This thing, which I have just unscrewed, is connected to the power shower somehow. I think it's supposed to turn the shower off because there's no other way to do that, short of at the fuse box. It doesn't seem to work, pulling it does nothing and I have to go to the fuse box after every shower. The fuse for the shower is currently off, but the lights in the room are still on. Is it safe now for me to unscrew the wires and replace it? I was feeling confident but I'd like a second opinion.
Lights are on a different network-thingy always, so you should be fine, but I did just call it a network-thingy and click your picture to see if it's a dildo so perhaps you'd like a third opinion.
It should be fine, but I never trust that a circuit is de-energised and I always check with a non-contact voltage tester. Judging by the state of that pull cord switch, it might be rash to assume that the wiring was correctly installed and properly maintained.
>>3200 You're correct very little here was properly installed and ever maintained. Rather than me buying yet another device I'll only use once, is it not enough to know that when pulled, the shower (usually, when the spring works) turns off and that when I turn the fuse off, the shower also goes off?
I found out while trial-and-error fixing some of my ancient leccy heaters, that turning off the breaker for that one heater at the mains box doesn't actually kill the live supply to that heater, and indeed the whole circuit is broken if I left the switch outlet for that heater un-wired. In the end I bypassed it by grounding the live wire and the rest started working again, but still, it shows that I could have been playing with live mains power if I had just blindly assumed that one breaker would take that part out of the circuit. Felt very thankful to my past self that I had played it safe for once instead of assuming "be reyt".
Did feel like a big bollocked bloke bloke for doing it, but at the same time, lectrics is dead easy innit. The fuck do sparkies get paid so much more than me for when I can figure out their job just using background memories of GCSE science lessons?
