Hedge trimmer, cut through the wire (how can I fix it)

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,386
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Ok guys, been around to my cousins new house today doing the hedges for her and took my moms hedge trimmers (my moms on hol) and about 3 mins after being told to watch I dont cut through the wire, what do I do? Got it! :(

I have been the the electrical shop and bought alittle plastic thing that reconects the wires (brown and blue) and put a new fuse in the plug, but still nothing :confused:

Anyone know what I can do to fix it?

Thanks
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  • mirandashellmirandashell Posts: 2,943
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    Get someone who knows what they are doing to fix it?

    Seriously, don't mess about with electricity if you don't know how.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,140
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    RampageOC wrote: »
    Ok guys, been around to my cousins new house today doing the hedges for her and took my moms hedge trimmers (my moms on hol) and about 3 mins after being told to watch I dont cut through the wire, what do I do? Got it! :(

    I have been the the electrical shop and bought alittle plastic thing that reconects the wires (brown and blue) and put a new fuse in the plug, but still nothing :confused:

    Anyone know what I can do to fix it?

    Thanks

    DId you connect it up correctly and use appropriately rated connectors and fuse and did you get a good seal around the repair?

    Seriously mate don't use connecting blocks and tape on something for out side it is very unsafe.

    If you need to repair it and you are very confident as well as competent you would be best to open the trimmer up and re connect the wires inside it. However if you don't have a clue what you are doing see a electrician/electrical repair specialist.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,856
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    Might the hedge trimmer have some sort of safety cut out switch built in that's tripped? I've no idea if they do, but it sounds possible if you've got it all wired with new fuse and no joy. In fact, you'll have electrified the blade when you cut through it so it probably is a fuse/switch in the unit - also take it it's a different plug socket you're using for testing as you could have blown the house/garage fuse?
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    I did this exact thing with my sisters friends dad's trimmer :(

    Did you cut near the end of the wire?

    I did and what I did was open the trimmer. . .took out the bit of cable connected to the machine and looked how it was connected to the inside of the machine.
    I then took the other bit of cable (that was connected to the plug) and stripped the end of it to match the original. Then I put in the cable , changed the fuse and it worked (though the cable is shorter. . .but not noticeable if the length of the cable was huge anyway. :))
  • Warfield RoyalWarfield Royal Posts: 215
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    Something to be aware of is that the fuse is there to protect the cable from catching fire and not to stop you from being electrocuted.

    When using garden appliances consider using an RCD (Residual Current Device).
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,140
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    Just had a wee re read of this and noticed something.

    Is there an Earth wire? As OP you only mentioned two the Live and Neutral. There should be an Earth for it.

    Thanks to Warfield Royal for mentioning RCD's I wouldn't have spotted that mistake.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,386
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    Thanks for the replys everyone.

    I have tried it in different plug sockets, So I dont think its the plug socket. I went and bought a new fuse from an electrical shop (shown the guy the other and he gave me the one I should use) So not the fuse. He also gave a plastic connector that reconects the wires. Theres 2 little metal things inside it that you unscrew and put the wire into each side (the metal things are simalar to whats in a light switch) and still nothing:confused:

    If it is a switch thats been triggered, how would I get it working again? Would I be best cutting the wire and reconnecting it inside the cutter?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,386
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    Just had a wee re read of this and noticed something.

    Is there an Earth wire? As OP you only mentioned two the Live and Neutral. There should be an Earth for it.

    Thanks to Warfield Royal for mentioning RCD's I wouldn't have spotted that mistake.

    Thanks for the reply.

    Its in the garage now, so I wont be able to look untill tomorrow. And what color is an earth wire? There was only 2, a Blue and a Brown wire.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,386
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    aaronon wrote: »
    I did this exact thing with my sisters friends dad's trimmer :(

    Did you cut near the end of the wire?

