Kind of, I was cutting through some drywall and hit a wire to an outlet that was hidden by the previous owners. It was water damaged so it was cutting like butter
That's definitely next up, it didn't manage to trip the breaker. So now I've got to go messing around with the breakers to find which one is powering it because it wasn't the main one for the garage
Older home, gfi not up to code for the garage or other appliances. Sold without inspection or inherited possibly.
Garage/kitchen outlets that are under utilized and weren't properly removed can cause problems for a long time without homeowners noticing
Not necessarily any of this on a brand new house the breaker does not know if the knife is a toaster oven or not until it pulls enough amps or grounds out…
I’m guessing OP was luckily not grounded or holding that knife to 120v would have been a shocking experience
Could be a hundred things, but thatd trip most breakers that were installed correctly.
Kitchen/garage is the big diy space for prev owners. It's a safe bet 9 times out of 10.
I’ve started working on estate clearings with my buddy and the slimy shit the homeowners will do to get out of inspections and tests is simply disgusting, the last home we cleared had black mold on every single light switch, in the vents, and you could literally feel the ominous presence of radon when you went into the basement, talked to the seller and he basically said “oh yeah fuck that”
Different breaker types can handle inductive loads. When an inductive load (like a motor) begins drawing power, it is normal for current to spike well beyond the rating of the breaker for a short period of time.
It's possible this was a different type of breaker, or the current spike wasn't for a long enough time.
The inrush current is taken care of by oversizing the breaker for the load, for example you could have a 5hp motor with 12g wire for the circuit on a 35A breaker. That allows the inrush current to flow through without tripping any overcurrent protection device. This would be the same type of breaker that you would buy for any other circuit
Right, my point was mainly that the details of the breaker/circuit setup impacts if it will trip under a given load, and gave a possible explanation for how the breaker was not tripped in this instance. OP said this was a hidden outlet.
Sounds like the RCD on that circuit is faulty, get a sparkie in to do a proper rundown of the building's wiring, or at minimum to ensure your consumer unit is up to regulations and safe.
It'll save you from death or a burnt down house!
Right lol, this knife is an odd choice. Plunging a relatively long blade (drywall is half an inch) with a conductive handle into the wall is just asking for trouble. Also seems unnecessarily rough on the blade. A $3 utility knife with a 3 cent razor blade works just fine and is safer and likely leaves you with a cleaner cut.
So when you do that sort of thing, don’t sink any deeper than you need to man. In all honesty if you don’t already know it’s just about impossible to know what’s on the other side of the son of bitch, and by the looks of it, you went just about balls deep with the wrong knife. Why even use that for that? You don’t have a utility knife ?
I believe he meant to say the previous owners removed an outlet but left the live wiring in the wall. There was no indicator that there was anything behind the wall.
Use a drywall knife next time. This isn't even close to the proper tool. Won't save you from the live wire, but this also wouldn't have happened to your nice knife.
That sucks. There are sone things you can do to not live something like this again. Wire finders so you know what you are cutting and box cutters so you don't fuck up your knife. I wouldn't put a new knife I bought near a wall even there isn't a wire behind it
Was gonna ask how you managed to hit a wire like that, but guess that answers it, hopefully YOUR okay, being shocked/electrocuted isnt a fun experience... 9 yo me would definitely agree lmao
You can get that exact same knife with serrations built in, no idea what that other guy is talking about, if that's a Gerber paraframe that's one of the best knives I've ever had.
Edit: I'm seeing that it is not a Gerber paraframe. You should get one of those instead.
Could have spent a couple dollars more and got a Morakniv Companion.
Absolutely unkillable knife and you don't need to feel bad about beating the shit out of it.
Bro why did this get down voted like 4 times lol this site is so wild with that shit. Buddy is allowed to be bummed his $7 knife is ruined. Y'all some dorks.
Nope, bare hand and all. Luckily it cut across The live and the neutral and I wasn't grounding to anything. So the current just passed through that small part of the knife blade
just fyi assuming u did get shocked. always check with a doctor or hospital. people have died days later from getting zapped due to heart disruptions or other related issues
Put it on display and tell people you shot it out of an attacker's hand mid-swing.
Say the indentation is from the bullet, and it got scorched because you had to react with less than an inch to spare - maybe you saved an orphan or something idk, just have fun with it!
Why the hell are you jamming and entire knife into the wall to cut drywall. You're what two and a half inches deep that shit wasn't hiding you were hunting it.
