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OTHER GUIDES & TIPS

Landlords warned on dangerous DIY electrical mistakes

Electricians have revealed the 10 most dangerous mistakes made by those attempting electrical DIY, with some possibly leading to serious injuries or worse. 

Almost half of those questioned in a survey admit to having meddled with electrics in a property. 

The most dangerous mistake is not protecting plastic-sheathed cable - apparently a significant potential danger because leaving plastic-sheathed cables unprotected exposes them to snagging and cuts, which could lead to fires or lethal shocks. Running them through a conduit minimises this risk.

The next most dangerous problems as a result of DIY work were leaving switching or outlets loosely connected, cutting wires too short, recessing boxes behind the wall surface, installing cables without a clamp, leaving connecting wires outside of electrical boxes, overfilling electrical boxes, accidentally reversing the hot and neutral wires, wiring a circuit breaker backwards, and installing electrical outlets close to water.

  Dominick Sandford, managing director at ElectricalDirect - which commissioned the survey - says: “Interest in DIY has massively increased over the last few years and while this is great to see, it’s important that people stay away from certain electrical jobs that can lead to injuries.”

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    When they say DIY what I find are bodge jobs ! I have had to get the proper trades in to fix all sorts of jobs on not just my BTL’s but my own home when I purchased it. Cheap people at the heart of it all.

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    I am a retired electrician and I have found over the years “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” The main problem is a lot of electrical devices seem to work correctly even though they are wired incorrectly. One simple example is a light turning ON and OFF. They switch the “Neutral” instead of the “Live”.

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