A weird thing with an electrical screwdriver

[Peter Ashby]

I wish I had taken that advice a few years ago. The cable tv man was coming so I had pulled the TV and stand etc out and decided to spend the time figuring out why the socket behind it didn't work. So I pulled the fuse for the downstairs ring, noted that nothing was on but did not test the recalcitrant socket. So there I was poking about in the switch seeing if the connections were good when there was a flash and the lights went out (it was an overcast winters day). Turned out that socket had been extended not from the ring, but from a port for a hard wired standard lamp, so when I shorted it the lighting fuse blew. I have been much more careful since and will take Andy's advice to heart for all further such excursions.

Peter

[Huge]

Those of us old enough to remember the safety films shown on daytime TV may well remember the one about electrical safety whose safety acronym I remember to this day; SIDE

Switch Off Isolate Dump Earth

[Peter Ashby]

I may be old enough but I grew up elsewhere ;-)

Peter

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Indeed. However I'd not use a 13 amp outlet for a floor fed lamp, and not just for the reasons you've given. Most such circuits will be on a dimmer and plugging the Hoover into such a circuit can be expensive to fix. Hence they should really be a suitable round pin type which are available these days in most styles from most makers.

[Peter Ashby]

It's not clear to me what the 3 pin was for. It gave no indication it was anything other than a normal socket. There is a double socket next to the lamp outlet that was looped from. I wonder if someone couldn't figure out the complexity of extending from the double so did it from the lamp outlet next to it instead, not realising the problem.

Peter

[Andrew Sinclair]

In message , Peter Ashby writes

Nothing can compare with the rapid panic arising whilst winding up a mechanical drain earth in the 400kV substation at Didcot Power Station as a trainee on shift when the wag showing me the ropes said something like 'Are you sure you have the right unit?' moments before the earth circuit was made. It literally was 'dump' before 'earth' that evening.

[Peter Ashby]

I can imagine. My father in law was a sparky at the aluminium smelter at the bottom of New Zealand. He showed me round once, after I left my watch at home (SWMBO was not allowed, she was expecting at the time). So I have some idea of what it feels like to be around VERY high voltages.

We were on the potline and FiL points to a metal rod leaning innocently against one of the active pots (used for breaking the scum). 'Lift that' he says. I saunter up, grab hold and lift, grunt, try again, GRUNT, maximum exertion: it came away. I feared for my fingers should the pot decide it was having it back...

Peter