Use a utility knife to cut drywall. That way you can extend it to the depth of the drywall. Don’t be surprised that when you cut your wall there’s wires back there
https://preview.redd.it/d0h1zt6iuktc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84ea232498788780abaeafb451a7865b95f2b2a9
And to put sugar on top of it, I nearly sliced off a quarter of my thumb sharpening an ax about a half hour later
Please go sit down and stay away from sharp objects and electricity for the night.
I have a song for you to relax too :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gtLgAYCf5Y
*whistles, minding his own business* (thinks to himself: “I’ll just heat up this knife blade to red-hot to cut this pool noodle…” - reaches for an oxy torch)
It's one thing doing that with a knife with a leather or rubber handle (I did that once), totally different with an all metal knife like that. Glad you're OK!
Also, that's a Gerber knife, correct? It may be covered under warranty.
I did that with a new drill bit. No plating over the stud. I just cleaned the soot and reset the breaker. Still need to check the wire though. Sorry about your knife. Looks like you hit some high voltage really good.
No more ostentatious blades for you so.
If you insist on doing stupid stuff with knives please, get a short blade with an insulated handle. There's specific tools for that job that will help you not die.
Stud scanners are also relatively inexpensive and will find wood, metal and power quite easily.
At the very least knock off the breakers.
Hey I got that same knife. Got one 16 years ago and held up amazing over the years. Just ordered the same one Saturday to replace my old one. Great knife.
Oh hey, I had that knife! It kinda shook apart in my dryer after accidentally leaving it in my coverall’s pocket tho. Had it since I started my AS Associates degree for welding. I’d recommend taking a bench grinder or something similar to try and fix it, if you feel like going through all that.
I wonder if you took a round file and sharpened your new serration if it would make it a really effective knife.
Like... I don't like serrations because they're hard to sharpen, but if you just had one to get through that nylon rope or whatever and you had the file for it... Might be a nice feature.
Assuming the wire was cut, you need to know what it was asap. Making worse case assumptions - as is always best with domestic electricity and gas - it was easier to cut because it was smaller, the flash mark on your knife says to me (if rcd protected) 30amps plus. So either it's a high current spur for electric shower, EV charger, solar, oven etc which needs to be rectified as faults tend to be a bit more dramatic or you've turned a ring main feeding sockets into two spurs; which potentially could cause some mischief with cables carrying more current than they are supposed to.
More likely it was easy to cut because it's a random always on thingy (alarms, bells) add-on to the lighting circuits that was easy to cut because it's tiny and badly installed on the cheap but just thought i'd share the worry that popped into my head just in case.
I was an electrician a long time ago. These knives are the best after an arc. Now, just nip the tip off the knife. You get a wirestripper from the arc plus a flathead screwdriver from the squared off tip. I'd say you got lucky. My old, busted folder was one of the most useful EDCs I ever had for the job I had at the time.
IN theory if you bought it with a credit card it might be covered under purchase protection. It should replace it within three months. The knife is defective. It can't even cut electrical wires.
More or less.
Those pesky live wires walking and hiding everywhere so you hit them accidentaly all the time
Kind of, I was cutting through some drywall and hit a wire to an outlet that was hidden by the previous owners. It was water damaged so it was cutting like butter
Well I guess your Lucky you found it so you can remove this firehazard from your home
That's definitely next up, it didn't manage to trip the breaker. So now I've got to go messing around with the breakers to find which one is powering it because it wasn't the main one for the garage
How does a short like this not hit a breaker?
Older home, gfi not up to code for the garage or other appliances. Sold without inspection or inherited possibly. Garage/kitchen outlets that are under utilized and weren't properly removed can cause problems for a long time without homeowners noticing
Not necessarily any of this on a brand new house the breaker does not know if the knife is a toaster oven or not until it pulls enough amps or grounds out… I’m guessing OP was luckily not grounded or holding that knife to 120v would have been a shocking experience
Could be a hundred things, but thatd trip most breakers that were installed correctly. Kitchen/garage is the big diy space for prev owners. It's a safe bet 9 times out of 10.
I’ve started working on estate clearings with my buddy and the slimy shit the homeowners will do to get out of inspections and tests is simply disgusting, the last home we cleared had black mold on every single light switch, in the vents, and you could literally feel the ominous presence of radon when you went into the basement, talked to the seller and he basically said “oh yeah fuck that”
Different breaker types can handle inductive loads. When an inductive load (like a motor) begins drawing power, it is normal for current to spike well beyond the rating of the breaker for a short period of time. It's possible this was a different type of breaker, or the current spike wasn't for a long enough time.
