My wife tried to kill me.

[whiskywill]

On Saturday afternoon I said to my wife "I'm going to finish wiring that socket I put in last weekend."

I was intending to take a spur off a socket in the room above my garage/workshop and was in the attic space, on my knees with a torch playing with the wiring. I heard my wife saying something from the floor below but couldn't hear what she was saying so shouted down "I can't hear you."

She shouted back "It doesn't matter." and I carried on.

When I had finished and went to restore power to the circuit that I was working on all of the trip switches were in the on position.

When questioned my wife said "I didn't know what you were doing and thought that you had tripped the switch so I put it back on"

And, apparently, it was my fault for not telling her I was going to put the circuit off before messing with the live wires.

 

[DTR]

That's why, in industry, you'd padlock the MCB open

Glad it didn't turn out worse

 

[bussy]

"And, apparently, it was my fault for not telling her I was going to put the circuit off before messing with the live wires."

Sorry but I would agree with the missus.

Marty

 

[sunnybob]

look at it this way, your working practices are so good that even the circuit being live didnt get you. Thats a result, that is!

 

[AJB Temple]

You are very lucky and you are indeed at fault. There should be warning signs on the consumer unit if you cannot lock the RCD off.

This happened to me, very similar thing except it was a live in nanny, 20 years ago. I specifically told her that I was working on an electric circuit in a bathroom, but she misunderstood and turned the circuit back on, giving me a big shock. Since then I have always enclosed the consumer unit in a cupboard with a lock. It is only locked if I wish to isolate circuits, in which case I do so and lock the cupboard. Key stays with me until I am satisfied that all is safe.

 

[lurker]

Maybe she thought it was cheaper than a one way ticket to Switzerland, Will

 

[mseries]

In this house I'd explain to Mrs MSeries what I am doing, get her agreement that it's Ok to knock the juice off for half an hour or so, then she'll not touch the switches. Even if we didn't talk,and the juice was off she'd consult me first rather than dick around herself. Trust and communication.

 

[monkeybiter]

Since then I have always enclosed the consumer unit in a cupboard with a lock. It is only locked if I wish to isolate circuits, in which case I do so and lock the cupboard. Key stays with me until I am satisfied that all is safe.

Excellent idea.

 

[Wuffles]

Nobody has an RCD on their consumer unit?


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[mseries]

Nobody has an RCD on their consumer unit?

I have,

 

[n0legs]

Nobody has an RCD on their consumer unit?


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Why would that make a difference?

I work live up to 1000v, using the correct procedures and tools you wouldn't trip/fuse the circuits.
Can't remember the last time I took a "shutdown" at home either, 30 years at it has got it's advantages.
These help

 

[DiscoStu]

My wife wouldn't know how to switch a circuit back at the consumer unit so I don't need to worry!


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[Wuffles]

Nobody has an RCD on their consumer unit?


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Why would that make a difference?

I thought the point of the RCD was to stop electrocution.


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[Graham Orm]

Wow, whoever is at fault a lucky escape there, I'd say you were at least partly to blame for not telling the Mrs what you were doing, if only for the sake of her knowing you were messing with the electrics and that she should keep an eye out for you going quiet.

A side issue here....why do women shout something from one floor to another, then when required to shout it again a little louder "it doesn't matter".............it mattered 30 seconds ago!!! In this case it mattered rather a lot!

As a plumber I have a similar scenario. Not dangerous but just as frustrating. Occasionally an old stop tap doesn't quite seal when closed and allows a small amount of water to constantly pass through. The answer is to replace/fix it or if working upstairs leave a ground floor tap open to take the flow and none will get upstairs.
Typical scenario: You have disconnected the toilet and are in the process of building the new one up, and bob out to the van for a tool. You come back to a swimming bathroom floor. No matter how you say it or phrase it about leaving the tap downstairs open, the customer will inevitably decide that 'that's long enough now' and close it. EVERY time!

 

[Stu_2]

Nest time, taser her, and work quickly

 

[Wuffles]

As a plumber I have a similar scenario. Not dangerous but just as frustrating. Occasionally an old stop tap doesn't quite seal when closed and allows a small amount of water to constantly pass through. The answer is to replace/fix it or if working upstairs leave a ground floor tap open to take the flow and none will get upstairs.
Typical scenario: You have disconnected the toilet and are in the process of building the new one up, and bob out to the van for a tool. You come back to a swimming bathroom floor. No matter how you say it or phrase it about leaving the tap downstairs open, the customer will inevitably decide that 'that's long enough now' and close it. EVERY time!

Only slightly worse is the "right, nobody flush any toilets" when doing any work downstream.

 

[Graham Orm]

As a plumber I have a similar scenario. Not dangerous but just as frustrating. Occasionally an old stop tap doesn't quite seal when closed and allows a small amount of water to constantly pass through. The answer is to replace/fix it or if working upstairs leave a ground floor tap open to take the flow and none will get upstairs.
Typical scenario: You have disconnected the toilet and are in the process of building the new one up, and bob out to the van for a tool. You come back to a swimming bathroom floor. No matter how you say it or phrase it about leaving the tap downstairs open, the customer will inevitably decide that 'that's long enough now' and close it. EVERY time!

Only slightly worse is the "right, nobody flush any toilets" when doing any work downstream.

Been there done that one too!

 

[whiskywill]

"And, apparently, it was my fault for not telling her I was going to put the circuit off before messing with the live wires."

Sorry but I would agree with the missus.

Marty

But, being a man, I wrongly assumed that she would understand that to work on an electrical circuit I would be turning the power off, which is just one out of eight separate circuits that we have . She is not stupid (She has one degree and four post grad qualifications) but obviously lacks logical sense. I won't be divorcing her......yet.

 

[DTR]

Nobody has an RCD on their consumer unit?


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Why would that make a difference?

I thought the point of the RCD was to stop electrocution.


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The RCD will only trip if there's an earth fault, typically one over 30mA. Less than 30mA can still kill you. If you happened to grab the live and the neutral simultaneously, you'd get a hell of a belt and the RCD wouldn't even notice.

 

[Wuffles]

The RCD will only trip if there's an earth fault, typically one over 30mA. Less than 30mA can still kill you. If you happened to grab the live and the neutral simultaneously, you'd get a hell of a belt and the RCD wouldn't even notice.

Interesting, I only asked as I'd read up on this (a little bit) and was blissfully unaware of that.