Shocking

[kinhell]

Tell us about your shock experiences.
I once tried to connect a wire in a junction box in a garage and had switched the power off. Well thats what I thought. Didn't realise that they'd nicked the power off a neighbour. Took a big chunk out of my screwdriver and threw me across the garage floor in to a bowl of engine oil. Greasy ass or what ! Try getting that out your overalls !

 

[Softus]

Drilled through a ring final today. Nice big flash; tripped RCD on CU plus MCB.

I wasn't shocked - I wasn't even surprised, this being a Bovis Homes house where seemingly no cable ran either vertically or horizontally behind the plasterboard, nor was it capped even though it lay at less than 50mm depth.

 

[plugwash]

Yeah i've had a few mostly when I was much younger

rubbing the end of an extention lead with a rather wet cloth to try and clean it without checking the other end was unplugged first.

absent mindedly sticking a figure 8 mains lead in my mouth.

working inside an amplifier that was only turned off at it's own switch leaving live terminals inside and bushing my hand past said live

playing with driving small flourescent tubes off a low voltage supply using a mains transformer running in reverse and accidently touching one of the leads from the transformer and the end of the tube I was trying to connect it to at the same time.

and those are just the biggies.

 

[danlightbulb]

When I first moved in to my first house I had a few spurious electrical problems.

Anyway I bought a multimeter and a electric test screwdriver and proceeded to test the voltage at a plug socket.

The plug socket was not to modern standards and the screwdriver managed to touch between live and earth as the terminals were not protected from each other at all.

Needless to say a big flash, bang, RCD and MCB tripped, lights went out, the end of my electric screwdriver melted and burned. Didn't get a shock though.

Now I always test any circuit with my multimeter before working on it even if I know its been isolated. Just to be sure.

 

[JohnD]

absent mindedly sticking a figure 8 mains lead in my mouth.

 

[jwilliams]

When much younger:
- wondering whether the contacts at the bottom of a bayonet lamp fitting were spring loaded, I poked my finger in to find out.
- attempting to resolder a set of 240v christmas lights while they were live.


A mate was changing a light switch, and had somehow followed a logical though process and come to the conclusion that, as long as the switch was off, there was no need to isolate the circuit.

 

[bernardgreen]

Dropping a pair of pliers onto 3 phase bus bars fused at 200 amps in the power control cabinet of a ship in harbour. They were between me and the front panel meter that Ihad to change.

They couldn't be isolated as they were the main supply to the ship from the shore and lights were needed for workers in the engine room.

I was not popular. Especially among those below decks who didn't have torches

And it ruined the pliers,

 

[plugwash]

don't ships have emergency lighting?!

 

[aptsys]

I was sinking a pattress for an aerial socket a few years back. I'd gone for a nice tight fit so that the plaster around it didn't need touching up afterwards, so the metal pattress needed a bit of force to get it in all the way. After pushing with all my might with both (sweaty) hands on this hot summer day it finally reached the back and at the same time giving me a shock. The moron who wired the house when it was built had decided to run the upstairs lighting cable in the middle of a bedroom wall outside any safe zones and one of the edges of the pattress had scuffed the side of the cable.

Unfortunately my plan to avoid any plaster mixing up and painting doing didn't work.

 

[bernardgreen]

don't ships have emergency lighting?!

Yes..... but not in all the compartments.

 

[djheath]

Being asked to change a fridge lightbulb by my dad. Opened the door stuck my hand in and couldn't feel the bulb so stuck my fingers in further. OUCH!

Dad negleted to tell me he had removed the old bulb already.

I hate being shocked! Feels like thousands of tiny teeth nibbling at you very hard!

 

[tim west]

Moral: Never assume a circuit is dead, always check with a voltmeter thats been checked itself on a known live circuit.

 

[timtheenchanter]

cut into a cable ASSUMING Id isolated the correct one.

Big bang, bye bye wire cutters, lots of swearing!

needless to say I now double check a wire before cutting/removing it!!

 

[plugwash]

thing is if you can't see the ends then without cutting in to a cable you can't be sure it is the cable you think it is.

 

[Lectrician]

My worst one ever - and I still blame my boss....

Just started my apprenticship....young, nieve, never been in the lecky world before.....

Sent into a loft to connect a lighting T+E into a JB. The cable I was connecting had been re-routed, and was old.

The cover was off the JB, my boss said it was dead.

I tried to strip the new 'old' cable, and it was really hard. Doing it the 'prof' way, pulling the CPC with my sides. Had to resort to using my hand.......wrapped the CPC around my hand, gritted my teeth and pulled. The sheath started to split, and then the CPC hit the live terminal of the 'dead' JB.

I started screaming and pulsating, had a fireworks display in front of my face.

Seemed to go on for ages. 3036 fuses take a time to blow!

I will never forget this, and I have never trusted my boss since.....good job he is only an office bod now.







I also had a funny one with a coach lamp.

Lamp flickering, so took cover off. Lamp contacts runsty. Got WD40 and sprayed some in, and used a screwdriver with a cloth on the end to clean the contacts.....again, very young.

MY day comes out, and starts "WOW WOW WOW....turn it off".......I HAD! He promptly turned it back on! Youch!