Chaos in the garden

Aug 02, 2026 Last reply: 5 hours ago 1 Replies
Saved reading
Jump to replies (1)
  1. Gloves
  2. Handles, both held.
  3. Metal screw, between blades of garden lopper
  4. 30mA PowerBreaker Plugin RCD at the end of a 10m extension
  5. 10 Amp fuse

I was merely cutting twigs on a confused assortment of leaves and orange cables, and with gusto spotted on the lawn a nice meaty branch.



These Lidl loppers are great, they slice like butter.



<bang>

The shower of sparks on slicing a 2-conductor hedge trimmer cable laying alongside the branch, was impressive. Cut a nice notch in my lopper blade, too.


OK, I need more cordless tools, that was close :-(



Both items 4 & 5 both did their job, but maybe I should buy a new PowerBreaker. I do test it before use, but it's probably 40 years old?


Did you feel an electric shock? If its 2-core and the loppers are plastic cased, which they probably will be if 2-core flex, what is the path to earth to trip the RCD part of the plug-in RCD. Is the RCD fused or does it have a current trip as well as the RCD function. Sounds like it was the over current on the RCD that tripped. The plug-in type seem to have a 13Amp trip so possibly that which tripped.

Dave

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required