The following story was related to me a couple of years ago. I thought you might find it amusing, if not downright scary!

The owner of a small campsite wanted to rig the light in the washroom's toilet cubicle so that it would automatically come on when the door was shut and go off when it was opened.

Easy enough to arrange with a microswitch arrangement of some kind, but hey, that costs money!

The door and frame were wooden, and there was a nice two-part metal bolt there, so.....

Yep, you've guessed it. The guy ran one wire down the frame and secured it under the fixed plate and the other across the top of the door and down to the other part. Instant automatic light switch!

Yep, that's about what I thought.....

It wasn't here by the way, but across the water in France.

Sounds like a true Darwinian!

Definitely! The only trouble was he could have removed somebody else from the gene pool!

Apparently, this "switch" had been in use for some time before someone got shocked. Unless all the previous users had been wearing well-insulated shoes, I can only assume that he'd got it in the neutral side, with the main part of the bolt on the door to mains neutral so that only the small plate on the frame was hot when the light was off.

Just a guess, of course, but I think 220V would have made its present known sooner if not!

2 things come to mind:

1)The arcing/pitting would have eventually rendered the "switch" inoperable.
2)It seems like it would have been discovered if anyone had ever washed down the restroom. (They must have never cleaned it) YUCK!

>They must have never cleaned it

Well, they are French...

(France surrenders...)

Hey, I hadn't thought about that!

There's a lot I like about France, but their wiring often leaves something to be desired. Ah well, Vive la difference!