Electric Shock Treatment

[Tigman]

Today whilst drilling holes in steels ( Mag Drill ) I kept getting a packet from the drill , then it seemed to get worse and it was sparking as I touched the drill on the steels , I thought it were the Drill itself so downed tools and went and collected another Mag Drill fitted the bit and tried again and got another wallop !
The house we are working in has been stripped, electrics all shut off except the feed to the garage which is where our lead was plugged in , my 110 transformer was working fine yesterday as was my 110 lead , the RCD to the garage doesnt trip !

Anyone got any ideas ? drill works fine in the workshop this afternoon !

 

[WorkshopChris]

If you are using a 110v transformer the fault may be on the secondary side, make sure nothing has come lose inside the transformer or any connected extension cables as the first stage of tracing your problem.

 

[Tigman]

I looked in the transformer nothing obvious , changed the 240 v lead with a newer lead still got same wallop , dont half make you jump when your on a platform up high !

 

[WorkshopChris]

I looked in the transformer nothing obvious , changed the 240 v lead

Your transformer was on the end of a 230v extension cable not plugged in to a wall outlet ?
that makes a difference.

 

[Tigman]

Your transformer was on the end of a 230v extension cable not plugged in to a wall outlet ?
that makes a difference.

why would that make a difference ?

 

[dobbslc]

@Tigman its worth checking that the place you're working in actually has an earth! Sounds a bit dodgy to me!

 

[Tigman]

Thats what I was thinking , my gear is all pretty new so Im sure its not me , got an electrician to come and have a nose on Monday so we can crack on , it was a painful mornings work !

 

[WorkshopChris]

Is the rcd definitely working? Did it operate from the test button on the front.

why would that make a difference ?

Could be broken neutral issue locally.

 

[Tigman]

I didnt try test buttons ! all other trip switches have been taped in the off position all except the garage

 

[Tigman]

it seems to me that I was earthing the system that had a fault ?

 

[Shox Dr]

Are you sure its turned off?
I was told a 3ph cable was dead, we’d been walking round it for weeks before someone picked it up and caught a steel stanchion with the end. Big bang, and poo came out. Be careful