A new use for a multitool

[Valkie]

I've been there

I've done that

I even have several T Shirts to prove it,

But I have found a new use for the mighty multitool.
Don't know if it's ever been done before.
Don't know if it will ever be done again, from my perspective, I hope not.

How is this for a nice new use............a tool to determine if a wire is live???

I was under the house, routing a new power point for the lounge room.
I was sure to turn off the fuse box and even remove the fuse (I'm not stupid you see)
But..I neglected to disable/ disconnect/ isolate the damn lighting circuit.

Now, why you ask would I not have NOT done this?
Because the lighting is run in the ceiling in my place and the power under the floor (he says with an assuring grin)

However, It seems, that at some time in the distant past (before I purchased the house) some bright spark decided to run a single wire down under the house from the ceiling for some obscure reason and leave it hanging under the floor.

I don't profess to know why.
I could not even guess his/ her reasoning.
But this one little wire was just hanging down doing nothing.
it was in my way, and because I had isolated the wiring under the house, I grabbed my tool and proceeded to cut the wire.

It's funny how your eyes flutter and you scream like a girl when hit with 240 volts.
Except, that is, for the person actually doing it.
I'm just glad the circuits on my house are earth leakage protected and I copped just a little warning before they dropped out.
Further investigation showed that the wire was connected to a light distribution box in the roof cavity for some reason (BUT IT AINT NO MORE)

So, the new use for a multitool as a live wire finder has been discovered.

Please don't use it for this purpose.
It makes you look silly.
It hurts.
Your eyes go all aflutter
Oh.....and it could be the last thing you ever do.

[smiller43147]

That's one MT use I think I'll skip.
Glad you're all right.

[Outback in Idaho]

  Recently recovered (I hope) from a surge that went through the entire trailer. East side of the trailer is grounded. But for some odd reason the west side has an open ground. So the surge protectors on the east side were rendered useless, and in the result had lost the PSU of my computer. Replaced it with what was supposed to been a 400 watt PSU, ended up being a much better 450 watt PSU with an inside-case 5 inch exhaust fan. $65 with shipping though.

  Every surge protector on the east side saved what they were connected to, but were permanently damaged. But the west side lost a couple of low end surge suppressors. Only one plug-in suppressor survived.

  Bought a kit of Klein Tools to test and determine voltage of lines. One plugs in as a 3 wire fault connector. Ended up getting a non-contact voltage tester with a temperature meter. Will be diagnosing my trailer with these tools. Somewhere the west side lost its ground.

  Had a thought at work though... if I put in an other grounding rod on the west side, can I then ground the wires that way? Or does the ground have to go through the circuit breakers? I am not familiar with alternating current, but am learning cause I have to.

 
  Have an APC Back-UPS on the computer now, but this is on a useless open ground. Am hoping it will suffice up until I can get the house situated so I can start diagnosing where the ground fault(s) lie.

  The outlet that caused the issue had a switch on it, along with a hanging wire that my cousin failed to tell me about when we bought the place from him. All these years never had a lick of trouble up until I bought a cheap oil radiant heater. Plugged in four days and the thermostat stopped working. As I adjusted it, the surge hit and I saw light patterns and noises that scared the living smurf out of me!!!!! Luckily the trailer did not burn down. Thank God!
  Outlet was fixed, and it was ugly when it was removed. Besides the lamp cord on the switch, the grounds were a mess, and he even grounded to the case.  Main ground was disconnected. Wires were running all over inside that area. Bought a book to teach me wiring and such, and I have a few more tools to work with.


  Saw that Volty item and wonder why someone would chance a short of their tool using it. One bad arc could cause a mess for a multitool. It is cute, but I'll use different tools.

[Outback in Idaho]

  Found this which may be of help for me later on. Will see.

 

[nate j]

Had a thought at work though... if I put in an other grounding rod on the west side, can I then ground the wires that way? Or does the ground have to go through the circuit breakers? I am not familiar with alternating current, but am learning cause I have to.

You may add another ground rod if you wish, but all grounding rods serving the trailer MUST be electrically bonded together.

The ground does not go through the circuit breakers.  The circuit breakers only interrupt the “hot” leg(s) of the circuit.

I hate to sound preachy, and hope you will take this in the spirit in which it is intended:  Please either get professional help or be absolutely sure you know what you are doing.  Far too many fires, shocks, and electrocutions have occurred because people tried to just wing it when working with electricity.  Electricity is unforgiving, and the first mistake you make with it could be your last.

[powernoodle]

I have a Safety Shrine in my basement.  It contains:

- a metal tape measure that my father-in-law touched on an electrical outlet, causing a boom boom and burning a big chunk out of the tape measure.
- a piece of blood-splattered bark from a tree my father was cutting, whereupon he touched the moving chainsaw blade with his hand requiring a trip to the emergency room.
- a baby bottle nipple that my wife was sterilizing in boiling water about 26 years ago.  We were watching a movie ("The Full Monty") and forgot about the stove, causing the water to boil away and the baby bottle stuff to melt.  The pan and its contents are in the Safety Shrine.
- a cell phone that my mother dropped in a bonfire
- a S&W revolver that was an a vehicle my mother was driving; the vehicle caught fire, destroying the car and the gun; and,
- a baby's outfit that Mrs. Powernoodle threw down the basement steps, landing on a light bulb and basically turning into charcoal.

