💡“The Great Pendant Panic” – A Funny Tale from Dave Prout, Electrician in Plymouth

Moving into a new house is exciting. New beginnings, fresh paint, and maybe a few boxes that mysteriously go missing until Christmas. But for one lovely lady in Plymouth, the adventure really began with a ceiling and a pendant light.

Last Tuesday, I got a call from a woman who had just moved into a Victorian terrace in Plymouth. We’ll call her Jenny (mainly because that was her name and she told me I could). She’d bought some gorgeous pendant lights online—one of those Pinterest-inspired sets with vintage bulbs, braided cables, and more style than your average Blackpool illuminations.

“Hi Dave,” she said, “I need an electrician. I tried to install the pendant lights myself… now the kitchen lights don’t work, and Alexa’s stopped talking to me.”

Intrigued, and slightly concerned for Alexa’s welfare, I booked her in.

🚪 Welcome to Jenny’s House of Hanging Danger

When I arrived, Jenny greeted me with a cup of tea and a head torch strapped on. “I tried to fix it,” she said cheerfully, pointing upward. “It sort of went pop.”

I looked up. The pendant light was dangling at a bold angle, held in place by one screw, a heroic piece of masking tape, and what I later discovered was a chopstick. I’ve seen a lot over 30+ years as an electrician in Plymouth, but this was a new one.

⚙️ DIY vs Dave: Let There Be (Safe) Light

Jenny admitted she’d watched a 3-minute YouTube tutorial titled “Wiring a Light in Seconds!” and figured it couldn’t be that hard. Spoiler alert: it was.

When I took a look at the wiring, she’d connected live to neutral, and neutral to—well—nothing. The result? A tripped breaker, a dead Alexa, and a kitchen darker than a Cornish cave tour.

I explained the basics to her (without too much tech talk): pendant lights can look simple, but if you get the wiring wrong, it can cause short circuits, breaker trips, or worse—electrical fires. And unlike in DIY videos, real-life ceilings don’t politely hold screws in place while you hunt for the right tool.

🔧 A Quick Fix and Some Good Advice

After safely isolating the circuit and replacing the scorched connector block, I mounted the pendant properly—straight, secure, and without a chopstick in sight. I even aligned the drop to her kitchen island so she could get that Instagram-worthy look she was after.

Once the lights were working again, Jenny looked like she might cry tears of joy—or possibly relief. Alexa piped up again to announce, “Your electrician is awesome,” which I absolutely did not program, but took as gospel.

🔌 What’s the Moral of the Story?

Electrical work might seem simple on the surface, but even basic jobs like installing pendant lighting should be handled by someone qualified. That’s where I come in.

As a Plymouth-based domestic electrician, I’ve helped hundreds of homeowners safely upgrade their lighting, install cookers, replace consumer units, and sort out post-DIY disasters—without the risk of setting off smoke alarms or silencing voice assistants.

💬 Final Word from Dave

So, if you’re moving into a new home and want your lighting to look great and work safely, give me a shout before the chopsticks come out.

📞 Call me, Dave Prout, on 07874079458
🌐 Visit www.daveprout-electrician.net

Because sometimes, being the best electrician in Plymouth means saving people from their own YouTube confidence.