Been visiting my parents for a week, as usual did a few jobs around the
place for them.

One was to fit an old kitchen cupboard on the wall in the new utility
room.

Hold cupboard up on the wall deciding where they want it, I comment it
needs to be high enough to give access to the sockets and FCU's below.

Decide on placing, mark out and drill the first hole for the fixing
screws, drill goes off line a bit.. Peer into hole, notice something
shiny - realise it's the exposed live conductor of the ring main feeding
the above mentioned sockets etc.........

The question is - where was my brain at the time? It's not like I'm new
to this game, or that I didn't know they were there, or do not know to
check that sort of thing.............
--
Chris French, Leeds

The question is - where was my brain at the time? It's not like I'm new
to this game, or that I didn't know they were there, or do not know to
check that sort of thing.............

So where was mine when I drilled into the wall just above a wall light
outlet to mount a fitting..... or the manufacturer who put the hole in the
fitting, it's as much excuse as I can find

mike r

"chris French" wrote in message
...
Been visiting my parents for a week, as usual did a few jobs around the
place for them.

One was to fit an old kitchen cupboard on the wall in the new utility
room.

Hold cupboard up on the wall deciding where they want it, I comment it
needs to be high enough to give access to the sockets and FCU's below.

Decide on placing, mark out and drill the first hole for the fixing
screws, drill goes off line a bit.. Peer into hole, notice something
shiny - realise it's the exposed live conductor of the ring main feeding
the above mentioned sockets etc.........

The question is - where was my brain at the time? It's not like I'm new
to this game, or that I didn't know they were there, or do not know to
check that sort of thing.............
--
Chris French, Leeds



"Complacency" I think it's called and it can creep in when least expected.
Very common complaint in the DIY trade. The only remedy seems to be
learning from it and not doing it again. Although this can be easier said
than done. :-))

My Dad and I were drilling the holes to fix a sink
pedestal to the floor. Having completed the first
hole, it occured to us that we had no idea which
way the copper pipes travelled under the floor.

Could have been messy!

Al

On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 22:48:46 +0000, chris French
wrote:

Decide on placing, mark out and drill the first hole for the fixing
screws, drill goes off line a bit.. Peer into hole, notice something
shiny - realise it's the exposed live conductor of the ring main feeding
the above mentioned sockets etc.........

I'm sure we've all done a similar thing. I did that over 20 years ago.
First I knew about it was when the drill bit sparked on the live
cable.

It taught me good, better than any teacher could have done. And to
this day I immediately look for cable runs before getting the drill
out. Heck, I even go to the trouble of using a cable detector

PoP

"PoP" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 22:48:46 +0000, chris French
wrote:

Decide on placing, mark out and drill the first hole for the fixing
screws, drill goes off line a bit.. Peer into hole, notice something
shiny - realise it's the exposed live conductor of the ring main feeding
the above mentioned sockets etc.........

I'm sure we've all done a similar thing. I did that over 20 years ago.
First I knew about it was when the drill bit sparked on the live
cable.

It taught me good, better than any teacher could have done. And to
this day I immediately look for cable runs before getting the drill
out. Heck, I even go to the trouble of using a cable detector

PoP

I did it once as well, funnily enough it was I who ran the very same cable
that I drilled through, so I knew very well it was there.
ooooooooooopppppppppppppssssssssss.

On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 08:55:09 +0000, PoP
wrote:

On Tue, 4 Nov 2003 22:48:46 +0000, chris French
wrote:

Decide on placing, mark out and drill the first hole for the fixing
screws, drill goes off line a bit.. Peer into hole, notice something
shiny - realise it's the exposed live conductor of the ring main feeding
the above mentioned sockets etc.........

I'm sure we've all done a similar thing. I did that over 20 years ago.
First I knew about it was when the drill bit sparked on the live
cable.

It taught me good, better than any teacher could have done. And to
this day I immediately look for cable runs before getting the drill
out. Heck, I even go to the trouble of using a cable detector

When preparing to repair the knackered floorboards in the bathroom the
other week so we^W I could sand it (meh) I took up the board I'd
screwed back down after running new plumbing pipes a few years ago.

Remove one screw and as if by magic a water feature appeared at mains
pressure - I'd *just* managed to get the sharp pointy tip of the screw
to penetrate the plastic piping......why did I put the screw there in
the first place? %deity% knows......