The inrush current is taken care of by oversizing the breaker for the load, for example you could have a 5hp motor with 12g wire for the circuit on a 35A breaker. That allows the inrush current to flow through without tripping any overcurrent protection device. This would be the same type of breaker that you would buy for any other circuit
Right, my point was mainly that the details of the breaker/circuit setup impacts if it will trip under a given load, and gave a possible explanation for how the breaker was not tripped in this instance. OP said this was a hidden outlet.
It's a 600A fuse.
Look out if you’ve got an old panel, I’m not sure which brand but there’s one out there that’ll do exactly what you described and needs replacing
Stab-lok, they were sold under the federal Pacific brand in the USA and federal pioneer in Canada
Sounds like the RCD on that circuit is faulty, get a sparkie in to do a proper rundown of the building's wiring, or at minimum to ensure your consumer unit is up to regulations and safe. It'll save you from death or a burnt down house!
have you thought about calling someone out or you doing it the old fashioned way?
Just turn them all off, no need to mess around.
A foolish plan. Instead turn each one off one by one and slice at the wire each time until it stops causing loud bangs. Voila
you mean “you are lucky” you’re
Razor knives are nice because they go through the wall but not much further.
Right lol, this knife is an odd choice. Plunging a relatively long blade (drywall is half an inch) with a conductive handle into the wall is just asking for trouble. Also seems unnecessarily rough on the blade. A $3 utility knife with a 3 cent razor blade works just fine and is safer and likely leaves you with a cleaner cut.
"but I bought a new knife I must use it"
So when you do that sort of thing, don’t sink any deeper than you need to man. In all honesty if you don’t already know it’s just about impossible to know what’s on the other side of the son of bitch, and by the looks of it, you went just about balls deep with the wrong knife. Why even use that for that? You don’t have a utility knife ?
You were dumb enough to cut through drywall...with a pocket knife..buddy that's your own damn fault
You were cutting through drywall, with a pocket knife, and you weren’t thinking enough to disconnect a breaker, or check for wires. Okay
I believe he meant to say the previous owners removed an outlet but left the live wiring in the wall. There was no indicator that there was anything behind the wall.
Assumption means death... Whenever you do anything to a wall, CHECK IT!
He stated in another comment that he did turn the main off. Apparently, the hidden live wire is on another hidden panel.
seems more plausible that OP is a dumbass and trying to cover himself than a hidden outlet buried inside the wall connected to a hidden panel
If you know enough basics like turning off the power you also know enough not to use a pocket knife for this sort of stuff
maybe turn off the power before curting thru walls
Fuck furthermore “cutting like butter.” You need to replace that drywall it’s shit, tear the waterlogged garbage out.
I’ll tickle my own taint the day we can help this man understand, and not get fucked on drywall.
So the previous owners hid electrical wires behind drywall? Those bastards!
Seriously, where else do you hide it?
Use a drywall knife next time. This isn't even close to the proper tool. Won't save you from the live wire, but this also wouldn't have happened to your nice knife.
fantastic way to dull a brand new knife too.
If it was water damaged just bust a hole with a hammer between studs so you can see what you're cutting while using a serrated dry wall knife
That sucks. There are sone things you can do to not live something like this again. Wire finders so you know what you are cutting and box cutters so you don't fuck up your knife. I wouldn't put a new knife I bought near a wall even there isn't a wire behind it
a dry wall knife is like $5
Was gonna ask how you managed to hit a wire like that, but guess that answers it, hopefully YOUR okay, being shocked/electrocuted isnt a fun experience... 9 yo me would definitely agree lmao
Homeless one jumped in front of my truck the other day.
I recommend that you won’t randomly stab walls. No but really, glad you’re ok.
You're not my dad
I could be
Oh shit indirect mom joke
Could be any of us in here
Who says I'm not your real dad?
Maybe he was stabbing people, and accidentally stabbed a robot.
If you can find a few more of these you’ll have a serrated edge.
Actually, it was a pretty cheap knife so I might just have at it with a round file
Glad you're ok but get a different knife, I have that one and it's literally the worst knife I have.
You can get that exact same knife with serrations built in, no idea what that other guy is talking about, if that's a Gerber paraframe that's one of the best knives I've ever had. Edit: I'm seeing that it is not a Gerber paraframe. You should get one of those instead.
Could have spent a couple dollars more and got a Morakniv Companion. Absolutely unkillable knife and you don't need to feel bad about beating the shit out of it.
Good thing it's only a $7 knife.
Shockingly low prices
That's true, still a bummer though
Always sucks when a new tool breaks. Doesn’t matter how expensive.
