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Hi,

I went to quote for a potential rewire this morning, either that or new fuse box with remedial work etc..

anyway, the kids were all watching TV and in the middle if a film or something, oh it's a rewireable fuse box.

anyway, I thought I'd just loosen and pull a faceplate forward to just look at the cable, just to get a quick idea of the situation.

Boom, lots of smoke, customer having a flap too.

customer sitting on floor next to me.

Ok call me an idiot for not turning the power off first but is only half undone the faceplate screw to peek.

I then just poke it with the screwdriver and boom again.

The terminals in the back had over an inch if copper showing and it touched the faceplate screw (class 1) plates .

Didnt blow low the fuse obviously.

switched it all off and then remade the outlet and both sodding screw holes on the back box were knacketed and would it tighten, would it hell.

after an hour of buggering around and making a male shift screw hole out of other bits of faceplates, finally got it on and tight.

definately got a board change out of it, possible rewire too if needed.

moral of the storey, don't remove a faceplate with it switched on, I did ask for that!
 
So complacency allowed for the first one when it went bang but in what world is your head in not to turn the power off straight away before even trying again is the first bang not screaming things are a little bit wrong behind here! ..9 out of 10 times or maybe even 99 out of 100 you can drop forward a faceplate no issue but its that 1 occasion that can tar your reputation especially with a customer sat next to you, your lucky their were no molten metal fragments blown into anyones eyes.

Your a professional and you should know safety comes ahead of disturbing the kiddies film... BTW what film was it Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ? if you timed it right the kids may never have known ;)
 
I feel a bit of an idiot, oh I totally agree that I should have turned it off straight away.

i poked the faceplate to see if I could see, stupid I know . I won't remove another without switching off first.

it was old 1970 multiple stranded rubbish, three conductors into a hole because there was a spur coming off it.

ill slap my self
 
Should of wound the front off something you could of isolated first mate if you didn't want to disturb the kids, people do all sorts of daft **** with the electrics in houses in this country and never rely on a 3036 to blow who knows what's jammed into the carrier
 
I think it's fair to say that complacency has bitten all of us on the arse at some point or another.

Except me of course :rolleyes:
 
This has never happened to me.
For instance I have never pulled forward a live socket front only to have the baked and brittle plastic assembly fall apart and cause an almighty bang in my hands. That would have given me a jump if that had happened.
And had such a thing happened it would probably have made me resolve never to be so lazy second time round.
 
Once again,an honest admission is the starters pistol for fruit pelting...fair play for admitting,but,it could have been a LOT worse. At least you now have an honest story for another customer who seems hesitant to get their children involved in asset improvement.:bow:
 
cut the live cable twice, once on a 6a mcb, it left bit of charring on the cutters, circuit with 6a fuse wire (cut into landlords supply for smokes in the loft) blow a hole in the snips.
 
This reminds me if the time I created a big black streak up some very expensive wallpaper!

I carefully removed a switch, one of those really old Wandsworth jobbies with terminal screws that stick out past the plastic moulding on the back of it, and had a look inside. There was a 2.5 in there connected as l and sw/l, no worries just got to put it back on now. So I put the screws in, got both started and was screwing it back when the exposed terminal screw found the earthed metal back box, bang! Big black streak up the wallpaper we were not to damage under pain of death!

Well that was a little bit of whoops! But at least we found out which mcb it was on (30A old square D if you wanted to know)

Did I learn? Did I heck as like! I still do take switches off while they are live whilst telling an apprentice that if I ever see them doing this I'll slap 'em silly.
 
Did the same as Davesparks but on a 4 gang grid switch fault finding.

"We cant turn all of the light off, we are still trading". So carefully removed the face plate and made the slightest contact to the earthed switch holder. Light out and bye bye new CK terminal lol. Never done it since. Screwdrivers are not cheap you know!
 
it was old 1970 multiple stranded rubbish

That multi stranded 1970's cable is far superior to the solid core cables of today, and you can take that to the Bank!!

Most of the cables we using on this project are in fact multi stranded metric (some 3, but mostly 7 strands as we have minimum conductor sizing for general lighting and power circuits). It's a pity they don't sell the equivalent cables as standard in the UK and Europe, instead of that solid core stuff. Now that ''IS'' rubbish!!
 
Should of wound the front off something you could of isolated first mate if you didn't want to disturb the kids, people do all sorts of daft **** with the electrics in houses in this country and never rely on a 3036 to blow who knows what's jammed into the carrier

Just had a board with re-wirable BS 3036 fuses, 4 out of the 6 carriers were fused with plenty of copper wire! The carriers were well protected, the installation was not. Everything was a horror, the best bit was a run of speaker cable used on a lighting circuit under the floor (CPC what CPC).
 
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That multi stranded 1970's cable is far superior to the solid core cables of today, and you can take that to the Bank!!

Most of the cables we using on this project are in fact multi stranded metric (some 3, but mostly 7 strands as we have minimum conductor sizing for general lighting and power circuits). It's a pity they don't sell the equivalent cables as standard in the UK and Europe, instead of that solid core stuff. Now that ''IS'' rubbish!!
what is the difference between 6491b and the old stranded?
 
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Well for a start, cira 1970 cable will be imperial rather than metric. Other than that my memory doesn't run that far back as regards to details!! lol!!
 
6491b is LSF singles and I think E54 is talking about insulated and sheathed cables, althpugh I may be wrong. Though imperial singles do seem to have more strands than their metric equivalents so making them more flexible.
 
6491b is LSF singles and I think E54 is talking about insulated and sheathed cables, althpugh I may be wrong. Though imperial singles do seem to have more strands than their metric equivalents so making them more flexible.

I was talking about any building wire really, be they single conductors or T&E etc. As far as i'm aware the stranded metric cables have the same amount of strands as imperial eg 3, 7, 19 etc etc...

Again my memory of that era isn't all that, but i don't think there was a ''general'' LSF cable available at that time??
 

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