Obviously the same set of circumstances that's seen me put a nail and
a screw through various parts of the phone cabling in this place
--
cheers,

witchy/binarydinosaurs

chris French wrote in message ...
Been visiting my parents for a week, as usual did a few jobs around the
place for them.

One was to fit an old kitchen cupboard on the wall in the new utility
room.

Hold cupboard up on the wall deciding where they want it, I comment it
needs to be high enough to give access to the sockets and FCU's below.

Decide on placing, mark out and drill the first hole for the fixing
screws, drill goes off line a bit.. Peer into hole, notice something
shiny - realise it's the exposed live conductor of the ring main feeding
the above mentioned sockets etc.........

God - I did exactly the same a few years back. Except with me, it
happened on a bank holiday Monday, just before I was set to leave my
parents place and embark on a 200-mile car journey home with all the
family (hence I was probably rushing the job, ha ha). Never done it
before or since. Beam me up, Scotty...

so it was you then........

or someone having brain problems.

I was rewiring our bungalow and had removed all the switches and began
pulling through the new cable into the loft.

pulled and pulled at the old kitchen light cable but it wouldn't budge,
went back down to kitchen only to find that about 6 inches above the
switch was a little hole - peered into the hole to find a wall plug
hmmmmm i thought its that Chris again :-))

this one had me cursing for a few mins pulling like mad at the cable in the
loft,
trying not to slip and put my foot through the ceiling.



"chris French" wrote in message
...
Been visiting my parents for a week, as usual did a few jobs around the
place for them.

One was to fit an old kitchen cupboard on the wall in the new utility
room.

Hold cupboard up on the wall deciding where they want it, I comment it
needs to be high enough to give access to the sockets and FCU's below.

Decide on placing, mark out and drill the first hole for the fixing
screws, drill goes off line a bit.. Peer into hole, notice something
shiny - realise it's the exposed live conductor of the ring main feeding
the above mentioned sockets etc.........

The question is - where was my brain at the time? It's not like I'm new
to this game, or that I didn't know they were there, or do not know to
check that sort of thing.............
--
Chris French, Leeds

"chris French" wrote in message
...
Been visiting my parents for a week, as usual did a few jobs around the
place for them.

One was to fit an old kitchen cupboard on the wall in the new utility
room.

Hold cupboard up on the wall deciding where they want it, I comment it
needs to be high enough to give access to the sockets and FCU's below.

Decide on placing, mark out and drill the first hole for the fixing
screws, drill goes off line a bit.. Peer into hole, notice something
shiny - realise it's the exposed live conductor of the ring main feeding
the above mentioned sockets etc.........

The question is - where was my brain at the time? It's not like I'm new
to this game, or that I didn't know they were there, or do not know to
check that sort of thing.............
--
Chris French, Leeds

The first time I done that was through a 6mm csa, cable feeding a cooker
unit. I drilled through a door standard with 16mm spade bit and not
realising there was cable behind it, BANG !!! FLASH !!!! WALLOP !!! Me
frightened out of my wits and the cooker out of commission until we removed
the facings and finding out if it was possible to run another cable without
ruining the rest of the house. Ahhh (sigh) those were the days. :-))

On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 19:59:39 GMT, "BigWallop"
wrote:

The first time I done that was through a 6mm csa, cable feeding a cooker
unit. I drilled through a door standard with 16mm spade bit and not
realising there was cable behind it, BANG !!! FLASH !!!! WALLOP !!! Me
frightened out of my wits and the cooker out of commission until we removed
the facings and finding out if it was possible to run another cable without
ruining the rest of the house. Ahhh (sigh) those were the days. :-))

Using a spade bit to chop thru a cable, now that's gotta be class!

Could I enquire what shape the spade bit was in by the time you
finished with it?

PoP

"PoP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 19:59:39 GMT, "BigWallop"
wrote:

The first time I done that was through a 6mm csa, cable feeding a cooker
unit. I drilled through a door standard with 16mm spade bit and not
realising there was cable behind it, BANG !!! FLASH !!!! WALLOP !!! Me
frightened out of my wits and the cooker out of commission until we
removed
the facings and finding out if it was possible to run another cable
without
ruining the rest of the house. Ahhh (sigh) those were the days. :-))

Using a spade bit to chop thru a cable, now that's gotta be class!

Could I enquire what shape the spade bit was in by the time you
finished with it?

PoP


LOL

It never drilled anymore holes and was retired to the big spade bit store in
the sky.

"BigWallop" wrote in message
...

