Drunken Bungle Whore

I know people have died when they've mown through the power cable. My question is - how? Does the electricity flow up the handle of the mower and into their body? If so, why don't manufacturers cover the handles with thick rubber grips? Or would this not be enough?

OllyK

It's usually from them picking the cable up or with damp grass. If you have an RCD fitted it's a non issue.

davegtt

Would the cable not just have to make contact with your skin?

Ive cut through the lawnmower cable twice in the last 5 years Still alive though

OllyK

Pretty much, nupties running their hands along the cord and hitting the wire. It's more a case of the inner wires being exposed with the cable not being completely cut.

Saw a mate doing it looking for the what he expected to be the end of the cable, I yelled at him just before he collected 240.

scoob_babe

I managed to go through the cable the last time I mowed the lawn - nothing happened at all!
If you seen any of my posts on general lawncare, you won't be surprised why I am banned from gardening!

OllyK

Was it connected to an RCD? Many newer houses actually have an RCD on the main breakerboard covering any sockets that may reasonably be used for powering outside items.

scoob_babe

Sorry Olly, you got me there! What's an RCD?!?!?
I think I only went over the plastic and cut that rather than the wires as well since it got patched up and has worked ever since.

OllyK

Ahh, if you didn't expose the wires, you'll be fine. RCD = Residule Current Device, basically it detects things like a cable being cut and kills the power before you can get a fatal shock.

scoob_babe

Aha, yes it did just cut out on me.
Not much good with electricals but I am better with Warehousing and Financial software!

Leslie

If you were touching the handle as the cable was cut, and that is easy to do of course-you could have a shocking time as the knives cut the cable.

Les

OllyK

You could indeed, but the likes of flymos have plastic coated handles anyway!

Painkiller

You must be a plank if you manage to cut a power cable while lawn mowing.

saying that i still fall off me mountain bike

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

easily done
I did a similar thing with my hedge trimmer years ago.
Cutting through the hedge, loads of branches and foliage everywhere, didnt see the trailing cable..suddenly the bloody thing stopped working.

Yelled to the missus if she had unplugged it
Worked my way down the cable until I found that I had cut through it and yes..I did touch the end to check

Lets just say, I wont be doing that in a hurry again

orbix

When I was a boy I use to watch my dad mow the garden and ask if I could do it.

While my dad was teaching me what to do he use to say "don't mow over the
cable or you'll die!"

I think this has been imprinted on my mind ever since, as when I use the vacuum cleaner I avoid the cable.

Luckily for me I have a petrol mower.

Painkiller

haha i did bitch at me mum for me to hoover up then cut the cable with scissors set fire to my not so cool jumper!

scoob_babe

Quite easy really, I turned around and didn't realise that the cable had got caught up
I just put the lawnmower away and fessed up that something was wrong when he got home - I never even looked at the cable!!!!!!!!!!

Shark Man

That doesn't happen. Maybe if it was really old lawnmower where the chassis wasn't double insulated and thus needed to be earthed (and therefore the handle) there is the risk that the live wire will short to the earth wire or touch the a metal part on the mower such as the blade or chassis and you can get a hefty shock before (or if) the fuse (eventually) blows (presuming no RCD).

Modern mowers (since the 1980's at least ) are double insulated. Therfore no need for an earth cable, and the handle by design is isolated from anything that a severed wire could touch. The only way it could electrocute somone in this manner is if the mower has a metal handle and the severed wire actually touched the handle itself.

This is why most recentish electric mowers have plastic coated fixing bolts for the blade, which inturn attaches to a plastic hub, and the motor is attached to a plastic chassis.

thesyn

In order to get a shock off a cut wire you have to have contact with the live wire either directly or through the uninsulated chasis of the mower/ trimmer. This is unlikely as cutting the flex with a metal blade will almost always cause a short circuit and pop the fuse on the consumer unit. If contact with live current does occur then in order for significant current to flow through your body it has to provide the lowest electrical resistance path for the current to reach earth and fortunately the human boy is not a particularly good conducter but damp conditions do decrease its resistance increasing the risk of a jolt.
An unusual way to die in these well insulated times

what would scooby do

Especially since one has a petrol mower

Jamie

that was in 1979

vindaloo

If it's case case of going to a mower shop and buying a new, CE labelled 2007 edition lawn mower, you've got little to worry about, especially if you pay attention to the usual blurb that's around and buy an RCD for it as well.

Unfortunately, that all goes well out of the window if the mower is a) ancient or b) fsck'd or c) both.

My brother's done the "slice the cable <pop> thing. It was RCD'd though so no "BANG" and it didn't even seem to pit the metal blade. Amusingly, this happened when my mother distracted him by leaning out of the window and reminding him to use the RCD!

A colleague had a Flymo with a plastic blade. He was changing the blade over but unbeknownst (sp) to him, the on/off switch in the handle was faulty. It powered up whilst he was in mid-tinker-about. Blade snapped off on the first revolution and flew up into his face, causing a 1/2 cut on his cheek and a scar you can still see today. Then the broken blade came back around a few times and sliced up the inside of his fingers. Cue visit to casualty, discussions about possible nerve damage and a week off work....

J.