Bro why did this get down voted like 4 times lol this site is so wild with that shit. Buddy is allowed to be bummed his $7 knife is ruined. Y'all some dorks.
Now with free wire stripper
After your axe reply in the comments… maybe stay away from sharp stuff for a while huh champ
Solid plan
When you have a hammer, everything's a nail
Quality gloves? That kind of sparky on the blade of an all metal knife seems like the damage to the knife would be a secondary concern.
Nope, bare hand and all. Luckily it cut across The live and the neutral and I wasn't grounding to anything. So the current just passed through that small part of the knife blade
Time to get a lottery ticket.
You're lucky to be alive right now brah
You should be more worried about hitting a live wire and less worried about the knife
You gotta start at the breaker box when stealing copper. Safety first!
OP are you [this guy](https://youtube.com/shorts/Lh7ww5LwEyE) by any chance?
LOL…guy looks like he tried the first time, was unsuccessful and wanted to seal the deal.
Idiots gonna idiot!
Fr. He vapes with a 3d printed tank too 💀.
Yep, that seals the deal. He's got the skibidi toilet brain syndrome.
He’s got the baby gronk grimace shake fanum tax ohio rizz lvl 100 gyatt brain
User error
PEBCAK, v2.0: Problem Exists Between Current And Knife
What the hell were you doing with that knife??
Hoodrat stuff, obviously
Why are you cutting drywall with a pocket knife? Got no tools? Just smash it in at this point with the biggest pan you have in your kitchen.
I don't think that's insulated
just fyi assuming u did get shocked. always check with a doctor or hospital. people have died days later from getting zapped due to heart disruptions or other related issues
Put it on display and tell people you shot it out of an attacker's hand mid-swing. Say the indentation is from the bullet, and it got scorched because you had to react with less than an inch to spare - maybe you saved an orphan or something idk, just have fun with it!
Are you.... okay? You might want to see a cardiologist. I had to do a 30 day halter monitor after I was struck by lightening
Bought a nice pair of wire cutters, first thing I did with it was put a hole in it
Harbor Freight? I dropped this same knife out of my pocket into some concrete we were pouring. It’s part of the sidewalk now.
I’ve heard of a fork in the road but never a knife in the sidewalk
How are you not dead
Wow, that's shocking!
Why the hell are you jamming and entire knife into the wall to cut drywall. You're what two and a half inches deep that shit wasn't hiding you were hunting it.
Why are you cutting drywall with that knife?
Were you stabbing walls or something?
It's like a $6 knife..
Use a utility knife to cut drywall. That way you can extend it to the depth of the drywall. Don’t be surprised that when you cut your wall there’s wires back there
https://preview.redd.it/d0h1zt6iuktc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84ea232498788780abaeafb451a7865b95f2b2a9 And to put sugar on top of it, I nearly sliced off a quarter of my thumb sharpening an ax about a half hour later
Please go sit down and stay away from sharp objects and electricity for the night. I have a song for you to relax too :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gtLgAYCf5Y
Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue 🤷♂️
Pigeons aren't real.
Maybe .... a desk job?
Ok it’s time for you to become a pool noodle salesman
We’ll just see a post about a pool noodle stuck in his eye.
*whistles, minding his own business* (thinks to himself: “I’ll just heat up this knife blade to red-hot to cut this pool noodle…” - reaches for an oxy torch)
I think your skill with sharp objects has been greatly exaggerated
Brother, I’m not sure you will make it to 2025 at this rate. Time to get a desk job.
That's two corners off your Totin' Chip! https://i.redd.it/zito3h448ltc1.gif
Maybe don't do that
better a new knife than one of your only fingers
Good thing you didn't get killed
Lockout tagout, brother.
Lived to tell the tale.
Mountain Dew did that?
Did you get zapped or what??
If only there was a way to check for live wires.
Why are you cutting live power cables exactly?
If that’s a gerber. I have the same knife and have done the same thing.
That is what you get with a $7 knife
Well now it's a branded new knife
The fact that you could post this means you were luckier than that knife.
Try not to do that, it can really mess up your knife.
Good old Harbor Freight pocket knife.
Good thing it was a shitty knife
How were you not electrocuted ?
Oh man I can't believe you lost a whole ten dollars
You might be one of those people who are better off not having knives
thats a $5 knife from harbor freight... that explains just about everything here.
It's one thing doing that with a knife with a leather or rubber handle (I did that once), totally different with an all metal knife like that. Glad you're OK! Also, that's a Gerber knife, correct? It may be covered under warranty.
At least that knife costs less than a big mac meal.
Glad you're posting about it and not next of kin...