"PoP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 19:59:39 GMT, "BigWallop"
wrote:

The first time I done that was through a 6mm csa, cable feeding a
cooker
unit. I drilled through a door standard with 16mm spade bit and not
realising there was cable behind it, BANG !!! FLASH !!!! WALLOP !!! Me
frightened out of my wits and the cooker out of commission until we
removed
the facings and finding out if it was possible to run another cable
without
ruining the rest of the house. Ahhh (sigh) those were the days. :-))

Using a spade bit to chop thru a cable, now that's gotta be class!

Could I enquire what shape the spade bit was in by the time you
finished with it?

PoP


LOL

It never drilled anymore holes and was retired to the big spade bit store
in
the sky.


Mate of mine actually drilled through the leccy co`s main incoming cable
which was buried in the wall, a bright flash and big bang ensued. LOL :-)

"John Woodhall" wrote in message
news

"BigWallop" wrote in message
...

"PoP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 19:59:39 GMT, "BigWallop"
wrote:

The first time I done that was through a 6mm csa, cable feeding a
cooker
unit. I drilled through a door standard with 16mm spade bit and not
realising there was cable behind it, BANG !!! FLASH !!!! WALLOP !!!
Me
frightened out of my wits and the cooker out of commission until we
removed
the facings and finding out if it was possible to run another cable
without
ruining the rest of the house. Ahhh (sigh) those were the days.
:-))

Using a spade bit to chop thru a cable, now that's gotta be class!

Could I enquire what shape the spade bit was in by the time you
finished with it?

PoP


LOL

It never drilled anymore holes and was retired to the big spade bit
store
in
the sky.


Mate of mine actually drilled through the leccy co`s main incoming cable
which was buried in the wall, a bright flash and big bang ensued. LOL :-)



Ouch !!!! Now that's gotta' hurt. :-))

That's where plastic casings on the tools really comes in handy, eh ?

"BigWallop" wrote
| The first time I done that was through a 6mm csa, cable feeding
| a cooker unit. I drilled through a door standard with 16mm
| spade bit and not realising there was cable behind it, BANG
| !!! FLASH !!!! WALLOP !!!

Big wallop?

| Me frightened out of my wits and the cooker out of commission
| until we removed the facings and finding out if it was possible
| to run another cable without ruining the rest of the house.
| Ahhh (sigh) those were the days. :-))

I was listening to some music whilst replacing the condensers in an old
AC/DC valve radio (dropper resistor, no transformer) and wondered why the
music crackled every time I soldered something.

Then I realised that the music to which I was listening wasn't from the
hi-fi but the mains-powered radio on which I was currently working.

I don't think I'll ever try television repair.

Owain

"Owain" wrote in message
...
"BigWallop" wrote
| The first time I done that was through a 6mm csa, cable feeding
| a cooker unit. I drilled through a door standard with 16mm
| spade bit and not realising there was cable behind it, BANG
| !!! FLASH !!!! WALLOP !!!

Big wallop?

| Me frightened out of my wits and the cooker out of commission
| until we removed the facings and finding out if it was possible
| to run another cable without ruining the rest of the house.
| Ahhh (sigh) those were the days. :-))

I was listening to some music whilst replacing the condensers in an old
AC/DC valve radio (dropper resistor, no transformer) and wondered why the
music crackled every time I soldered something.

Then I realised that the music to which I was listening wasn't from the
hi-fi but the mains-powered radio on which I was currently working.

I don't think I'll ever try television repair.

Owain



Nasty !!! :-)) But very easily done.

Moved into new house in Holland, trying to find out which fuse
controlled a particular lighting point (no fittings supplied), so put
neon screwdriver on bare wire. Only discovered when I managed to get the
feeling back in my arm that I'd used the 24V car tester instead of the
mains type.

A Belgian colleague put his multimeter across 2 phases of the computer
room supply to measure the voltage, but left it on the mA setting. It
took him a couple of hours to stop shaking. I don't think the meter was
much use afterwards!
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

"Peter Twydell" wrote in message
...
Moved into new house in Holland, trying to find out which fuse
controlled a particular lighting point (no fittings supplied), so put
neon screwdriver on bare wire. Only discovered when I managed to get the
feeling back in my arm that I'd used the 24V car tester instead of the
mains type.

A Belgian colleague put his multimeter across 2 phases of the computer
room supply to measure the voltage, but left it on the mA setting. It
took him a couple of hours to stop shaking. I don't think the meter was
much use afterwards!
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

Owwwwyyyaaa !!!


