I have just done something stupid whilst mowing the lawn - is it possible to have the flex on your lawn mower mended?

[IdrisTheDragon]

Was trying to do a good kind deed and mow the lawn. Managed to mow over the flex which is obviously now in two pieces .

Are there people who can fit a new flex? Or mend the old one? And can I manage to do this (and even mow the lawn) before DH notices?

Any electrician could replace a flex although I have no idea how economically viable it would be...

I did that, shredded it and fused the whole house - dh replaced the flex, I wouldn't have tried as I didn't want to add to the damage .

On the plus side, I am banned from mowing the grass now...

Thank you - this is when I wish that DH were rather more handy (no chance of me being handy )

Oh well, at least I didn't fuse anything .

And at least I'm not the first person to have done it

Just to add, I wouldn't contemplate 'mending' the flex, it would be best if you can wire a whole new length in. This involved taking the lawnmower outer case off as I remember and it was in there. I don't think it was a difficult job, but dh is an Electrical Engineer which I guess helped.

DH ran over our old hover mower's flex 2 or 3 times. You just need to rejoin the right wires to the right wires IYSWIM, then tape it all up with electrical tape.

Blimey Idris - did you have one of those circuit breaker things on it?

DH has a mower repair shop - it is a common repair job.

Does the end of the flex plug into the lawnmower? If so, you can probably get a replacement easier than fixing it.

If it's attached right into the lawnmower, you'll probably have to get someone to replace it properly. Flexes inside the house you can get "joining blocks" for, where you can join the two cut ends together in a little box thing. But I don't think you can get damp-proof ones for garden things.

Idris you can do this - you just need a one of these - cut down the damaged section and join the two ends together.

you can get damp-proof joining blocks as well but I am supposed to be working and don't have time to search for one

I used to run over our flymo one - I ended up buying a new one as the damp kept on getting inside the tape mends on the old one - got flymo one in Homebase, so provided its a common make, hopefully not too much of a problem. I've got a petrol lawnmower now as the lawn is bigger and a flex is out of the question. You're not alone!

I was told you die if you run over the lawnmower wire. Can i stop worrying about that now then?

I thought you died without a circuit breaker too..... Same question as smallships.

you can by a new flex from b and q, and get yourself a power breaker while you are there

I'm no expert on flexes, but DH killed our mower by running it over one of DS's Boden socks. I was rather more bothered about the sock, myself - £12 for three pairs of socks, and he shreds one??! Humph.

at lack of circuit breaker. I did take the plug out of the socket as soon as I did it though. Am definitely still alive .

DH ran over our flymo cable 14 years ago without the circuit breaker connected, I fixed it with the connector in stealthsquiggle's link. no problems since.

I took my cable to my local flymo stockist and asked them to fix it, but instead they said buy the connector and fix it yourself!!!

Can you not re-attach the plug on the bit that's left? Your lead will be shorter but you could use it with an extension cable.

You shoudl be using a circuit breaker when doing jobs like that. A circuit break cuts off the power (in the event of something like cutting through the cable) much faster than the fuse in the plu will - thereby making it less likely to get an electric shock. Please don't attempt any DIY botch jobs with tape.

I shall mow my lawn tonight with no fear of death should i run over the wire.

Shallships - you CAN still get a hefty shock if you don't have the correct fuse in the plug and/or no circuit breaker!

I'll echo whizzz - use an rcd. Saves you and the house electrics.

Just mowed both lawns, was still scared

Yes buy a connector form local DIY shop and you can fix it yourself in no time. Do this all the time with the hedgetrimmers