    I did and what I did was open the trimmer. . .took out the bit of cable connected to the machine and looked how it was connected to the inside of the machine.
    I then took the other bit of cable (that was connected to the plug) and stripped the end of it to match the original. Then I put in the cable , changed the fuse and it worked (though the cable is shorter. . .but not noticeable if the length of the cable was huge anyway. :))

    I cut very close to the cutter. I cut both ends off the wire and stripped the plastic coating so the metal wiring was out and then connected each ends to a connector.
  • humdrummerhumdrummer Posts: 4,487
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    I've cut through a hedge trimmer cord twice. Number three is still surviving. Both times a spark and smoke was seen coming from the motor vents. I've just assumed that basically they were beyond repair after seeing that!

    You can get cheap ones from Argos. Probably best to do that than spend any more money on fixing this one.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,386
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    humdrummer wrote: »
    I've cut through a hedge trimmer cord twice. Number three is still surviving. Both times a spark and smoke was seen coming from the motor vents. I've just assumed that basically they were beyond repair after seeing that!

    You can get cheap ones from Argos. Probably best to do that than spend any more money on fixing this one.

    How did you fix yours?

    And I seen a spark and spoke, but it come from where I had cut the wire.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,140
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    RampageOC wrote: »
    Thanks for the replys everyone.

    I have tried it in different plug sockets, So I dont think its the plug socket. I went and bought a new fuse from an electrical shop (shown the guy the other and he gave me the one I should use) So not the fuse. He also gave a plastic connector that reconects the wires. Theres 2 little metal things inside it that you unscrew and put the wire into each side (the metal things are simalar to whats in a light switch) and still nothing:confused:

    If it is a switch thats been triggered, how would I get it working again? Would I be best cutting the wire and reconnecting it inside the cutter?

    Seriously do not use the trimmer with that type of connection since it is for an out side appliance. You can not guarantee a fully water proof connection so it may get wet and you could easily be electrocuted due to this.

    I would also advise you to stop right there and do no more. You will need to open up the trimmer and reconnect within it. Something that is best left to someone who knows how to do it and test appropriately.

    Also about the sockets in the house you may have tripped the circuit breaker as well so you will have cut power to one of the socket circuits.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,140
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    RampageOC wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply.

    Its in the garage now, so I wont be able to look untill tomorrow. And what color is an earth wire? There was only 2, a Blue and a Brown wire.

    Get rid of the trimmer! You should have a green and yellow wire as well as the blue and brown ones.

    The green and yellow wire is there to help protect you against potential electric shock due to this sort of incident as well as earth the appliances exposed metal parts.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,386
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    Seriously do not use the trimmer with that type of connection since it is for an out side appliance. You can not guarantee a fully water proof connection so it may get wet and you could easily be electrocuted due to this.

    I would also advise you to stop right there and do no more. You will need to open up the trimmer and reconnect within it. Something that is best left to someone who knows how to do it and test appropriately.

    Also about the sockets in the house you may have tripped the circuit breaker as well so you will have cut power to one of the socket circuits.

    I think its called a chocbox that I used to connect it. I would never use anything like this in the rain anyway.

    I will take it to my uncle, he is good with this sort of stuff. Maybe he will be able to fix it inside the machine.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,386
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    Get rid of the trimmer! You should have a green and yellow wire as well as the blue and brown ones.

    The green and yellow wire is there to help protect you against potential electric shock due to this sort of incident as well as earth the appliances exposed metal parts.

    I will leave it untill I take it to someone who knows. I will check for sure tomorrow just to make sure there isnt more wires inside the cable. Im sure there was only 2 though.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,140
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    RampageOC wrote: »
    I think its called a chocbox that I used to connect it. I would never use anything like this in the rain anyway.

    I will take it to my uncle, he is good with this sort of stuff. Maybe he will be able to fix it inside the machine.

    It doesn't matter about using it in the rain it will still be prone to getting wet from surface water on the ground.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,386
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    It doesn't matter about using it in the rain it will still be prone to getting wet from surface water on the ground.

    Very true.