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On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 00:29:30 -0000, "Owain"
wrote:

Then I realised that the music to which I was listening wasn't from the
hi-fi but the mains-powered radio on which I was currently working.

When I was a teenager I bought things from jumble sales and then
proceeded to repair them. Had no queasy thoughts about working with
live mains, hell that was for wimps.

I still have memories of working on a record player, and falling
asleep during the repair. When I woke up I remembered I was going to
chop through the mains cable, so did so.

Remember the days with round pin sockets protected by 30A fuse wire in
the fuse box? Tested it out that day. Big spark as the sidecutters
chomped into the wire - and a nifty hole with melted edges where the
jaws of the sidecutters used to be.

Never did that again. Though I did manage to put a stanley knife
through a live cable a few weeks ago (fortunately the stanley knife
was a plastic cased affair).

PoP

PoP wrote
chris French wrote:

I'm sure we've all done a similar thing. I did that over 20 years ago.
First I knew about it was when the drill bit sparked on the live
cable.

It taught me good, better than any teacher could have done. And to
this day I immediately look for cable runs before getting the drill
out. Heck, I even go to the trouble of using a cable detector

Hmm, I might invest in one of these, but i've heard variable reports
on their usefulness/effectiveness.

I was notching the wall in the kitchen with my trusty angle grinder
and discovered a wire running *diagonally* on the wall left by a
previous bodger.

Luckily I peered into the slot and saw grey insulation, rather than
red/black/copper ;-)

Cheers,

Paul.

"BigWallop" wrote
| I was listening to some music whilst replacing the condensers in
| an old AC/DC valve radio (dropper resistor, no transformer) and
| wondered why the music crackled every time I soldered something.
| Then I realised that the music to which I was listening wasn't
| from the hi-fi but the mains-powered radio on which I was currently
| working.
| Nasty !!! :-)) But very easily done.

I didn't feel anything and the radio was unharmed too. They don't make them
like they used to.

Owain

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 10:31:46 UTC, PoP
wrote:

Remember the days with round pin sockets protected by 30A fuse wire in
the fuse box? Tested it out that day. Big spark as the sidecutters
chomped into the wire - and a nifty hole with melted edges where the
jaws of the sidecutters used to be.

I still have a pair of sidecutters like that...happened about 35 years
ago, at school. Was working on stage lighting, and building a circuit up
on the gantry. Climbed gantry, chopped wire at right length, and found
some idiiot had (a) thrown the main breaker (back on), plugged in the
circuit, replaced the fuse, and turned it on. He said he didn't
realise...I nearly fell off, handing onto an earthed gantry....!

Talking of round pin plugs, I pulled one of those out of asocket when I
was about seven..fascinated with electricity. DC mains...big
arc...armchair on fire from ignited newspapers near socket. All I
remember is sitting on my gran's lap, getting excited about seeing a
fire engine close up....

--
Bob Eager
rde at tavi.co.uk
PC Server 325*4; PS/2s 9585, 8595, 9595*2, 8580*3,
P70...

In message , BigWallop
writes

"chris French" wrote in message
...
Decide on placing, mark out and drill the first hole for the fixing
screws, drill goes off line a bit.. Peer into hole, notice something
shiny - realise it's the exposed live conductor of the ring main feeding
the above mentioned sockets etc.........

The question is - where was my brain at the time?


The first time I done that was through a 6mm csa, cable feeding a cooker
unit. I drilled through a door standard with 16mm spade bit and not
realising there was cable behind it, BANG !!! FLASH !!!! WALLOP !!!

Luckily I only just caught one conductor, so no excitement - I would
imagine it would have still worked fine as long as you didn't stick you
finger in the hole.

I have drilled a cable before though buried deep in a wall, no evidence
that a cable should be ruining anyway near
it.

Biggest electrical fright I had was when I was about 15, I was helping
out at my cousins house they were doing up. There was a very old and
defunct fuse box to be removed. They said it was all disconnected, I
didn't check of course. I forget exactly what happened, but the mains
supply was obviously still live as at one point there was a great big
BANG, FLASH etc. and I fell off the step ladder.
--
Chris French, Leeds

There's even a word for doing this on a big scale in the
States. When a digger unearths and breaks a mains
or digital cable its called 'backhoe fade'. Backhoe is
a digger bucket. I've always liked that.



