I almost electrocuted myself

[ryebred]

I was cutting zip cord outside and hooking it up to the lights in my bushes. I had cut the controller end of it and snapped on the vampire plug and plugged it in to the controller. The power cords for the controller were unplugged at this time. Then the phone rang and I went inside and got sidetracked with other things. By the time I came back out, it was dark. In order to see what I was doing so that I could finish up, I turned on all the lights on my display. Then I went back out to my zip cord roll and proceeded to cut it to length. Well, I had forgotten that I had already plugged it in to the controller. What ensued was a bright flash of light with a loud popping sound which scared me half to death.

Thankfully, I was not electrocuted and electrically smart people could probably tell me why. Possibly because one hand was holding the insulated wire and the other was holding the plastic end of the scissors. Maybe the flash was the arcing from the wire to the metal part of the scissors?

At any rate, I learned two lessons. 1.) Try to finish a task before getting sidetracked on something else and 2.) Most importantly, always plug the controller end of the wire in as the last step even if I am certain the controllers themselves are unplugged.

[Guest Don Gillespie]

ryebred wrote:

I was cutting zip cord outside and hooking it up to the lights in my bushes. I had cut the controller end of it and snapped on the vampire plug and plugged it in to the controller. The power cords for the controller were unplugged at this time. Then the phone rang and I went inside and got sidetracked with other things. By the time I came back out, it was dark. In order to see what I was doing so that I could finish up, I turned on all the lights on my display. Then I went back out to my zip cord roll and proceeded to cut it to length. Well, I had forgotten that I had already plugged it in to the controller. What ensued was a bright flash of light with a loud popping sound which scared me half to death.

Thankfully, I was not electrocuted and electrically smart people could probably tell me why. Possibly because one hand was holding the insulated wire and the other was holding the plastic end of the scissors. Maybe the flash was the arcing from the wire to the metal part of the scissors?

At any rate, I learned two lessons. 1.) Try to finish a task before getting sidetracked on something else and 2.) Most importantly, always plug the controller end of the wire in as the last step even if I am certain the controllers themselves are unplugged.

You forgot lesson # 3 don't answer the phone when you are setting up thats why they have voice mail LOL

[-klb-]

I also usually try to assemble the female ends first. It doesn't always happen, but every one you do that way is one that is unlikely to get you in trouble. The insulated handles of your cutter are the biggest thing to be thankfull for. But if you were also fully insulated from all other conductors, you should be fine, even without insulated cutters.

But just like houses, the more insulation, the better.