I got a call, my lights have gone out is it safe to replace

[martinxxxxxx]

Me: Hi
Caller: Hi my lights have gone out ind we have an old fusebox with pull out fuses is it safe to take them out..
Me: Has the fusebaox got a name on it?
Caller: Yes wylex.
Me: What colour are the fuses
Caller: two are red and two are white.
Me: Can you wait till the morning I will pop in and have a look.
Caller: OK I will wait for you to come
Me: OK see you in the morning, don't touch anything till I come and have a look. Bye




And it is a good job I did say this and not start telling him how to change a wylex board fuse..PHew




















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[ricicle]

Ferkin' ell.

 

[jamesmcbride]

That's why is says switch off supply before removing fuses!

 

[HDRW]

Stone me!

I wonder if the moron who did that could be charged with attempted murder?

 

[Lectrician]

I wonder fit they did look at it and wonder themself?

 

[Risteard]

Not to belittle how incredibly dangerous that is, but certainly no-one should be advising the removal or insertion of fuses without isolating at the main switch first. Certainly they should never be removed or inserted on load.

Incidentally, are those 5A fuses BS 1362s?

 

[martinxxxxxx]

As you can see from my transcript, I tend not to give instructions out over the phone anyway, as without being there (and as the really does prove) you don't know what is at the other end.
If the person needs to call someone for advice then in my opinion, they are not competent and my job is not to tell them how to fix thier problem - it is to go there and fix the problem for them.
To the untrained person even going near this board to switch the mainswitch off is extremely hazardous - my post was intended to alert others to the dangers of giving out step by step advice whist not having sight of an installation. It is very tempting to just try and help someone - but as my photo proves that could have dire consequences for the adviser and and the advisee