Warning: I got sloppy.

[IsleOfWighter]

I don't need to be roasted for this, I know I screwed up bad.

Everyone screws up now and then. Maybe you overtake without realising there is a blind bend up ahead. Maybe you fall asleep without putting a candle out. Maybe you reach to turn the radio off in the car just as a kid walks out. 99.9% of the time you get away with it.

But if someone else reads this and it causes them to double check next time they touch some electrics, it will be worth it.

Last week I was doing the simplest thing, but I was rushing and distracted.
My partner's bedside light (in our new house) had a wobbly top, one of those old style brass light fittings with an earth connection.
All I needed to do was tighten the thing up a bit.

Turned light on.
It lit up.
Turned it off at the plug.
It went out.
Took out bulb.
Went to unscrew wires.

(the next bit happened very quickly)

My finger suddenly felt "stuck" to the brass fitting.
My arm didn't respond to me trying to move it.
I assumed there was a spike of metal or something I'd caught myself on.
Still couldn't move my hand.
A strange feeling like a cramp or a "hardness" was moving up my arm.
Finally, my brain twigged what was going on and I had to twist my body to pull my arm away.

--

Then I just sat for a bit. I wasn't bugged by the pain. I knew that would go away.
What got me was the knowledge of how easily that could have been the end.
My two kids would have found me lying on the bed.
They would have thought I was fooling around at first.
My partner would have had to bring two kids up on her own.
All because I was a stupid, stupid idiot who got lazy one time.

--

It turned out that that plug socket was the only one in the entire house that had been wired up backwards.

 

[Taylortwocities]

There's ELECTRICITY on the Isle of Wight? Blimey, when did that happen?

 

[IsleOfWighter]

Round about '84 I think.
We have it shipped over by truck once a month.

 

[Keithmac]

Not good!, I suppose this is another case where an electrical inspection would have found it.

All my downstairs light fittings were not earthed due to previous owner not fitting a ceiling rose correctly.

Have you been round with a plug in tests to check the polarity of all the other sockets?.

 

[Taylortwocities]

We don’t know if it were the plug or the socket that was wired incorrectly.

He said

Turned it off at the plug

Most plugs don’t have a switch
And

It turned out that that plug socket was the only one in the entire house that had been wired up backwards.

Plug socket? It’s a plug, or it’s a socket. It cannot be both.

 

[securespark]

I was doing some work an elderly lady's spare room prior to her having it decorated.

She wanted plugs by the door and the bay.

I invited her up when I'd done and she came up to find 2 x 13A plugs that I had hot glued to the wall.

"You don't understand," she said, "I wanted plugs, not plugs..."

I did eventually install 2 x 13A sockets for her!

 

[John D v2.0]

In case anyone was in doubt about the importance of correct polarity!
Glad you're ok.

Mk sockets have double pole switches.
RCD protection can save your life.

You'll notice I like things you can install once and they keep everyone safer indefinitely

 

[JohnW2]

In case anyone was in doubt about the importance of correct polarity!...

... and/or the importance of not working on something whilst it is still plugged in to an energised socket .... and, of course, the importance of not 'unscrewing wires' until one has tested for dead (unless on/in something which has been 'unplugged')!

... but hands up anyone who has never done anything silly!

Kind Regards, John

 

[John D v2.0]

... and/or the importance of not working on something whilst it is still plugged in to an energised socket .... and, of course, the importance of not 'unscrewing wires' until one has tested for dead (unless on/in something which has been 'unplugged')!

... but hands up anyone who has never done anything silly!

Kind Regards, John

No, I think maybe my point want clear enough, I favour things you install/check/set up once, not things you have to do every time you work on something.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

We don’t know if it were the plug or the socket that was wired incorrectly.

He said

Most plugs don’t have a switch
And

Plug socket? It’s a plug, or it’s a socket. It cannot be both.

Has anybody ever seen Winston and TTC in the same room at the same time?

 

[Taylortwocities]

I certainly have not

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The plot thickens.....

 

[JohnW2]

No, I think maybe my point want clear enough, I favour things you install/check/set up once, not things you have to do every time you work on something.

Yes, of course, it goes without saying that getting the polarity right in the first place is important.

However, I hope you also would agree that one should not work on something which is plugged into a 'live' socket (even if it is seemingly 'switched off', and that you would also agree that, unless one can physically unplug what one is going to work on, one should not do so without first 'testing for dead'.

In fact, if one adheres those latter two things, it actually would not make any difference whether the socket's polarity was right or wrong - but I still agree that correct polarity is highly desirable, just in case someone comes along who fails to observe those other two precautions.

Kind Regards, John

 

[John D v2.0]

Fair enough, we will have to agree to disagree! I agree they are all important, but I think that correct polarity is on a higher level than dead testing as it's a one off thing to get right.
Same as the selection of 240v rather than 1kv as the mains voltage. That one decision has an even bigger impact on safety than anything else.

 

[jamesmcbride]

If it's a new house, the electrical installation should have been tested when it was built - one of those tests is to confirm polarity and that switching is on the line conductor.