3 ms·

I made the mistake of not testing _all_ of the wires in an outlet a couple of months ago. I used a non contact voltmeter, and had shut off the breaker to the o

I made the mistake of not testing _all_ of the wires in an outlet a couple of months ago. I used a non contact voltmeter, and had shut off the breaker to the outlet I was working on. Little did I know that the jackass that did some previous wiring in the house had run wires from a different breaker in to this box. It was done in such a way that I didn't fully realize it could have separate live. My palm below my thumb touched the live and neutral and gave me a pretty solid shock. I'll definitely test every single freaking wire in a box from now on. F people who try to play electrician without knowing what they are doing!

jimnotgym 4y ago
I saw an electrician who did know what he was doing change a fuse board incorrectly. He accidentally swapped one end of two different ring mains so that they were in different breakers! Same result as yours. Always test every live wire. Those glowing voltage sniffer screwdrivers can be pretty handy.
ChoGGi 4y ago
It isn't against code to have different lines inside one box (at least at any of the places I've lived). Easiest way is to flip the mains everytime. I wouldn't trust those pencil testers though (the non-contact ones, the light ones yes).
dr_orpheus 4y ago
I discovered an outlet like this in my house. Had a lamp plugged in to the outlet (since I could see it from the breaker box) and was sequentially going through and flipping each breaker off, then on again. The light never turned off...
robonerd 4y ago
Look at the slotted screw heads on outlet face plate. Are they both aligned vertically/horizontally, or are they at odd angles? If they are both aligned, the outlet was probably but not necessarily last worked on by a real electrician. If the screws are at odd angles, the outlet was probably but not necessarily last worked on by a DIYer. Real electricians align the screws, as a sort of professionalism and a nod to any future electrician who might work on that outlet.
- stephen_g 4y ago
  Where? Here electricians leave cable offcuts, stripped insulator, plaster around on the floor so consistently it’s a meme (I know because for some reason I was getting tradie reels popping up flipping through Facebook). We have a joke at work that you know that an electrical engineer (and not a licensed electrician) did the wiring if it’s too neat (for example, a colleague of mine seriously has cable trays through his roof cavity)

jimnotgym 4y ago

I saw an electrician who did know what he was doing change a fuse board incorrectly. He accidentally swapped one end of two different ring mains so that they were in different breakers! Same result as yours. Always test every live wire. Those glowing voltage sniffer screwdrivers can be pretty handy.

ChoGGi 4y ago

It isn't against code to have different lines inside one box (at least at any of the places I've lived). Easiest way is to flip the mains everytime. I wouldn't trust those pencil testers though (the non-contact ones, the light ones yes).

dr_orpheus 4y ago

I discovered an outlet like this in my house. Had a lamp plugged in to the outlet (since I could see it from the breaker box) and was sequentially going through and flipping each breaker off, then on again. The light never turned off...

robonerd 4y ago

Look at the slotted screw heads on outlet face plate. Are they both aligned vertically/horizontally, or are they at odd angles? If they are both aligned, the outlet was probably but not necessarily last worked on by a real electrician. If the screws are at odd angles, the outlet was probably but not necessarily last worked on by a DIYer. Real electricians align the screws, as a sort of professionalism and a nod to any future electrician who might work on that outlet.

stephen_g 4y ago
Where? Here electricians leave cable offcuts, stripped insulator, plaster around on the floor so consistently it’s a meme (I know because for some reason I was getting tradie reels popping up flipping through Facebook). We have a joke at work that you know that an electrical engineer (and not a licensed electrician) did the wiring if it’s too neat (for example, a colleague of mine seriously has cable trays through his roof cavity)