What Happens If You Drill Through An Electrical Wire

From the electrician s pov that s generally done by using at least 2x4 joists and centering the electrical cable on the joists then following with a 1 2 thick wall covering like drywall.

What happens if you drill through an electrical wire. The drill bit would cut the wire and break the circuit be a real pain having to replace that length of wire hidden inside a wall. It s suggested that you drill holes at least inch bigger than the hole size needed to ensure you don t have a difficult time pulling the wires through. You hit a guard plate that protects electrical wiring. Once you know the size of the hole you ll need depending on how many wires you plan to put through the hole you ll select the auger bit size that s fit for the job.

The worst case scenario is when the person with the drill in their hands is. If the hole you drill will later have a screw in it the screw may be hot or more likely you will trip a breaker. If you drill through a wire with a drill made after the 1950 s nothing will happen to you. It s a decorator s worst nightmare.

What you can do if you hit an electrical cable when drilling in a wall. Plastic doesn t conduct electricity. If you do happen to make contract with an electrified wire the danger would depend on how much current is in the wire. So if you re ever drilling or screwing and it feels like you re hitting the worst knot in the world stop.

Removing the drill bit removed the short but the danger is that you could still have unshielded wires possibly very close to metal conduit that would normally be covering the cables if this becomes live then you could have danger of electrocution on any exposed parts elsewhere. What would actually happen if you do drill into one with regards to electric shock or does the drill usually have some kind of design safety to stop electricution. Have you done it. You really need to get sorted the drill bit would have gone through the insulation shorted 2 wires.

The short answer is that even a very small current could kill you. Damage to electrical wiring from drilling into walls is a surprisingly frequent phenomenon especially when buildings are being renovated. With a bit of luck you might only have to repair the cable sheath. Not only do the lights go out but you usually blow a fuse as well.

If you do manage to hit a wire and break through its insulating jacket you still might only make contract with a ground and not feel any shock. The drill is either grounded or plastic. Just a quick simple question guys if you were to say drilling into a wall and their were hidden cable there. You tap a nail into the wall to hang a picture miss the stud you were aiming for and hear a crackling.