10 Mistakes EVERYONE Makes When Doing DIY Electrics!💥

If you want to make sure you are doing your job correctly, then you will need a proper test device for that. ⚡Kewtech KT 1780 - amzn.to/43Gglzk

Makes me want to do a video about the mistakes I've discovered done by qualified electricians on houses I have purchased over the years!

Fun stuff and so typical mistakes for many DIYers. But the wound up extention cord running hot, has nothing to do with inductance. It simply the resistance of the cable that cause it to heat up - but being rolled up like a coil, the heat can not escape from the cable very easy (compared to if the cable is rolled out), so the temperature rise quite a lot As the resistance of copper also goes up by the temperature, this causes it heat up even more in a sort of thermal runaway. This can cause the coil of cable to get toasty, very quickly.

The heat produced in a wound up extension lead is NOT caused by induction. It is caused by conductor resistance and lack of cooling.

Extension leads - Inductance is not the problem, it's the resistance that creates heat. Cable is rated for a situation where air can circulate around it. Winding it onto a reel adds insultation so the copper temperature rises.

Another vital step for #7: Check your circuit testing device for proper operation before you rely on it....

One other thing not mentioned, but something I've not seen done in a fair number of outdoor DIY cabling setups are Drip Loops. Instead you tend to see cables running straight down a wall, right into a junction box with nowhere for the water to go!

I'm in my 50's and did a 5 year apprenticeship as an Electronics Technician when I left school. I then became good friends with an Electrician who over the years taught me a lot about household electrical wiring etc. As a result I feel that I'm relatively competent as a DIYer and myself have seem some hacks that were so dangerous I physically shuddered at them. Every bit of work I've ever done on my house electrics, I have an electrician come out and check it. When I built my workshop in the garden 20' x 10', I fitted a 20 socket ring main and 12 light ring. I ran the Armour cable to the CU and had an electrician come check it and connect it up. He said he had no qualms with connecting it and certifying it as the job was good. My point isn't to "big up" my skills and knowledge, but to point out that not all DIYers are terrible, some of us actually go out of our way to make sure we do a good job because we realise that our lives and the lives of our families are very much on the line.

Another common mistake is pushing the wire too far into the terminal so that the screw is tightened onto the outer insulation of the wire rather than the copper, thus no connection. Particularly bad if done to the earth.

Wow so that was wrong squared. The induction was not the problem on the extension cord It was simply the thermal resistance of the cable to air.

The cord is not about induction but simply resistance. When it is wound up it cannot dissipate heat and cool. Once it heats up the resistance increases and it heats even more. All those thermal protections, as well as fuses and circuit breakers are in case an overload happens. They are not some permission to load as much you can and rely on them to cut.

Electricians trade is like no other for slagging off everybody else's work except their own.....

Some of those DIY fails like clipping I've also seen from "professionals" trying to rush a job :)

As a DIYer, after seeing this, I feel very competent in my work. I use a very old and reliable Fluke multimeter for various tests, would never dream of all the things you've covered here so I must be in the 'safe' zone (although I have electrocuted myself twice but isn't that to be expected, the first time was as a young child with poking wire in a socket🤣). After visiting my loft, I can say that it's a mess, clearly the electrician wasn't to our standards. I have a 10 meter EV charger cable which I always unwind regardless how close the car is, just to me, common sense.

As the legendary oil rig fire fighter Red Adair said “If you think that hiring professionals is expensive, try hiring amateurs.”

Good call out with the coiled-up extension lead. That is something I don't see enough people talk about, to be honest. (As others have pointed out, it's not actually about induction, it's actually just about not having enough airflow to properly cool the wire, but the main point is still a good one.) And yeah, you had a pretty nice one there with a thermal cutout and everything, but a lot of them don't have that. It doesn't even have to be one of the really long ones with their own carrying spool like that one was, just a plain extension wire that somebody has left coiled up in a loop sitting on the ground can get a lot hotter than it's supposed to if a decent amount of power is pulled through it. And the reason you don't want extra exposed conductors even inside a box is because sure, it works now but then later somebody comes on and moves something around and something falls on one of them or one of them gets pushed into something else and all of a sudden you've got a dangerous short. It's not just about getting things to work right at that moment, it's also about making sure they won't go horribly wrong somewhere down the line, too. Oh, and with the screw terminals, one other important point, IMHO: Always tighten them twice. Screw them down initially, then move the rest of your wires around, get everything properly in place, and get ready to button the whole thing back up, and then go around and make sure all the screw terminals are still tight. It's amazing how often they can become loose just from moving stuff around after you've initially tightened them (part of the reason I much prefer other types of connectors like the WAGOs when they're an option).

Coiled extension has current running in opposite directions (hot ("live") out, neutral back) so induction is cancelled out. It's simply that with enough current the cable heats and because it's coiled the heat isn't dissipated as it would be on an uncoiled line.

Well done on making this video Jordan. You are educating the masses to their mistakes and making people more aware of how dangerous their action can be. I was an electricians mate and have seen some of the bell wire to lights in attics and sheds or even two core and cpc outside and a family memeber even had two core and cpc on a catenary wire from house to shed lol. I soon isolated the circuit and swapped it out with some Hi-Tuff along with fitting a metal clad socket in the shed. I would always crimp my flex cable before terminating with a scew.

I well remember a case when I was on a Tech Theatre Course back in the Eighties. The theatre was adjoining the old Victorian house, and while the LX had it's own supply, other equipment tended to be run from the house's supply. On this show the whole stage had been painted with size paint and then sealed with Emulsion Glaze (PVA). During the night there had been a leak and the stage was soaked, walking on it would rip up the paint, and that was a key part of the show. So. Every heater we could find was put on stage to try to dry it before the afternoon Matinee. Couldn't even mop it, it was so soft! So the extension cable (at full length), got hotter and hotter, then blew the fuse. The Chief LX on the show went to the fuse box and pulled this huge, palm sized ceramic MK fuse out without thinking, and got MK branded into his palm. Nasty!

The whole plugging extension inti extension doesnt really apply here thats why the fuse exists. its actually quite hard to overload ive tried just out of interest. Now all these are common sense i genuinely dont get how people think any of this is ok. Ive seen people do it and my mind just cant comprehend how they think its safe.