Can I DIY a chewed cable?

[opps]

A few years ago, a mate wanted to move his CU from the back of the house, to the front. He didn't want to pay the amount quoted by the DNO to move the meter outside, so he paid cash to a guy who was sacked by a DNO... for moving meters for cash at the weekends (they guy now makes a living moving meters for cash).

Anywho, he turned up, started cutting through the exterior braiding and then... put on PVC gauntlets. I asked him how he knew when it was time to replace the gloves, he said that he starts feeling a slight tingle. I also asked him what would happen if the the live and neutral were to touch- would it take out the whole block? He replied that depending on the distance from the distribution box, it would just keep making a banging noise (whilst they were still in contact) but that it might not affect anyone else's supply.

BTW, yes, it was illegal and in no way am I recommending that anyone goes down that path, but the fact remains that professionals working with live supplies do sometimes wear rubber gloves.

 

[pcaouolte]

I have no problem with anyone wearing rubber gloves when doing electrical work. It is possible to buy gloves which are designed and tested for electrical safety. They are a last line of defence when working on circuits which are believed to be safely isolated. There are no circumstances where DIY should be attempted on live electrical circuits or equipment.

 

[Jurassicspark]

Even if you wear rubber boots and touch a live part you'll still get a shock because you're capacitively coupled to ground, but it won't kill you. (Don't attempt it though). If you wear gloves, then you won't know until the one day those gloves have a small knick and you die because it arcs over, conducting straight through you.

So wearing gloves or any sort of protection should not be only relied on when working on circuits. Yes it is advantageous but first you should test a circuit with a multimeter to see if it really is dead or not.

Working on live voltages is lethal and can cause serious harm.

 

[ebee]

So - which did he mean?
Judging by later questions; I don't think he is competent to do it.


Ok then - everybody can do everything. My mistake.

I think that EFLI gave very appropriate advice comments to the OP, it`s OK to give advice to someone who might be quite capable of following it safely and fair enough but we must all be very careful not to encourage someone who might not be. Some of us on here might be good enough to do tasks on car mechanics, building issues, property maintenance, joinery, plastering, medical practices, dentistry using pliers, painting, decorating, astronomy as an aside but as Clint says "each man should know his limitations!" no shame in that, we are all limited in some topics and we might have a decent knowledge in other topics. EFLI chose quite wisely to reduce the risks of danger. He was not insulting the OP he was giving sensible advice.