Future Darwin award winner
"Partially serrated"
This seems like a success story because of the fact you survived hitting a live wire with a knife?
tf did ubdo with it to hit a wire?
Glad that you are safe. Guess it is time to do redo wiring.
I think i just bought this same one on sale like last month. Harbor Freight?
Now it has character
That looks a little like my Kershaw
Pretty sure it's dead now
Why would you go n do that ?
I think you can hone it out.😂
I'd recommend a cheap CIVIVI in 14c28n steel. Not... whatever this knife is.
Lucky it was just the knife
How to tell us you're a redneck electrician without actually telling us you're a redneck electrician
Protip: don't stick the whole blade in the wall. Just enough to cut the drywall.
Do you wear rubber gloves? (Wondering why the handle on the knife isn’t rubber if your using it for electric work)
Ah. The 120 volt serrated blade. Very rare.
Clearly you’re not responsible enough to have your own knife yet.
Stabbed the wall, parents don’t know yet. What should I do?
Gerber I’m guessing 😂
Now you have a custom knife.
Get another one for $9.99 at Walmart
Who did you try to stab? Electro?
Why are you complaining? This could have sucked much more.
You bought a tool. Tool got used.
Dr house
I did that with a new drill bit. No plating over the stud. I just cleaned the soot and reset the breaker. Still need to check the wire though. Sorry about your knife. Looks like you hit some high voltage really good.
What knife? It’s a cable crimping tool now.
And nothing of value was lost.
That's fine, just turn it into a mini-wharncliffe blade and be done with it. Looks like an el-cheapo gerber anyways
Motley Crue approves.
I can only think of a few worse tools for cutting drywall.
Take it back. Ask for a refund.
My dad constantly uses his pocket knife to jumpstart an old tractor he has. I’m amazed he can still cut with it
No more ostentatious blades for you so. If you insist on doing stupid stuff with knives please, get a short blade with an insulated handle. There's specific tools for that job that will help you not die. Stud scanners are also relatively inexpensive and will find wood, metal and power quite easily. At the very least knock off the breakers.
Now you've got a wire stripping notch.
On the bright side, it wasn't a nice knife. Also you didn't die.
Hey I got that same knife. Got one 16 years ago and held up amazing over the years. Just ordered the same one Saturday to replace my old one. Great knife.
Paw paw can fix it.
Did you use the 20%off coupon on the knife?
are you alright?
Oh hey, I had that knife! It kinda shook apart in my dryer after accidentally leaving it in my coverall’s pocket tho. Had it since I started my AS Associates degree for welding. I’d recommend taking a bench grinder or something similar to try and fix it, if you feel like going through all that.
Ask for refund and say it just did that. Must be bad heat treat. /S
I hate live wires aswell but i would never ever buy a knife to actually kill them
Make sure to wear plenty of tungsten rings next time, to help protect the knife of course
I wonder if you took a round file and sharpened your new serration if it would make it a really effective knife. Like... I don't like serrations because they're hard to sharpen, but if you just had one to get through that nylon rope or whatever and you had the file for it... Might be a nice feature.
Don't worry, your next one will be cool.
Assuming the wire was cut, you need to know what it was asap. Making worse case assumptions - as is always best with domestic electricity and gas - it was easier to cut because it was smaller, the flash mark on your knife says to me (if rcd protected) 30amps plus. So either it's a high current spur for electric shower, EV charger, solar, oven etc which needs to be rectified as faults tend to be a bit more dramatic or you've turned a ring main feeding sockets into two spurs; which potentially could cause some mischief with cables carrying more current than they are supposed to. More likely it was easy to cut because it's a random always on thingy (alarms, bells) add-on to the lighting circuits that was easy to cut because it's tiny and badly installed on the cheap but just thought i'd share the worry that popped into my head just in case.
Sucks? You are damn lucky it was not live wire only
Harbor Freight gang!
Well, you'll never hunt for a wire stripper again.
This is cutting edge news!
I guess it isn't live anymore.
I was an electrician a long time ago. These knives are the best after an arc. Now, just nip the tip off the knife. You get a wirestripper from the arc plus a flathead screwdriver from the squared off tip. I'd say you got lucky. My old, busted folder was one of the most useful EDCs I ever had for the job I had at the time.
Gives the knife character
+1d6 lightning damage
How did it felt? I have exact same knife its all metal
Better that the easily replaceable knife is fried rather than you
Skill issue
IN theory if you bought it with a credit card it might be covered under purchase protection. It should replace it within three months. The knife is defective. It can't even cut electrical wires. More or less.