Electrician error kills plumber

[planenut]

The upshot of all this is if, whoever wired it up, had done it properly, with commonsense and following the regulations/requirements, this poor sod would still be alive.

Having a qualification does not mean that one is infallible, and not having one does not necessarily mean that one is incapable.

 

[joe-90]

It was probably the householder that wired it up. Bet it was a landlord.

BTW if an RCD had been fitted, would it have killed him?

 

[Hysteresis]

Cant do with having 110v over here - Kettles take ages to boil.

Does any 'bright' '''Sparky''' know why that is ?. (sensible question)

It is not really a very sensible question with respect Peter. A kettle will boil in a time determined by the power of the element. Power =Volts X Current =VxI, (Lets forget about the power factor).
So the element has to be designed so that sufficient current is flowing to satisfy the Power required.
So to get the same power with half the voltage then the current must be doubled.
To get double the current the element must have Half the resistance (or Impedance to be correct).
For obvious reasons if you try a 240v kettle on 110v it will take an age to boil. Because the voltage is halved the current will be halved also as I= V/R, and as Power is VxI then the power will be quartered (V/2xI/2 = VI/4 = P/4).
Very Very simple Ohms Law stuff.
When you said it was a sensible question I trust you were not taking the PI55.

 

[joe-90]

Never met a boiler fitter yet that knows any of that stuff.

 

[Hysteresis]

BTW if an RCD had been fitted, would it have killed him?

I think it depends on how wrong the guy who wired the socket up got the wiring. Did he have the earth wire connected to the live or neutral terminal. But even so, if the RCD was in place then as soon as the earth fault current flowed of 30mA, the RCD would trip and isolate the supply with in a couple of cycles of the supply, and safe guard the poor guy.

 

[peterperfection]

I swear to you- I was not taking the urine.
It goes back to when I was spending a lot of time in USA with my 'then' partner (ALL American Belle) in s Carolina.
She got some teabags for me and she put on a pan of water on the stove.
I asked her if she had a kettle- and she looked at me as if I had two heads. She asked what a kettle was -- I explained and she laughed .
She then said 'Do you mean it is a electrical device for boiling water ? and she peezzed herself laughing.
We then went to the store - and searched and searched for one- and had to ask a assistant.
The assistant said ' ''I heard tell' that there is such a thing and said he was sure they had one of these devices that boil water in the 'back store room'.
He then brought one out 15 mins later .
It probably held 3 cups of water at the most .
We took it back to her house and tried it- and it took a lifetime to boil-- and she stood there laughing for ages .
Thought I was mad !!

 

[peterperfection]

It was probably the householder that wired it up. Bet it was a landlord.

That's what I was thinking.

 

[JBR]

It's as I suspected. Americans haven't managed to develop kettles yet. Perhaps we should sell them our designs.

 

[joe-90]

BTW if an RCD had been fitted, would it have killed him?

I think it depends on how wrong the guy who wired the socket up got the wiring. Did he have the earth wire connected to the live or neutral terminal. But even so, if the RCD was in place then as soon as the earth fault current flowed of 30mA, the RCD would trip and isolate the supply with in a couple of cycles of the supply, and safe guard the poor guy.

But an RCD can't act instantly so would 240v through the brain still be fatal?

 

[peterperfection]

It's as I suspected. Americans haven't managed to develop kettles yet. Perhaps we should sell them our designs.

Yep- that's Americans for ya .
They can send men to the moon--but- we only hear of the ones that came back.
I hope that moon dust tastes pretty good -because that is all the ones who didnt come back will have on the menu for the next 100 years .

 

[Hysteresis]

But an RCD can't act instantly so would 240v through the brain still be fatal?

Fair comment Joe. 30mA through the Brain is substantial, and maybe fatal.
I would not dare to test it.
I was once told that with an RCD, if you touch the live wire, the circuit would trip before you felt the shock. I have not tested the claim, but that still does not answer if a 30mA fault current through the brain would be fatal.
It begs another question that would the fault current be through the brain. If he was sweating then the current would probably track across the skin, if not sweating, the current would probably be shunted through the fluid surrounding the brain - or would it????.
Sounds like a Ph.D here for someone to research it. Not me though - I am far too old.

 

[peterperfection]

Maybe we could get a Plumber to test it out ?.
What do you think ?.

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

This may have been said before, but I jumped 2 pages.

My golden rule is "never assume jack" even if the last fella in was better than I could ever be. To date, I'm still alive, well, I think I am!!

 

[breadnbutter]

Cant do with having 110v over here - Kettles take ages to boil.

Does any 'bright' '''Sparky''' know why that is ?. (sensible question)

less electrical current.

 

[EddieM]

Voltage seems to have nothing to do with it, the electrocution rates inc (industrial) are considerably higher in the US than they are in Europe.

Really - I would suggest very strongly the Voltage has an awful lot to do with it.

stats suggest not.