Good times.

[Adam5]

 
  Had a thought at work though... if I put in an other grounding rod on the west side, can I then ground the wires that way? Or does the ground have to go through the circuit breakers? I am not familiar with alternating current, but am learning cause I have to.

I concur with Nate. All grounding electrodes should be bonded together and to the electrical service. You shouldn't drive a separate ground rod to create a ground for your outlets. Besides, it is doubtful that a solitary ground rod will create a sufficient connection to earth so that your surge protection would work properly.

The proper way to deal with this is to find the point where the circuit in question loses its ground connection and fix it or else install a new ground wire (more properly called an equipment ground conductor) from the outlet circuit to the panel or fuse box that the circuit originates from.

[Adam5]

I've been there

I've done that

I even have several T Shirts to prove it,

But I have found a new use for the mighty multitool.
Don't know if it's ever been done before.
Don't know if it will ever be done again, from my perspective, I hope not.

How is this for a nice new use............a tool to determine if a wire is live???

I was under the house, routing a new power point for the lounge room.
I was sure to turn off the fuse box and even remove the fuse (I'm not stupid you see)
But..I neglected to disable/ disconnect/ isolate the damn lighting circuit.

Now, why you ask would I not have NOT done this?
Because the lighting is run in the ceiling in my place and the power under the floor (he says with an assuring grin)

However, It seems, that at some time in the distant past (before I purchased the house) some bright spark decided to run a single wire down under the house from the ceiling for some obscure reason and leave it hanging under the floor.

I don't profess to know why.
I could not even guess his/ her reasoning.
But this one little wire was just hanging down doing nothing.
it was in my way, and because I had isolated the wiring under the house, I grabbed my tool and proceeded to cut the wire.

It's funny how your eyes flutter and you scream like a girl when hit with 240 volts.
Except, that is, for the person actually doing it.
I'm just glad the circuits on my house are earth leakage protected and I copped just a little warning before they dropped out.
Further investigation showed that the wire was connected to a light distribution box in the roof cavity for some reason (BUT IT AINT NO MORE)

So, the new use for a multitool as a live wire finder has been discovered.

Please don't use it for this purpose.
It makes you look silly.
It hurts.
Your eyes go all aflutter
Oh.....and it could be the last thing you ever do.

I never assume that a wire is not live. And it has only taken me 38 years of electrical shocks and destroying linesman's pliers to learn that lesson 

I am glad that your outlet circuit has earth leakage protection (known as ground fault protection here in the US). 240 volts is a bit more than a tingle 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Sadly I know all too well that multitools can be used to detect live electrical connections.  Luckily for me, it was only a 12V connection in the car.

The leads on my new starter in my old Jeep came loose on a trail one time and the only tool I had to fix it was a Leatherman Blast.  The half assed needle nose pliers found on most tools were just long enough to connect to the other lead with each crank.  The clearance was tight, so many cranks were required to properly tighten it.  Basically it was crank ZAP, crank, ZAP, crank ZAP over and over again.   

Multitools are excellent tools for finding live electricity.  Be careful with that stuff.   

Def

[Antti Lammi]

After i got electric shock 240v outlet ( iwasnt using MT then) i have been double and triple checking that all power is shut down before i even touch wires or electrical devices.


Only Tools Matters

[Outback in Idaho]

After i got electric shock 240v outlet ( iwasnt using MT then) i have been double and triple checking that all power is shut down before i even touch wires or electrical devices.


Only Tools Matters

  Exactly! Picked up a non-touch live wire detector, with an IR/laser temperature gauge. Picked up book called Wiring Simplified. Going to read that before I get any ideas. Do not like having an open ground... first things first. The newly replaced outlet is working just fine, and is grounded.

  Hoping the fridge comes back to normal temps again. Did notice the freezer is warming up a tad. It had the temp gauge pegged at -27. It was half way from there to 0. Fridge is getting closer to 40°. Do not want to buy another fridge. If I do will get some compact thing. Could get an ice chest and put it outside since it's rather cold here in Idaho.

[Fireman]

Because of my career, and good advice from my dad, I have a number of safety rules that I never violate.  One of them is not using bare metal handled cutters on electric wiring.   Not that I haven't found hot wires the flashy way, I just haven't dome it by cutting them.

[Valkie]

As stated, I had thought I fully isolated any potential live wires.
Why the light wire was running under the house Ill never know, but it aint NO MORE.

One other funny, but painful episode many years ago comes to mind.
I was helping my son set up an inverter in his caravan.
We were cutting in the powerpoint hole using power tools, but the damn kids kept turning off the power.
So, we decided to use the inverter and run the drill and multitool off the inverter.
Worked like a dream.

But I became complacent.
After finishing the hole I proceeded to strip the wire to terminate the 240 plug.
It were still alive it were.
and 240 volts through an inverter is still 240 volts.

My multitool left my hand and proceeded to do summersaults through the air.
I let out a bellow and my son next to me thought I was injured.
We saw blood on the floor but checking over my hands and body, could find no injury.
He then noticed that my leatherman sidekick hand pierced his instep and it was bleeding profusely.

We patched him up, but an infection later proved to be a real pain.
But at the time it was quite funny.
Both of us looking everywhere for where the blood was coming, and all the time it was coming from his toe.

By the way
Im 65 and not had a lot of shocks from power because i dont trust the stuff.