Well have been around the forum for a little while now and feel quite comfortable about admitting my near disaster.
Some time ago a new neighbour arrived next door. Not having all his stuff delivered and needing to cut his grass I suggested I loan him my Flymo. "Oh I have only ever used a petrol mower or a manual unit" he says. "No problem" I reply and give him some basic instruction in using emphasising the need to keep the working end well away from the electric cable.
I then leave him to it while I go out shopping. An hour later I return and find the mower near my doorstep with the cable so tangled it took me 15 minutes to sort out. Also find that the cable had been severed!!
My wife told me that I had only been gone for a couple of minutes when our new neighbour knocked on the door and with a look of acute embarrassment explained that he had this slight accident.
I went to see him just to let him no that it was no big deal and establish that he was ok. He actually offered to by me a new lawnmower!! I of course replied do not even think of it I will just repair the cable. He did not even realise this option possible!!
Went home said to She Who Must be Obeyed. He is a really nice guy but a total numpty on anything practical.
I decided that the best way to deal with the cable would be to get a weatherproof cable extender and just use this to connect the severed cable together. It would also have the advantage of allowing most of the cable to be stored apart from the mower.
Having wired the mower testing and satisfied all ok I decided to lower the blade (yes I am finally getting to the point!). Instead of walking to the garage I decided to just pull the connector apart. You may be already ahead of me here!
As soon as I pulled the cable apart I realised that the two brass prongs I was looking at were live - yes I had wired it the wrong way!! Luckily I had spotted it in time and immediately disconnected power and re made the connection.
So who was the bigger numpty?
Some time ago a new neighbour arrived next door. Not having all his stuff delivered and needing to cut his grass I suggested I loan him my Flymo. "Oh I have only ever used a petrol mower or a manual unit" he says. "No problem" I reply and give him some basic instruction in using emphasising the need to keep the working end well away from the electric cable.
I then leave him to it while I go out shopping. An hour later I return and find the mower near my doorstep with the cable so tangled it took me 15 minutes to sort out. Also find that the cable had been severed!!
My wife told me that I had only been gone for a couple of minutes when our new neighbour knocked on the door and with a look of acute embarrassment explained that he had this slight accident.
I went to see him just to let him no that it was no big deal and establish that he was ok. He actually offered to by me a new lawnmower!! I of course replied do not even think of it I will just repair the cable. He did not even realise this option possible!!
Went home said to She Who Must be Obeyed. He is a really nice guy but a total numpty on anything practical.
I decided that the best way to deal with the cable would be to get a weatherproof cable extender and just use this to connect the severed cable together. It would also have the advantage of allowing most of the cable to be stored apart from the mower.
Having wired the mower testing and satisfied all ok I decided to lower the blade (yes I am finally getting to the point!). Instead of walking to the garage I decided to just pull the connector apart. You may be already ahead of me here!
As soon as I pulled the cable apart I realised that the two brass prongs I was looking at were live - yes I had wired it the wrong way!! Luckily I had spotted it in time and immediately disconnected power and re made the connection.
So who was the bigger numpty?
had a lasting effect too, just clocked up 20 years as an HV substation Fitter with the local Electricity Board 