    Im going to get someone to see if they can cut the wire and reconect it inside the machine.
  • CaxtonCaxton Posts: 28,881
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    Regarding the earth wire, it probably has only two wires. If the appliance is double insulated it does not require an earth wire. The ONLY safe way is to have a complete new cable fitted by a competent electrician, forget chocblocks and the like.
  • PhredPhred Posts: 1,147
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    Could be the fuse in the plug has blown.

    Never use a chockblock for such temporary repairs.

    We have all our external electric gardening equipment (hedge cutters, chain saw, mower and strimmer) fitted with the male end of a 2 pin connector (see post 3 above) within 150mm of the equipment, and this connects to a long cable from the plug which terminates in the female end of the 2 pin connector.

    Always use the cable unrolled to prevent heat build up.

    Virtually all such equipment since the 1980s has been double insulated so only needs 2 core cable.

    Also the reason why gardening equipment uses orange or yellow cable is because it is more visible than other colours, so making the likelihood of slicing through it less !!!!!
  • tony13579tony13579 Posts: 1,145
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    A simple in line orange two pin connector fitted properly should be safe. however argos sell a very capable hedge trimmer by challange for around £30. It is cordless and quite effective on stuff up to pencil thickness.
    one charge can cut enough off to fill two estate cars! I have had one 4 four years. It does the job, cheap, no cables.
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    And a tip for next time.

    Make sure you have plenty of slack cable. Run the cable as far away from the hedge as practical, never lay it along the bottom. Keep it a few feet out from the hedge.

    Loop the mains cable over your shoulder so the cable falls down your back and leg to the ground. Just be careful however you don't end up tripping over it. Though if you lay out the cable properly that should not be too much of a problem.

    If you cut through the mains lead in that scenario then I rather suspect getting a shock will be the least of your worries as your leg will be hanging off ! :)
  • Warfield RoyalWarfield Royal Posts: 215
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    Get rid of the trimmer! You should have a green and yellow wire as well as the blue and brown ones.

    The green and yellow wire is there to help protect you against potential electric shock due to this sort of incident as well as earth the appliances exposed metal parts.

    This is completely wrong. Appliances need to earthed when there is a danger that the chassis of the appliance could become connected to live in which case the earth connection will cause the current to be directed to ground instead of through your body.

    This hedge trimmer is obviously double insulated and does not have exposed metal p[arts which could become live and so it does not require an earth wire.

    If an earth wire was fitted or possibly present in the cable but disconnected then the paradoxically the arrangement would actually be more dangerous because of the increased chance of a person receiving an electric shock between live and ground.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 407
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    RampageOC wrote: »
    I have tried it in different plug sockets, So I dont think its the plug socket.
    There is no such thing as a plug socket. There is a plug and a socket - 2 seperate entities.
    Sorry for adding nothing useful, but that's just a pet hate of mine :o
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,140
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    This is completely wrong. Appliances need to earthed when there is a danger that the chassis of the appliance could become connected to live in which case the earth connection will cause the current to be directed to ground instead of through your body.

    This hedge trimmer is obviously double insulated and does not have exposed metal p[arts which could become live and so it does not require an earth wire.

    If an earth wire was fitted or possibly present in the cable but disconnected then the paradoxically the arrangement would actually be more dangerous because of the increased chance of a person receiving an electric shock between live and ground.

    The earth is there to return the electricity direct to ground and since it is within the cable you will only receive a shock over one hand even if at all* as the supply you are using should have cut out as soon as you cut the cable. As a electrical fault circuit would have been created (ground to earth fault) and the reason for RCD's is to detect the imbalance between the Phase, Neutral and Earth Conductors. They will usually cut out immediately as they are set to detect a fault of around 30 to 50 mA and a fault like that would be hitting well over that.


    *Unless you are very stupid and strip the wire back and hold the Live conductor in one hand and either the earth or neutral in the other and then switch the supply on. You will get a shock across the heart and that can be fatal.
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