Checking that the wire ISN'T live. When you know it isn't because you just switched it off, but you have that niggling feeling.
Which would you prefer, a spark or a shock?
Of course there will be a spark.
Try working with people you trust.
I suppose that this method of testing does have the added advantage of showing up hidden problems in the circuit that may have otherwise been missed.
The excess current drawn may cause other connections in the circuit to break down and catch fire, the fuse wire may not blow immediately and all you have to do is look for smoke coming from beneath floor boards and from behind sockets to diagnose other, hither to, unsuspected faults. If done with the lights out and in the dark then there would be the added advantage that the arcing would give a clue too. If, of course, you could still see after the first flash and if molten copper hadn't removed your eye balls.
Personally I would rather stick to the tried and tested safer methods of working, but there again I have no wish to prove Darwin correct.
Saw this happen at Pye Television transmitters many years ago now. A test eng there was used to just touching the cables together with an earthing stick "just to be sure"
They take power off overhead Three phase 415 volt buss bars onto the transformers that wind it up to 15 kV for the Klystron amps..
Quite a good flash, but not that loud a bang ;!!...
But you only need to do it once.
Presumably you test a fuse by dropping it across the mains, if it blows it was a good one.
Electric shock can't cause heart attack. It can however cause cardiac arrest, asystole, and start atrial fibrillation.
Bill
Are you saying resistance is useless?
Bill
If it had you wouldn't be here.
Bill
As long as you do it in the privacy of your own home and don't hurt anyone else, that's fine.
Bill
Was it from one ear to the other? Could explain a lot.
Bill
Not in that short time.
I'd much rather the smoke appeared while I was in the house.
The copper doesn't fly that far. In my experience it could only singe your hand. And that was with a 100A fuse.
Why avoid things that just might once in a blue moon happen? Do you drive a car at all?
Several times and it didn't kill me or even hurt me. Just makes you jump.
No, but I have tightened a screw till it broke, then backed off half a turn :-)
But I am so it didn't and there is no problem.
It would be difficult to hurt someone else by piercing my skin with wire.
No, but quite often from one hand to the other, disproving the nonsense that your heart is easily stopped.
Those were electric shocks - not electrocution.
Oh for goodness sake.
ow first without question.
You are missing the point.
Brushing L-N together is using the ends of the wire as a fuse - to disconnect the fault by vapourising metal in front of your face. Even IF the fuse does blow, you are still going to vapourise metal as the cable ends touch & break with arc flash and molten metal only a short distance from your face.
It is simply the most irrational thing to do.
Wonder what you would do welding near a gasoline fuel tank... I'll just wave a match to check if there are any fumes.
first without question.
The cable ends are THICKER than the fuse. There will be bugger all vapourisation. The fuse will vapourise.
That's a different thing entirely, I'm not about to start a fire by touching the fumes. Touching live wires is worse than touching fumes.
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