lives in a bungalow with the garage semi-detached to next door's. A new occupant in the neighbouring house (a bit of a dodgy trader in all sorts, by the sound of it - stored quite a few flammable chemicals in his garage) did some DIY on his meter (located in the garage) to bypass it. The resulting fire burnt down both garages, with my mate's lifetimes collection of tools in his. He wasn't a happy bunny. The local police are trying to do the neighbour - they may or may not succeed, but nothing really replaces a lifetime of patient acquisition.

 

[lanemaux]

Once upon a time my dryer needed to have a new socket installed. I was young and we had just moved into a new place. I went to the fuse box and opened it to find nice clear labelling of what fuse did what. A good sign I thought. after removing the 30 amp fuse marked dryer I walked over to the receptacle and applied screwdriver. My next really clear memory is standing a couple of yards from the wall with the plug on it and shaking very vigorously. Then from upstairs my wife calls down "theres something wrong with the stove". I now own a very posh meter with circuit testing , and I can assure you that it is used , each and every time.

 

[bugbear]

This one maybe a lesson for others. Modernising some electrics so to be safe pulled out the fuse, started to work got a tingle and could not believe it so touched it again got another tingle !! luckily nothing more. Checked the fuse and pulled them all out - now checked with meter and still live now that's strange. checked the fuse box and some DIYer had coupled both sides of the fuse to one end, totally bypassing the fuse. So beware buying DIYers houses.

Confidence exceeds knowledge.. Dangerous.

BugBear

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A friend of mine was a sparky and he was called out early in his working life to look at a faulty porch light. he ascertained that for some reason it had been wired in to a ring main so pulled the relevant fuse, climbed back up the ladder and got on with the job. The next he remembered was lying flat on his back feeling extremely foolish with the customer asking if he was OK. The ring was fed from two fuses. It was a mistake he never made again.

 

[RogerS]

It's not just DIY'ers who muck up. I was replacing a consumer unit in a flat. I'd even gone to the extent of removing (and putting in my pocket) the main 80Amp fuse, that fed the flat, from the service cupboard out on the landing. All wires disconnected from the old consumer unit. New one screwed in place and proceeded to reconnect the wires (single cores in conduit). My knuckle grazed a neutral and I got a belt.

This is not supposed to happen, I thought. Turns out the numpties who wired the flats mixed up my single cores with another flats single cores. So my 'live' neutral was fed from the other flat which, naturally, still had power on. Never did find out which flat it was.

 

[novocaine]

all sounds familiar to me.
the new house was rewired properly at some point, then the previous owner decided to add a few more plugs a shower and a selection of other goodies for me to find.

none of the plugs are off the right circuit so I have plugs upstairs then join off downstairs loops and vice versa. the shower was run of a 13amp circuit with a short length of 45amp cable. a 45 amp circuit had been put in but was run in trunking up the wall and into the loft space where it ends with a flappy bit of wire (connected but with the RCD off). the garage is even worse and had to be made safe but not sorted as it needs a new consumer unit.

lucky for me I know a good sparky, so whilst the fuse labels are still not correct (some are now, like the cooker and the shower) they will be by the time we are finished (he gets his living room plastered I get my wiring sorted).

this is why certification was invented, to stop the person who thinks they know but doesn't, shame it doesn't really stop them.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I moved a stud wall, in the process removing a lead sheathed 6mm cable which was supplying the cooker from the dining room ceiling rose. After getting up from the floor with a hole burnt into my pliers I thought I'd better ring the electricity board. The guy duly came and called me all the idiots under the sun. I protested that I'd switched everything off. You didn't think to do the smart thing and use a tester then? No, I said - because I have a letter here from the electricity board telling me that the House has been disconnected. Oh, ffs...he said.
Phil's 1st law of electricity from there on - don't ever presume!

 

[bugbear]

this is why certification was invented, to stop the person who thinks they know but doesn't, shame it doesn't really stop them.

You mean it's not just <Daily Mail>interfering jobs worth council busy bodies with peaked caps</Daily Mail>?

BugBear

 

[Eric The Viking]

Golden rule for me is I always and I mean always check the wires with a neon screwdriver before I touch them no matter what I think I've unplugged, switched off or tripped.

Ditto.

Nearly killed myself in our first flat - big skirtings, manky old 2-pin socket, flat supposedly totally rewired to modern standards. Removed skirting to find trailing rubber-covered cable on socket, thoroughly perished. Also foud it was live as the barking-mad sparks had 'helpfully' joined it into the ring (as a spur), under the floor, with an unprotected chocolate block joining T+E to rubber. No RCD at the time (I fitted one) & 30A ring.

I couldn't seethe chocolate block, but for some reason I paused, holding the metal-handled shears over the cable, backed off and got out the test meter.

That was VERY nearly the end of me...

E.

PS: I"m 90% certain it was done by a 'professional' sparks. The previous owners were about as practical as bricks made of cheescake mixture.

 

[Skeety]

Worst one I have ever seen was a garage of a friends parents who had their garage wired by a local handyman (Known to most trades who had to go in and fix stuff after him.

Anyway, the garage was wired with about 6 double sockets for washing machine, tumble drier and pond stuff plus halogen security lights. The whole thing was wired in 1.0mm, lives and neutrals swapped all over the place. The garage was about 20ft from the house and the cable was just clipped to the garage and then clipped to the house terminated to the cooker supply in the CU!!!! Cable had started to melt, wonder why...

Disconnected it on the spot and showed them, they were horrified. Ended up redoing it in armoured, separate CU etc.

Jon.

 

[fred55]

Good to see others are as trusting as me. The old additive seem appropriate - Trust no one and they never let you down!. I wouldn't mind but I'm a DIYer and find faults by approved / qualified people.