Oops electrocuted myself.. wiring advice needed!

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KeirW

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Hi all..

I feel a bit of a fool after what happened today, any tips appreciated! For reference I'm only a very occasional DIY'er.. usually get someone in to do most jobs but tackle simple stuff myself.

I've been in this house about 2 years, 2 bed end of terrace 1960's build, and there was an old security light outside in the back garden which has never worked, it doesn't have a switch anywhere in the house or outside so I assume it's wired into either the lighting or socket circuit in the house...

I was trying to wire up a Ring Floodlight security camera to the existing wiring today before we go on holiday, but first I had to take off the old light. I switched off all the power to the house at the fuse box, took off the old light and exposed the wires. I wanted to find out what circuit the light was wired into so I turned on each circuit one by one and used a testing screwdriver touching the cables to see when the cable went live so I knew which circuit it was on.

The testing screwdriver didn't light up with any circuit so I was annoyed thinking the wiring was dead and I couldn't install my camera.. I left all the power on and brushed my finger on the live wire, nothing, then just on the off chance my testing screwdriver was broken I touched it to a known working light switch inside the house and the little bulb lit up so it's definitely working.

Thinking maybe it was too bright outside I checked the wires again really looking closely for the little bulb to come on, nothing happened. I was convinced the wiring was dead now... I then started getting the wires ready to put into a connector strip and seal up in a water tight box and call an electrician. I started straightening the ends a bit and must have touched both the live and neutral wires at the same time and got an electric shock. The whole of my upper body clenched and luckily I didn't fall off the ladder or worse..! Not a nice feeling at all!

I've now no idea what happened, clearly I completed the circuit with my body and got shocked, but why didn't the tester light up?

I don't know whether to just turn the power off and wire my Ring camera up and hope it's ok or get a professional in. It should be a very simple job, no more complicated than wiring a plug really but I'm worried there's something wrong with the wiring and don't fancy overloading and frying my £180 Ring Floodlight camera. The wires are relatively old, they are red, black and unsheathed earth and I think they're like that throughout the house.

Pics below of where it is and how I've left it now..
01.jpg 02.jpg

Does anyone have any tips? Apart from don't touch live wires! I figured that one out already :facepalm:
 
Just a few things.

Electrical screwdrivers are just a screwdriver with a resistor in. They cost a few quid. Don't rely on them.

This is your life you are playing with. How much is your life worth? Why not get a professional in? Even if you don't care about you, do you have a family? How much are they worth?

Why not get someone in with a lot of experience, has got the qualifications, will make sure it's all safe?
 
No offence but would you call an electrician in to wire a plug? I thought I was being cautious checking all the wires and circuits, there are 3 wires to attach to the light, didn't exactly warrant calling an electrician and paying £100 plus for what would take them 5 minutes to do.

Now I don't know exactly what happened so I'm asking anyone's opinion/advice on what happened before I spend money, I don't have a lot of spare money, perhaps you do..
 
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This is my advice, take it or leave it!

DO NOT rely on neon screwdrivers or non-contact pens for testing mains voltages. Use a proper wired multimeter. Anything else is innacurate, unreliable and potentially dangerous as you have found!

Any outside circuit must be protected by an RCD or RCBO. The fact that you got an electric shock probably indicates that you may not have this essential safety protection device fitted.

You should be able to isolate the supply to the outside circuit by a switch or switched fused connection unit (ideally, double pole). For example, if the feed to outside is taken from a lighting circuit in the house, a fault in the outside wiring/device could knock out the house lights. Having a switch, means you can prevent this happening until you correct the fault. The circuit that the outside is connected to should be ascertained and noted in the consumer unit at the relevant circuit breaker.

All bare earth wiring must be appropriately sleeved. If you suspect that your house wiring is unsleeved, you would be advised to have the installation checked by a registered electrician.

The fact that your existing outside wiring does not appear to have been installed safely (no RCD protection, feed circuit unidentified, no isolation switching or fusing, no earth sleeving) I suggest that you get an EICR (electrical installation condition report) carried out to the whole house to identify any issues that need rectification.
 
