Electricity can be dangerous, and care must always be taken when working with it so as to avoid making any dangerous mistakes. These mistakes, often made by those who are unfamiliar with working with electricity, can be deadly. It's always best to consult with a professional electrician before taking on any home projects that involve electrical work.
Electrician Mistakes: Wires and Cables
One of the biggest dangers when working with electricity is using the wrong size, referred to as "gauge", of wire for a particular usage. Electric wire comes in different gauges, each designed for a particular type of use. When the wire is thicker, it can handle more electric current. If the wire gauge is not large enough for a particular circuit, this can cause the wire to overheat. In fact, it might even short out before the circuit breaker or fuse can break the circuit.
Problems can also occur when using plastic coated wire, which is referred to as "cable". These cables must be fastened securely to beams and wall studs, but care must be taken not to damage or nick the cables. This can easily happen if the staples which are used to attach the cables to the wall studs are driven too tightly.
Another problem that can occur with plastic cable is leaving it exposed and unprotected. This leaves it vulnerable to damage, and should always be avoided. It can be protected by attaching a 1-1/2 inch thick board alongside the cable. This will protect it from dangerous damage.
Electrician Mistakes - Switches and Plates
Switches and outlet plates must always be wired correctly. If a home has a two prong outlet, these cannot be replaced with a grounded outlet receptacle unless the wiring itself is also upgraded to be grounded. You also must never put a metal cover plate over ungrounded boxes or ungrounded receptacles.
Outlets and switches can also run into problems if they are too loose. This can cause them to move around, possibly allowing the wires to loosen from their terminals. This could cause arcing and overheating, which can create a fire hazard. Loose outlets should be fixed with spacers so that they are attached snugly.
Electrician Mistakes - Electrical Boxes
Electrical connections should never be made outside of electrical boxes. If this happens, the connection has no protection from electrical damage and the sparks and heat that can be produced.
Electrical boxes should never be overfilled. If there are too many wires in one box, this could cause overheating or short-circuiting, which could result in a fire. There are specific guidelines that need to be followed when calculating minimum box sizes.
Wire connections should also never be made too short, because they are likely to have poor connections. If short wires are encountered, they should be fixed by using extensions.
When using recessed electrical boxes, they need to be flush with the wall behind combustible wall surfaces. Otherwise, they represent a fire hazard. A metal or plastic box extension has to be used under these circumstances.
These are some of the more common electrical mistakes that can be made, but of course there are many others. Electrical work should always be performed by a professional electrician, to insure safety.
This is a very informative article but I'd disagree with you a bit there when you say electrical work "should always be performed by a professional electrician, to ensure safety." While this is good advise I'm of the opinion that there are some electrical household jobs that require more caution than being a professional. Electricity is dangerous but at the same time it not like 'driving' a plane one can expertly carry out some electrical jobs as long as they have the basics of how electricity and armed with precautionary steps. For instance some DIY electrical projects come complete basic instructions that when adhered to there is no danger!
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