Hi There,
One of those "I can't believe I just did that moments ...."
I was fitting a kitchen cupboard yesterday, and my wiring detector said that there may or may not be something metal in the cavity where I needed to fix the cupboard bracket. I thought drilling was a bit risky, so I made the holes by hand through the plasterboard, and then pushed my small screwdriver through to see if it was brickwork, piping or something else behind the plasterboard .....
Turns out it was some cabling, because as I was pushing the screwdriver in, all of the electrics in the house tripped out (good old RCD). I was pushing pretty hard - I was convinced it was a wooden baton...
I now know that it was the cable which feeds a double socket, and three fused single sockets (for washer, fridge and central heating).
I turned the electrics back on at the fuse box, and everything is OK now.
My question is whether I can just go on as normal now, or whether there is a fire risk in having some cable that I pushed a screwdriver through, and I need to get an electrician in to check. I'm only hesitating because it will mean having to cut a bit of plasterboard out to make an inspection hole at exactly the point where I need to fix my cupboard to the wall....
With all of the downstairs electrics being on an RCD circuit, do I need to worry - wouldn't it just trip out if there was a problem, rather than melt the insulation on the cable and pose a fire risk ?
What do you guys think ?
One of those "I can't believe I just did that moments ...."
I was fitting a kitchen cupboard yesterday, and my wiring detector said that there may or may not be something metal in the cavity where I needed to fix the cupboard bracket. I thought drilling was a bit risky, so I made the holes by hand through the plasterboard, and then pushed my small screwdriver through to see if it was brickwork, piping or something else behind the plasterboard .....
Turns out it was some cabling, because as I was pushing the screwdriver in, all of the electrics in the house tripped out (good old RCD). I was pushing pretty hard - I was convinced it was a wooden baton...
I now know that it was the cable which feeds a double socket, and three fused single sockets (for washer, fridge and central heating).
I turned the electrics back on at the fuse box, and everything is OK now.
My question is whether I can just go on as normal now, or whether there is a fire risk in having some cable that I pushed a screwdriver through, and I need to get an electrician in to check. I'm only hesitating because it will mean having to cut a bit of plasterboard out to make an inspection hole at exactly the point where I need to fix my cupboard to the wall....
With all of the downstairs electrics being on an RCD circuit, do I need to worry - wouldn't it just trip out if there was a problem, rather than melt the insulation on the cable and pose a fire risk ?
What do you guys think ?