Caboose

My fun with Nigerian electrical equipment continues.

Last night I was boiling some water for drinking, as usual. I filled the pan with water, sat it on one of the electric hobs on the cooker, turned on the hob and then put the lid on the pan. As the lid came into contact with the pan I got an electric shock, not just the slight “buzz” you often get from badly-wired products here but a proper shock that made my right arm spasm and throw the lid across the kitchen.

Being an engineer I then went an fetched my multimeter. It turns out that all of the exposed metalwork on the cooker is live.

I will be going to speak to the NTI electricians this morning and am resisting the urge to find the guy who wired up my cooker, grab him by the throat and explain the importance of doing your job properly so you don’t kill people.