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Drilled through a cable - add me to the list!
- Thread starter stevenaive
- Start date
Do you mean there might be enough slack in the cable to pull it down to the switch? That would solve all my problems. I'll turn off the trip switch and see what's what...
Well there wasn’t enough slack so I turned everything back on. 5 mins later there was a loud bang and a faint smell of burning. Kapow! The switch tripped again.
I’ll be calling an electrician.
I’ll be calling an electrician.
I am not an electrician...
I recently worked in a property where someone had drilled through a cable (ring) when putting up a picture. There was a socket directly below, so the guy is partially to blame. It tripped the RCD and not the MCB. Roll forward a few months. The same customer purchased a BO Concept unit, they assembled it but refused to hang it on the wall. I drilled the first 2 wall mounts without issue. The third one, I too hit a cable. Again the RCD tripped and not the MCB.
In my defence, the cable was running diagonally through the solid plastered wall.
She pretty much blamed me for being at fault for drilling through the cable. She asked why I didn't use a wall cable detector. I told her that the ones I had previously used gave too many false positives and that I no choice with regards to the third mounting pate given that she specified the exact position of the unit.
I told her that I would get my mate, an electrician to check the integrity of the ring.
He phoned me and asked who would be paying. I told him that I didn't consider that I should pay for the first leg of the ring that was hit. He backed away from the job. By this stage after weeks of working for the customer, I was regretting having taken on her work (I was getting the blame for work done by other tradesmen that she had employed directly).
I turned up with a Martindale socket tester. I removed one leg from the 2 gang socket just before the cable that I hit. The socket test showed three green lights. I then reconnected that leg and removed the other leg. Again three green lights. I made her watch and confirm that the tester was passing the socket as "safe".
Yeah, I would rather that a proper electrician with a Megler had tested the (relatively) new ring, but I was not willing to pay for it given that I only charged 1 hour labour to hang the 1.8m wall unit and had nothing to do with the first cable that was hit.
I recently worked in a property where someone had drilled through a cable (ring) when putting up a picture. There was a socket directly below, so the guy is partially to blame. It tripped the RCD and not the MCB. Roll forward a few months. The same customer purchased a BO Concept unit, they assembled it but refused to hang it on the wall. I drilled the first 2 wall mounts without issue. The third one, I too hit a cable. Again the RCD tripped and not the MCB.
In my defence, the cable was running diagonally through the solid plastered wall.
She pretty much blamed me for being at fault for drilling through the cable. She asked why I didn't use a wall cable detector. I told her that the ones I had previously used gave too many false positives and that I no choice with regards to the third mounting pate given that she specified the exact position of the unit.
I told her that I would get my mate, an electrician to check the integrity of the ring.
He phoned me and asked who would be paying. I told him that I didn't consider that I should pay for the first leg of the ring that was hit. He backed away from the job. By this stage after weeks of working for the customer, I was regretting having taken on her work (I was getting the blame for work done by other tradesmen that she had employed directly).
I turned up with a Martindale socket tester. I removed one leg from the 2 gang socket just before the cable that I hit. The socket test showed three green lights. I then reconnected that leg and removed the other leg. Again three green lights. I made her watch and confirm that the tester was passing the socket as "safe".
Yeah, I would rather that a proper electrician with a Megler had tested the (relatively) new ring, but I was not willing to pay for it given that I only charged 1 hour labour to hang the 1.8m wall unit and had nothing to do with the first cable that was hit.
Electrician coming out Tuesday, says he’ll be removing floorboards and replacing the cabling, which sounds reassuring. Cost me but I’ve only myself to blame!
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the help.
Solid core conductors should not be crimped with the rubbish squash-flat crimpers people usually have.
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Mounting a water receptacle above an electrical accessory? Perhaps a different location on the wall would be more suitable..
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No comments about OP's username?
Steve Naive
Or was it low hanging fruit?
Steve Naive
Or was it low hanging fruit?
Now why would you drill directly above a light switch!?, in it's vertical safe zone.
I once had to move a light switch 3cm to the right. I loosened the face plate, saw the cable running upwards and proceed to hack away the plaster and concrete. Bang. The cable ran up through the back box... and then down the side of it.
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I dare say that electrical safe zone rules aren't actually common knowledge
That is a good point. The average diyer is probably unaware of them.
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