Is it safe - live cable wrapped in insulation tape

ey143

We are slowly gutting out our place and I have asked a handyman to remove a kitchenette from the 1st floor of my house so that I can get an additional council tax banding removed (self contained granny annex in a house I just bought).

We switched off the mains electricity, removed a cooker hob and then wrapped the individual cable strands many many times in insultation tape and then wrapped the whole thing together and tucked the whole thing in the corner of the room for when the big rennovation work starts.

I have yet to switch back on the main fuse box for that part of the house (I have a separate meter for that part of the house but not a fuse for that cooker hood I dont think).

Is this safe / ok or can it still catch fire?

muckybutt

Although you wont get a shock off the cable it is by NO MEANS SAFE !

The cable or cables should all be terminated into a connector block appropriate to the fuse rating then insulated with electrical tape. remember if the cables were from a socket then they may be on a ring, in which case BOTH cables need to be in the same connector block or you will lose continuity of the ring.

Is this handyman an approved and qualified sparky ? sure doesn't sound like it.

ey143

No he's not qualified. Sounds like I will be leaving my mains switch off for sometime then. Do want to spend money on it if leaving it off is a temp solution and the house is empty. Just need to make sure I tell the builders.

Thx.

Ruski

Can you not remove the cable from the cooker point outlet/switch point? That way there will not be a loose 'lead' flapping about and the circuit will be properly terminated.

HTH

Russ

ey143

It's just coming straight out from the wall so not sure how this can be easily done.

googler

Strictly speaking, there should be a wall switch for the hob, and the cable should come from there.

Mankysteve

If its a cooker hob it will most likely have its own feed and fuse at the . Remove the fuse for it and get a proper electrician to sort it properly.

andydiysaver

get fuse out, you don't want it live with insulation tape over or not - it probably wouldn't spark if the job's been done well with the insulating tape because that tape does what it says it does and insulates- your problems is far more someone discovers it years/decades later and that's the last thing they do - esp as you don't know the amperage of the circuit, would it trip a fuse at 3 amps, or more likely would it continue to fry well through that?


you wanna break the circuit, then cut wire off.

Owain_Moneysaver

muckybutt wrote: »

The cable or cables should all be terminated into a connector block appropriate to the fuse rating then insulated with electrical tape.

Electrical tape is for identification not insulation.

Owain_Moneysaver

ey143 wrote: »

I have yet to switch back on the main fuse box for that part of the house (I have a separate meter for that part of the house but not a fuse for that cooker hood I dont think).

Cooker hob or hood?

A hob should be on its own circuit and the cable disconnected inside the fusebox/consumer unit.

A hood should be connected by a fused connection unit and the location of that should be found and the cable disconnected there.

Otherwise the cable should be terminated in a junction box that includes cable clamps eg
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/ASJ803.html

ey143

It's a cooker hob. As I mentioned, its only temporary as the place will be gutted out completely starting in a few months and the house totally rewired.

There was a main red switch in the kitchenette but it didn't seem to do anything because even in the off position the hob would light up. Wasn't able to find a fuse switch on the RCD in the garage either.