[Jonny 87]

Hit these today with my pole........

As soon as I did it I tensed up and braced for the zap...... but nothing?

Did my gardiner pole with insulated base section just stop the shock completely?

Or are they not actually power lines? They look it to me though.

Was a bit confused by it all to be honest, but atleast I'm still here to tell the tale. 

[Cookie]

Must have been quite scary at the time!

They look like electric cables to me as well, I think however some of these cables are actually insulated (not sure how you tell).

[Spruce]

If you hit the bottom one that an earth I'm told.

[Jonny 87]

If you hit the bottom one that an earth I'm told.

That could well be what it was mate!

I was cleaning a velux on top of the old stone cottage, finished the velux and lifted the pole straight up and hit the cables. There really low to be honest. It's a single storey cottage and the cables aren't that much higher than the gutter line.

Was most likely the bottom one I hit with the angle that I was working at.

Lucky escape I think. Mental note to myself to never do that again! 

[matthewprice]

Once hit an overhead cable with an aluminium ladder ,melted top of ladder small shock to right arm .But was lucky triped the main fuse .Engineer said to get shock you have to hit two wires simultaneously,that why birds can land on them .Sounds possible .More cautious now

[nathankaye]

Once hit an overhead cable with an aluminium ladder ,melted top of ladder small shock to right arm .But was lucky triped the main fuse .Engineer said to get shock you have to hit two wires simultaneously,that why birds can land on them .Sounds possible .More cautious now

Heard a tail once of a parachuter who landed or something on power cables, just holding the one wire. Which was fine as you mentioned untill an idiot came along with good intentions and tried putting a ladder upto him. Circuit complete, he fried on wire and poor chap holding ladders lost both his legs virtually straight away before he went up in flames. Not very nice at all

[robert mitchell]

Once hit an overhead cable with an aluminium ladder ,melted top of ladder small shock to right arm .But was lucky triped the main fuse .Engineer said to get shock you have to hit two wires simultaneously,that why birds can land on them .Sounds possible .More cautious now

If you are on the ground and hit one (live ) wire you would get a shock , as you are completing the circuit to ground .

The bird doesnt complete a circuit because he is not touching the ground ,

[brynley]

are you sure that they are power lines and not telephone, not easy to see in the photo, I worked on the over head power lines in the 70's and didn't work on anything like that

[the king]

if u hit a live wire u could have blowin a hole on your extreme top section with out geting a shock as the base section is insulated

[Dry Clean]

if u hit a live wire u could have blowin a hole on your extreme top section with out geting a shock as the base section is insulated

Only if you where to hit two lines and cause a short circuit, the insulated bottom section will stop the electricity traveling through
the user and into the ground.

[Smurf]

If your really unlucky depending how you  are standing/holding the pole at the time even though the gardiner bottom section is so say insulated it will still shoot out the bottom of the pole  to the nearest earth like your leg etc. Not to mention if the outside of the pole is wet the insulation will not work.

Just saying. lol

[Plankton]

Electricity can jump so there's no contact needed and as mentioned if the poles wet it helps​ the conduct.

If it's electricity the pole should be marked, it's a good reminder to everyone to take care.

[jonboywalton75]

I took over a round in Cheshire where the previous cleaner would finish at dinner time and fish in local pond
One day he cleaned as usual then went fishing,  he cast his rod and touched the power lines above
Brown bread job!!!!

[CF Facilities]

I think that only Base section of gardiners poles are insulated. When I bought two extensions last year they did not have the proper Base section in stock so they supplied a standard extn to use as Base.  This means my insulated section is three sections up the pole if you see what I mean. 

I am fairly observant with what's around me when working but only need to stop concentrating for a moment.

I saw the other day from Window Cleaning Stuff website some heat shrink insulating rubber. I may consider this. Has any one else used this?

[Spruce]

If you hit the bottom one that an earth I'm told.

That could well be what it was mate!

I was cleaning a velux on top of the old stone cottage, finished the velux and lifted the pole straight up and hit the cables. There really low to be honest. It's a single storey cottage and the cables aren't that much higher than the gutter line.

Was most likely the bottom one I hit with the angle that I was working at.

Lucky escape I think. Mental note to myself to never do that again!

I have been cleaning a house/business  for years that had electric cable running along side.  I was given some high voltage gloves but  they weren't any good for gripping the pole.
In a moment of carelessness I also caught the lower cable when lowering the pole. It was a wakeup call.



It was suggested that I ask the owner to contact the electricity board responsible for our area to fit underground cables. They took their time but replaced them with Aerial Bundled Cable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_bundled_cable 

Now it doesn't matter if I catch them by mistake.


We have another couple of houses we clean nearby that also have overhead power line supply. We have to be careful but aren't in our way. We won't clean if the weather is windy.

[Smurf]

Spruce I would pass on jobs like that myself.

[Plankton]

Quoting for Windows and cleaning a flat roof this morning with similar cables at chest height on the roof. Slightly paranoid at first!