When does taking a fuse out protect you..?

[Dave Rudderham]

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!!?

I doubt you'd find many electricians who'd recommend a light bulb screwdriver. The minute you touch the end you make yourself part of the circuit.

 

[mikeup]

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.

RCCB is an essential protective device in your electrical circuit that helps to preventelectrical hazards in cases of earth faults. A properly set RCCB will ensure that there is no fatal injury caused to human being in case of an accidental touch to live wires.7 May 2014


Agree? Am I wrong to " rely" on this as a back up?

 

[Pete999]

RCCB is an essential protective device in your electrical circuit that helps to preventelectrical hazards in cases of earth faults. A properly set RCCB will ensure that there is no fatal injury caused to human being in case of an accidental touch to live wires.7 May 2014


Agree? Am I wrong to " rely" on this as a back up?

What exactly were you touching with the screwdriver with a light bulb in the handle, to cause it to melt?

 

[mikeup]

I doubt you'd find many electricians who'd recommend a light bulb screwdriver. The minute you touch the end you make yourself part of the circuit.

Hmmm.. yes indeed but through a resistance so high it is safe.

 

[mikeup]

What exactly were you touching with the screwdriver with a light bulb in the handle, to cause it to melt?

As stated above.
1/. Didn't use " lightbulb screwdriver "
2/. Accidently completed circuit between red ( L ) wires and earth strap on socket I was installing ( earth having been connected )

 

[Pete999]

Hmmm.. yes indeed but through a resistance so high it is safe.

 

[Pete999]

Hmmm.. yes indeed but through a resistance so high it is safe.

Watching these to videos will surely cure you of your blase understanding of the dangers electricity, or it should do.

 

[elsparko]

RCCB is an essential protective device in your electrical circuit that helps to preventelectrical hazards in cases of earth faults. A properly set RCCB will ensure that there is no fatal injury caused to human being in case of an accidental touch to live wires.7 May 2014


Agree? Am I wrong to " rely" on this as a back up?

absoloutely wrong, anything that switches with live current can weld itself open or shut, especially the cheaper ones.

 

[elsparko]

RCCB is an essential protective device in your electrical circuit that helps to preventelectrical hazards in cases of earth faults. A properly set RCCB will ensure that there is no fatal injury caused to human being in case of an accidental touch to live wires.7 May 2014


Agree? Am I wrong to " rely" on this as a back up?

absoloutely wrong, anything that switches with live current can weld itself open or shut, especially the cheaper ones.

the neon driver is my red wall plug jabber, all its really good for, and podging down ciggies.

 

[mikeup]

absoloutely wrong, anything that switches with live current can weld itself open or shut, especially the cheaper ones.




the neon driver is my red wall plug jabber, all its really good for, and podging down ciggies.

everyone has an opinion

 

[mikeup]

Watching these to videos will surely cure you of your blase understanding of the dangers electricity, or it should do.

did you read the comments on the neon mains testing screwdriver...? I'd already viewd that before I asked in this forum.

 

[Pete999]

did you read the comments on the neon mains testing screwdriver...? I'd already viewd that before I asked in this forum.

And you still used it, and it melted, common sense not your forte then?

 

[elsparko]

everyone has an opinion

my opinions are heavily based on factual evidence , not all opinions are equal.

 

[mikeup]

And you still used it, and it melted, common sense not your forte then?

Reading posts not yours.... I DID NOT USE the neon testing driver. If I had I would have realised the wire was still live!

 

[Pete999]

Reading posts not yours.... I DID NOT USE the neon testing driver. If I had I would have realised the wire was still live!

So the driver that was melted in your first post was a normal screwdriver?

 

[mikeup]

my opinions are heavily based on factual evidence , not all opinions are equal.

Oh - factual evidence as opposed to..?

So you can point me to the peer reviewed study detailing the deaths etc that have resulted from ? 30 years of people using the neon screwdrivers can you?

 

[mikeup]

So the driver that was melted in your first post was a normal screwdriver?

Indeed it was. Well, electricians driver with insulated shaft, red, one for the use of.

So I was protected from shock. Other hand was behind my back.
rubber boots on..

 

[elsparko]

Oh - factual evidence as opposed to..?

So you can point me to the peer reviewed study detailing the deaths etc that have resulted from ? 30 years of people using the neon screwdrivers can you?

if you want to risk your life with a piece of tat then go right ahead, no sparky worth their salt would use one.

theres your way, and then there is the right way.

 

[KEV 1 N]

absoloutely wrong, anything that switches with live current can weld itself open or shut, especially the cheaper ones.

Yes I've come across many rcbos and mcbs where there is still voltage present when off, it wasn't full voltage but I've had mcbs still giving 15v and a couple of rcbos giving 50v when off.

 

[TFGtv]

I "did" remove the correct fuse?? I have done similar before and after fuse removal nothing plugged into socket would work BUT live was still live! I would have thought the fuse would isolate the live - It seems to be isolating the Neutral??

Clearly you didn't remove the correct fuse, you removed what you thought was the correct fuse. - And it may well have been at one time, but you have no way of knowing what bodgery has taken place since it was installed. What circuit might have been crossed with what other etc.

Nobody with even the vaguest idea of what they're doing would work on a circuit without PROVING it's dead; testing it with a meter or probe of some kind. If you don't have the (cheap and simple) tools to do that and the knowledge to use them, then you should not be anywhere near your house wiring.

You CANNOT just assume throwing any switch or breaker or removing any fuse isolates anything... For all you know the handle might move and the thing goes clunk but the contacts are stuck inside. - You need to PROVE the system is dead; end of.

Next time you consider doing something this stupid consider that you may not only kill yourself, but even if you 'complete' your repair (with all your lack of knowledge) you might well place a fault on the system that causes a fire or shock risk in your own home or even somewhere else. - In other words, your stupidity could cost an innocent person their life.