Discuss Strange bang? Should I be worried? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

B

BlueToBits

Hi.
Whilst working in my own garage I was drilling a hole in the exposed brick wall joint. Solid construction bare brick, 1920s, no plaster.
About 50mm into the brick joint there is a fairly loud bang and a flash which I think came from the bit end - which is now bright gold colour, but not burned or with missing chunks. The drill is a 6yr old infrequently used Bosch SDS and a rusty long (700mm) 10mm drill. It took out the 20A circuit breaker but not the RCD or the 10A plug fuse. I know there are no cables or metalwork in the wall, but the wall is damp as the drill 'dust' was gooey and steaming and the drill was finding it heavy going. I reset the MCB and was unable to see anything remotely significant so I continued drilling with no further incident.
Should I be worried? What could have caused this?
Thanks.
 
This is a wind up right? :) Big bang, MCB tripped - I personally would have a look into this but maybe it's just me. Daz
 
I have had drills stick in wet brick and sometimes theres a little pop and dust/goo blows out.(if you dont pull out the drill bit to release the dust/goo you mention) but never had a flash.
What is "it took out the circuit breaker" The drill or the hole? would I be worried well I would investigate further to ensure there are no services there. if there is not then something weird has just happened.
 
"I know there are no cables or metalwork in the wall".

You know this through having had the wall X-rayed?
 
You saw a flash bang and it took out a breaker - What did your test results on the circuit that tripped show before you reset it?
You say there are no wires in the wall where you were drilling, this is just an educated guess here but I suspect you are mistaken - you probably caught the edge of the cable with the L core been nicked by the drill and using the earth return of the drill - this would explain why it reset but crucially you now have a damaged cable that may not show on any tests but in a damp wall could be a future issue and shock hazard.
 
If no cable in wall, suggest breakdown of the drill windings coupled with a heavy bit of drilling or possibility of a damaged drill power cord, corded SDS drills are the prone to damaged lead cables.
 
In that age of property,it was common enough practice,to run small lead sheathed cables,in mortar joints. Seen loads on demolition jobs,and pulled out one from a property of my own,circa 1937 :pirate:
 
In that age of property,it was common enough practice,to run small lead sheathed cables,in mortar joints. Seen loads on demolition jobs,and pulled out one from a property of my own,circa 1937 :pirate:

Weren't you a bit young to be mucking about with lead cables in 1937 ? :laugh3:
 
I thought he would have come back to us by now to see what answer was given to his question. Daz
 

Reply to Strange bang? Should I be worried? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock