On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 08:04:05 +0000 someone who may be The Wanderer wrote this:-
A classic. People who survive say that they picked up the ends to look at the damage, the fact that the cable was energised having either been forgotten or they thought that the bang meant the supply had been cut off by the fuse/MCB.
Well I have seen..two fatalities from road accidents.
Should we advise people that driving cars is really stupid and dangerous?
It isn't the driving that's stupid and dangerous, it's the drivers......
A court case?
A lifelong guilty conscience?
yes, its already been stated clearly: gross financial loss if the place burns and insurance wont pay, the risk of prison, and other more minor things. Some folk seem to imagine that a 13A fuse has the ability to limit the current to 13A - thats a long way from true.
NT
It kills and injures thousands every year, pollutes the environment, and is a massive economic cost.
However most people and governments decide that is outweighed by the personal, social and economic benefits of ready availability of individual motorised transport.
There is very rarely a corresponding benefit to working on energised systems, which is why it's only done under limited and usually tightly-controlled circumstances.
Owain
If they have then the 13A fuse goes pop, thats all. ITs sustained overload thats the problem, not short circuit current.
NT
My point exactly. It isn't the two plugs on a cable thats dangerous, its the idiot who plugs it in without ensuring that its safe to do so, and forgets that he has..
preciseley. Its not the technique that is dangerous per se, its the application. And a risk/benefit shows its usually needless, but things that are occasionally useful and very occasionbally necesary, shouldn't be banned.
Cost benefit analysis.
Possible costs have already been discussed.
Is the benefit to the OP (a few quid off the power bill) worth the risks?
IMHO the builder should arrange a supply. Leccy boards do them all the time.
Andy
Which is why the whole idea needs knocking on the head, coz the guy who does it quite safely for four days doesn't pay attention on the fifth and electrocutes himself. It isn't an inherently fail-safe idea.
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