When does taking a fuse out protect you..?

[snowhead]

Has the meter been changed, maybe for a Smart meter, in this house in the recent past?

 

[mikeup]

Has the meter been changed, maybe for a Smart meter, in this house in the recent past?

Yes indeed - new smart meter two weeks ago...

 

[elsparko]

Yes indeed - new smart meter two weeks ago...

you should still be testing and proving dead on cables you intend to handle, this polarity issue is still a spanner in the works

 

[MJPD29]

This is why you call a qualified electrician, we have tools to tell us if it's live to stop people like you from getting injured or killed.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

If you have the testing kit with you then check polarity between your line and neutral at the CU as its not unheard of for the wet behind the ears meter installers to put the wires back in the wrong holes!!

 

[elsparko]

it wouldnt be much in labour costs to rectify, you could spend the next week scratching your head or call in a spark, id rather be alive than have an extra £85 or whatever the going rate is for out of hours in your area

 

[KEV 1 N]

Sounds like the meter fitter has balls up if the fuse is isolating the neutral, get an electrician to check it out an verify the cause. Then go all guns blazing to your energy supplier if they are at fault. This sort of incompetence gets people killed.....yes you should have proved it was dead first, but without proper test equipment this is difficult.
There was an incident where a child was killed by an electric fire that was plugged in but switched off, the socket switch only switched the live, live and neutral reversed at meter. So the element was live but because it had no neutral, it didn't work.

 

[SparkyChick]

The OP stated he touched the red wires and earth, I doubt this is a polarity issue as it wouldn't have gone bang. I suspect it's a case of incorrectly labelled fuses or circuit supplied by multiple fuses (likely if there are multiple rings and some plum has disconnected more than one) or it's not on the kitchen circuit at all.

But, the best advice is get in a qualified spark with the right gear and knowledge to safely assess the situation and advise on the best method of correcting it.

 

[DJ Ovengloves]

He had a similar problem last year

Anyhoo, safe isolation procedure would have spotted this problem (whatever is causing it).

Sounds like the meter fitter has balls up if the fuse is isolating the neutral, get an electrician to check it out an verify the cause. Then go all guns blazing to your energy supplier if they are at fault. This sort of incompetence gets people killed.....yes you should have proved it was dead first, but without proper test equipment this is difficult.
There was an incident where a child was killed by an electric fire that was plugged in but switched off, the socket switch only switched the live, live and neutral reversed at meter. So the element was live but because it had no neutral, it didn't work.

 

[DJ Ovengloves]

Yes, yes yadda yadda?

You sir are an idiot of the higest order and lucky you didn’t seriously hurt or kill yourself.

Anyone (qualified or not) who messes with electricity and doesn’t safely isolate with proper equipment is an idiot btw...I’m not picking on you specifically.

Call a professional before you kill your self or others.

As stated above - the whole house is "protected" by a "RCCB" , it's old ( GARO G12.280.030 - GOOGLE SEARCH CAN'T FIND IT)

Could this be faulty? - It did trip, but not before the screwdriver melted - lost half its tip - that's a lot of current!!

yes yes - yada yada - get a professional in.

All would have been fine IF i'd simply switched off. However the fact that I didn't has raised these questions.

Thanks for the helpful replies so far.

 

[Bob Geldoff1234]

Why didn't you just switch off the main switch?

 

[Pete999]

Why didn't you just switch off the main switch?

Shouldn't be playing about with it anyway Bob asking for trouble in my opinion

 

[snowhead]

Why didn't you just switch off the main switch?

Would still have needed safe isolation confirmation, which the O.P does appear to be aware of or have the equipment to test.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Just remembered a previous job having reread the OP...2 of the lives on 2 different rings had been put back in the wrong MCBs so in reality lives on the 2 rings now formed a figure of 8. might be worth considering? as if you turned off one breaker then the other would still feed both rings.

 

[Bob Geldoff1234]

Why didn't you just switch off the main switch?

I'm not saying its the right way but if he had of turned off the main switch then all of your other guesses as to why it went bang would have been irrelevant.
If your at all unsure as to which breaker/fuse feeds what then at least turning off the main switch would have made it a darn site safer than what he did.
Agree with everyone else that he shouldn't be touching it in the first place.

 

[DJ Ovengloves]

sorry, you still need to safely isolate and test..always the possibility of a faulty switch, fake switch or some moron has wired wrong actually bypassing it.

I'm not saying its the right way but if he had of turned off the main switch then all of your other guesses as to why it went bang would have been irrelevant.
If your at all unsure as to which breaker/fuse feeds what then at least turning off the main switch would have made it a darn site safer than what he did.
Agree with everyone else that he shouldn't be touching it in the first place.

 

[Dave Rudderham]

Identify Circuit, Isolate, check tester, test tester, test circuit at work point, test tester again. I'm a Level 3 student and this is being drummed into our heads. If in doubt (and it's doable), switch the whole sodding lot off. I found out my kitchen radial circuit feeds the down stairs toilet lights, which was nice. Had I just switched off the lights and not tested I'd have been in a fair amount of pain.

 

[Pete999]

Just remembered a previous job having reread the OP...2 of the lives on 2 different rings had been put back in the wrong MCBs so in reality lives on the 2 rings now formed a figure of 8. might be worth considering? as if you turned off one breaker then the other would still feed both rings.

Both legs of one ring

 

[mikeup]

Why didn't you just switch off the main switch?

Indeed. A reckless decision. However the result is I have discovered that the wiring is possibly dangerous per se. The wiring / smart meter was done AFAIK by " experts" so I'd rather try and understand myself what is going on and also get a expert in and at least understand what he tells me and the action he recommends to remedy.

 

[mikeup]

Would still have needed safe isolation confirmation, which the O.P does appear to be aware of or have the equipment to test.

You are indeed correct. I have no idea what " safe isolation" means nor do I think I have the equipment. I have one of those screwdrivers with a lightbulb in the handle - tells you if wire is live?? I didn't use it - I made the stupid mistake of thinking that taking the fuse out meant the wires on the kitchen socket circuit were isolated from the mains.
So lesson learnt - I can not ever rely on labels on fuse boxes ( circuit breakers ) to isolate wiring and make it safe to work on.

If I throw mains switch - I can safely assume wiring is safe to work on!!? Not even then I guess - not ever in fact unless you have real time data on cables you are working on you never know for certain - could be mixed up with next door's wiring!!?

Would still have needed safe isolation confirmation, which the O.P does appear to be aware of or have the equipment to test.