One very simple tip I would always say, which is not recommended, but hey I still think it's wise.

When doing anything like this, and to be honest, even if you are 99.99% sure you've killed power to the wires, to start with just assume you may have messed up and it's still live.

Tape the tip of your index finger, and VERY quickly and VERY lightly, try to flip/brush the tip of your finger across the end of the wire.
Take a few quick swipes, getting closer each time, till you just fractionally brush it.
If it's live you will get just a tiny nip from the power, and know you messed up.

If you feel nothing, then a couple more quick touches with your finger tip, and only then, actually be happy it's not live and touch/hold the wire.

Note: I'm not saying you should do this, but it's what I always do not, after a few mishaps ;)

I will admit, I have a habit of wiring some things up live recently, which if fine, if you have insulated tools and are VERY careful, but I'd 100% not recommend anyone doing this of course.
 
Doing a similar job to yourself, i used a proper 600v rated multimeter to confirm live status. :smashin:

I would only use one of those tester pens on 12v DC stuff.
 
use a proper multi meter i think thats where the root of the problem comes from.
 
also just because something works doesnt mean you have done it correctly make sure you know the correct regs on what is required

also dont wire up live thats an absolutely crazy thing to do. if you did that with any sort of high amps you will die and not just get a shock
 
Just to repeat what I said a bit, as I see it has some wows ;)

I'd always recommend to anyone, turn off the power, either to the circuit you are working on, or kill the whole power to the house.

To play it safe, if it's just part of your home circuit, then some good quality tester would be a great idea.

However, even after doing all of that, I would still say to quickly ping your finger tip across then end of the wire, just to make 100% sure, irrespective of what any gadgets tell you.
It's far better to do that before firmly grabbing hold of the bare wire.
Even if you are 99.9999999% sure there is no power.
 
No offence but would you call an electrician in to wire a plug?
I would if I had given myself a shock, didn't know what I was doing.
and paying £100 plus for what would take them 5 minutes to do.
Because they spent years at college. You are paying for that knowledge.
I don't have a lot of spare money, perhaps you do..
No. But I've seen lots of jobs where the work was that bodged I was terrified for the guys kids. You have £180 for a camera and money for a holiday, but not for a proper job?
 
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also just because something works doesnt mean you have done it correctly make sure you know the correct regs on what is required

also dont wire up live thats an absolutely crazy thing to do. if you did that with any sort of high amps you will die and not just get a shock

Just out of interest, what are you calling high amps here?
Are you talking home 220 ish volt power, or more industrial power?
 
If you don’t have the proper measuring tools, and it sounds like you don’t then leave it.

I say this especially as you say that you had turned off all the electricity at the consumer unit and yet the wire was still live. Assuming that you had indeed turned everything off that sounds like some dodgy wiring so double reason to call in an electrician.

A question though - did you turn off everything in the consumer unit or just the lighting circuits. If the latter, it probably means that whoever put the security light in has tapped off whatever circuit was most convenient, mains, cooker, shower etc.

If you really turn off everything in the consumer unit and the wires are still live then it must either be connected before the consumer unit on the main feed or there is some sort of UPS somewhere that is continuing to provide power for a period after power loss.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
if you did that with any sort of high amps you will die and not just get a shock
Fractions of an amp are lethal. An RCD is rated at 30mA. That's 30 thousandths of an amp, so it will cut out to protect you if it's above that.
 
Volt sticks and neon screwdrivers are an indicator that some thing is live not that something is dead there are proper instruments for proving something is dead and a procedure for using them and these are not Multi-meters either people.

Your best advise is from Sonic67 get someone else in! :thumbsup:

You've been lucky and had just a warning this time, your attitude to safety is blazé at best, i'm guessing you was up a ladder or tall steps when you decided to touch the wires, when you didn't know which circuit they fed from or if there is some kind of switching device between the ends and the protective device, so left all the circuits ono_Oo_Oo_O

Electric shock and falls from height nice start for your family holiday.
 
My preference is a LLI. This will detect power through the insulation and the wall. No need to poke potentially live components.

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