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That's always worked for me. Mention smoke, and they're on site within the hour.
Only had to call out the DNO once when <whistles innocently> I managed to blow the main fuse. As there was no smoke, I was told "within 3 hours". But they refused to take my number - why would they, after all I'm on site; but they did insist on getting the householder's number (which they checked against their records) - so of course they contacted the householder who was at work.
DNO said "our engineer attended but there was nobody there" - we replied "oh no he didn't". They did manage to get him to go back, and then it was "he's standing outside the front door" - "oh no he isn't !"
Yup, he was at the wrong address. It's one of those places where the address can be confusing if you omit part of it - like "5 Greenfield, Whitegate, Anytown"; he was stood outside 5 Whitegate.
I have never had to play with an electric welder (other than a hour or two training as a student) so I would assume the high current secondary is not earthed to avoid a direct burn-out of the welder's earth. Or is it?

So was it two metal objects linked via conduit/CPC, and the welder's clamp was on one and the electrode arcing to the other?
There are a number of possibilities.
There's a brand of oil filled welders (Pickhill Bantam*) that I recall as being popular with farmers - I recall we had one at a farm I worked on as a lad, and a friend's farm has one - which have bare windings sat in a metal box full of oil. Apparently, if mishandled badly enough, the windings can distort and touch the case or each other. Thinking back, I can recall doing some welding and finding the gate I was working on had a bit of a tingle to it - at least we were wearing rubber wellies ! No RCDs back then.
Some might have the secondary connected to the supply earth as a safety feature if there isn't considered sufficient isolation. Then if someone decides that a big metal table should be earthed (either as a safety feature or just because it's bolted to some structural steelwork) then you've an alternative path separate to the welder earth.

* Dunno why it was called Bantam - it certainly wasn't Bantam in weight, they're 'kin heavy b'stards.
 
They were a bullet proof welder! I learned to run beads on one that my dad still has when I was about 9 years old (ahem 1987?)! Them and the old Oxford units, still plenty about in operation today testament to how good they were/are!
 
Hello, I wanna say that one of the biggest causes of frequent circuit breaker tripping is the overloading of power boards. Most homes and apartments, even newer ones, don’t have enough power points to cater to, for example, a complete home entertainment unit setup. If circuit breakers in your home are tripping frequently, it could be down to circuit overload.

It does make sense that over-current protective devices can be tripped by excess current draw I suppose.
 
But considering a typical setup is one or more ring finals, fed by a 32A MCB - so capable of a continuous (almost) 8kW. Even the most extravagant home entertainment system isn't going to get near 1kW.
I doubt that many homes suffer from frequent over-current trips.
 
I realise these pictures aren't as spectacular as the others but they do show how powerful 230V can be. Plus it's a very real outcome if safe isolation isn't adhered to.

If a L-N or L-E short at 230v can take even a little chunk out of steel alloy, hardened with vanadium, then I hate to think what it would do to a persons hand/arm holding a pair of non VDE pliers.

These are my (now spare) side cutters after I cut through a live cable some years ago (whilst my mind was busy elsewhere, thinking about a difficult relationship with a gorgeous yet crazy woman.). We must keep our minds on the job!

View attachment 84131 View attachment 84132
I have a pair of those wire strippers.

They started life as a £45 PAIR OF Klein side cutters and lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes.

I bought them off a trade counter while I was picking up a length of MT2 to stick an extra socket in an office.

The existing trunking ran just below the ceiling so it was an easy case of pulling a leg out of one socket, dropping it into the new and running a new leg back to the old socket.

What could possibly go wrong?

So pulled out my virgin side cutters out to cut out a notch for the new drop and.....bang.

Yep there was a 1.5 laying flat in the bottom of the trunking that I didn't see on account of not being attentive enough to get my lazy arse up and have a look.

In fairness to myself it was the flattest piece of cable I've ever seen, or not in this case, in trunking. It's like the spark ironed it.

Lessons were learnt and new procedures were put in place.
 
I realise these pictures aren't as spectacular as the others but they do show how powerful 230V can be. Plus it's a very real outcome if safe isolation isn't adhered to.

If a L-N or L-E short at 230v can take even a little chunk out of steel alloy, hardened with vanadium, then I hate to think what it would do to a persons hand/arm holding a pair of non VDE pliers.

These are my (now spare) side cutters after I cut through a live cable some years ago (whilst my mind was busy elsewhere, thinking about a difficult relationship with a gorgeous yet crazy woman.). We must keep our minds on the job!

View attachment 84131 View attachment 84132
Most sparks have or have had cutters to compare, I’d wager.
Regarding the short circuit cutting with uninsulated tools, it’s not the same short circuit current via your body (load). Nasty and dangerous, I know, but it’s not going to blow a hole in you. The arc from the metal tool is a real problem, also.
 
I realise these pictures aren't as spectacular as the others but they do show how powerful 230V can be. Plus it's a very real outcome if safe isolation isn't adhered to.

If a L-N or L-E short at 230v can take even a little chunk out of steel alloy, hardened with vanadium, then I hate to think what it would do to a persons hand/arm holding a pair of non VDE pliers.

These are my (now spare) side cutters after I cut through a live cable some years ago (whilst my mind was busy elsewhere, thinking about a difficult relationship with a gorgeous yet crazy woman.). We must keep our minds on the job!

View attachment 84131 View attachment 84132
I'll wager that all the sparks here have converted side cutters to wire strippers!
Since I did my second ones I've kept a new pair in the bag hoping I'll never have to take them off the card!
 
I'll wager that all the sparks here have converted side cutters to wire strippers!
Since I did my second ones I've kept a new pair in the bag hoping I'll never have to take them off the card!
Most will not admit to it.

personally, of course I have never done it.
especially not whilst up a ladder and subsequently scaring the brown stuff out of my rear end.
Pity that I have NEVER had that learning experience.

now where did I leave my pet unicorn?
 
I have never done it, I especially didn't do it when I was working on a 50a sub main in a gunsmiths, through a 10mm twin and earth with croppers, and it didn't blow the stripping notch clean off them and splatter molten copper all over! No not at all, and I didn't scare myself and half the people who were in there who thought it was a live round going off and all ducked in sync!😁
 
Got a phone call earlier this week. Here is a brief synopsis to explain the pics

Customer - "Hi, occasionally when I use my tumble drier there is a strange smell from near the plug and it sometimes trips the electric"

Me - "Sounds like a faulty drier, if you unplug the drier does anything else cause the electrics to trip?"

Customer - "No, just the drier and it is getting more frequent"

Me - "Ok, unplug the drier and don't use it. I will be with you on Friday morning (4 days from the call)

Turns up on Friday morning to find they had still been using the drier and it had decided to let go. The madness continued when I found they were still using the extension lead it blew in! Not anymore after I cut the plugs off both.

When electrics go wrong!!! IMG_1929 - EletriciansForums.netWhen electrics go wrong!!! IMG_1930 - EletriciansForums.netWhen electrics go wrong!!! IMG_1931 - EletriciansForums.net
 
unplug the drier and don't use it. I will be with you on Friday morning (4 days from the call)

Turns up on Friday morning to find they had still been using the drier
Had a similar one to this, but with a washing machine. Before the few days were up, they had tried to repair it themselves, and the lady of the house had electrocuted herself.
Made more tragic by the fact that the socket would have been RCD protected within a few weeks, and there was a launderette five doors away in the street.
 

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