The question is - where was my brain at the time? It's not like I'm new
to this game, or that I didn't know they were there, or do not know to
check that sort of thing.............

"Peter Scott" wrote in news:0ICdnXpUgadi5jeiRVn-
:

There's even a word for doing this on a big scale in the
States. When a digger unearths and breaks a mains
or digital cable its called 'backhoe fade'. Backhoe is
a digger bucket. I've always liked that.


My mate Eric did that in the Beeb.

It was Bangor he blacked out; funny thing is he could never see the funny
side of it

mike r

PoP wrote in message . ..

I still have memories of working on a record player, and falling
asleep during the repair. When I woke up I remembered I was going to
chop through the mains cable, so did so.

I got two old reel-to-reel tape recorders, to make "one from two"...
They had three big 240V motors, one for each reel and one for the
capstan.

I took the motors out, wired up three pairs of wires to a 13A plug and
connected two of the motors... Nice! they worked a treat... Now to
find the wires to connect the third one...

Held one wire in my right hand, then found the other one with my
left... then found myself up in the air and down onto my bed.....
OUCH!!! (no RCD in those days, either)

Just to prove that my brain is still in the same condition as it was
then:
last spring, I put a 200 litre tank in our loft to guard against water
shortages, always wondered why it was empty so quickly when the mains
was off...

Just relised that I didn't put a check-valve on the incoming main!
Thats this week-ends work!

"Abdullah Eyles" wrote in message
om...
PoP wrote in message
. ..

I still have memories of working on a record player, and falling
asleep during the repair. When I woke up I remembered I was going to
chop through the mains cable, so did so.

I got two old reel-to-reel tape recorders, to make "one from two"...
They had three big 240V motors, one for each reel and one for the
capstan.

I took the motors out, wired up three pairs of wires to a 13A plug and
connected two of the motors... Nice! they worked a treat... Now to
find the wires to connect the third one...

Held one wire in my right hand, then found the other one with my
left... then found myself up in the air and down onto my bed.....
OUCH!!! (no RCD in those days, either)

Just to prove that my brain is still in the same condition as it was
then:
last spring, I put a 200 litre tank in our loft to guard against water
shortages, always wondered why it was empty so quickly when the mains
was off...

Just relised that I didn't put a check-valve on the incoming main!
Thats this week-ends work!

Just take the drop spout off the ball valve and stop it from syphoning back
out the tank. :-))


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"BigWallop" wrote in message ...

Just take the drop spout off the ball valve and stop it from syphoning back
out the tank. :-))


I didn't use a ball valve - electric solenoid valve from a washing
machine and water level sensor... When the mains pressure drops there
is a switch that prevents the valve from opening... Overkill but
enjoyable!

Because the house has only one circuit, the incoming main also feeds
the taps etc., hence the quick emptying...

I guess that the UK has regs to prevent this type of installation but
here... well, who knows...

"Abdullah Eyles" wrote in message
om...
"BigWallop" wrote in message
...

Just take the drop spout off the ball valve and stop it from syphoning
back
out the tank. :-))


I didn't use a ball valve - electric solenoid valve from a washing
machine and water level sensor... When the mains pressure drops there
is a switch that prevents the valve from opening... Overkill but
enjoyable!

Because the house has only one circuit, the incoming main also feeds
the taps etc., hence the quick emptying...

I guess that the UK has regs to prevent this type of installation but
here... well, who knows...

So if you have a power cut, how does the tank get filled up ? I also hope
you used a floating mercury contact as the water level sensor, because any
other type when faulty might not switch the valve off properly. The mercury
float has two pins inside a float ball that contains a small amount of
mercury metal and when the float is tilted up on an arm the mercury flows
against the pins and makes the circuit to switch things on. Very simple and
doesn't need any electronic circuitry to make it work, it only relies on the
electricity flowing through metal conductors.

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 00:29:30 -0000, "Owain"
wrote:

I was listening to some music whilst replacing the condensers in an old
AC/DC valve radio (dropper resistor, no transformer) and wondered why the
music crackled every time I soldered something.

Then I realised that the music to which I was listening wasn't from the
hi-fi but the mains-powered radio on which I was currently working.

I don't think I'll ever try television repair.

The value of isolated bench power supplies (in that I didn't have one)
was brought home to me when I moved a metal desk lamp too close to the
live chassis of the TV set I was repairing at the time.

Ouch.
--

Dave