Dodgy trade pictures for your amusement! - 1 Million Views!

[nicebutdim]

Torque setting = FT

Torque to destruction.

 

[pc1966]

Once I got a CPN brand MCB from CEF, tightened to specified torque and body splitting open. Was not impressed. Also stopped the cable clamp from opening properly if ever re-used.

 

[pc1966]

Torque to destruction.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Your sincerely, Tomás de Torquemada

 

[Mike Johnson]

I admit that each time I use the T-driver I wince at the pressure needed to get the thing to click over, IMO its no wonder they split, although I haven't managed to split a Hager duel RCBO yet, but I think it's only a matter of time.

 

[pc1966]

I admit that each time I use the T-driver I wince at the pressure needed to get the thing to click over, IMO its no wonder they split, although I haven't managed to split a Hager duel RCBO yet, but I think it's only a matter of time.

Yes, I also find the larger screws take more than I would normally use, but the smaller toque settings (around 1.2Nm are not far from my "from experience" tightness).

However, having removed some 4mm with ferrule from fully tightened earth bar screws to re-route stuff they don't look like you could to it often before the punches through the cable

Still, been using some Hager stuff recently and so far no problems at all at the specified torque

 

[LewisM]

It's more that they've missed the busbar with the clamp too it's just resting on it am

 

[pc1966]

It's more that they've missed the busbar with the clamp too it's just resting on it am

Ah, so the breaking off plastic is so you can check your terminal is inserted right!

 

[Mike Johnson]

Torque to destruction.

I suppose it make's a change from talked to death, which I know some women can do, but not my wonderful beautiful wife, yes she does look in sometimes. ?

 

[stevethesparks]

It's more that they've missed the busbar with the clamp too it's just resting on it am View attachment 65329

Obvious even from the top due to the breaker being pushed out of line.

 

[westward10]

I suppose it make's a change from talked to death, which I know some women can do, but not my wonderful beautiful wife, yes she does look in sometimes. ?

And some men apparently ?

 

[telectrix]

when i first saw the OP i thought another BG board moan, then saw it was not a bg board. a quick beer and an arse scratch revealed he mus mean british gas.

 

[LewisM]

when i first saw the OP i thought another BG board moan, then saw it was not a bg board. a quick beer and an arse scratch revealed he mus mean british gas.

It is a British General board

 

[telectrix]

It is a British General board

no way .cthose are not BG MCBs. i use BG all the time. .the fronts are curved and the printing is blue on BG,

 

[LewisM]

no way .cthose are not BG MCBs. i use BG all the time. .the fronts are curved and the printing is blue on BG,

 

[stevethesparks]

Well, he was right about the Wylex one

 

[telectrix]

i stand corrected. it's part BG part wylex. even so, can't blame BG for bad workmanship.

 

[LewisM]

i stand corrected. it's part BG part wylex. even so, can't blame BG for bad workmanship.

Its okay I'm pretty stupid but I can read, just about..........

 

[nicebutdim]

i stand corrected. it's part BG part wylex. even so, can't blame BG for bad workmanship.

 

[Dartlec]

Opened this lovely Dornan Smith install this week - nice free-air tails rubbing against a sharp edge - and in an under stair cupboard where disturbance was likely.




Fortunately was only removing a circuit to change it to an adjacent RCD board, but couldn't in good conscience leave it like that - managed to get some good thick grommet strip in without needing to call on the fairy. No grommets on any of the inlets either, though with some there were so many cables jammed in there that they weren't likely to move...

Anyone able to age the board? Appeared to be BS 3871 Type 3 MCBs (though might just be a badly printed B)

 

[freddo]

Twice I've had shocks from those exposed Dorman Smith busbars!

 

[chriswb103f]

Right ... Just been nudged to set this up by Paul.M and sounds a good idea following recent threads I've done in the Arms..

Rules....No Offensive material... edit if required before posting as this is the public arena.
Anything to do with the trade or in and around it ...H&S pic's welcome.

View attachment 28495

I've posted this a few times and this is at a mates house following a kitchen refirb several yrs ago. mg_smile:

View attachment 28495

hahaha, obviously run the pipe work this way to put the fire out which they will cause. ;-)

 

[freddo]

More nightmare DIY work at a commercial premises, went to alter the lighting conduits only to find they weren't there! Just shove the singles behind the plasterboard and forget the earthing. Need to go back to repair this before we can start the work we were supposed to.

 

[freddo]

On the same note, does anyone know of a supplier of 25mm female X 1" male galv adaptors, I've only got 20mm x 3/4" adaptors left...

 

[nicebutdim]

These guys do them, but only in boxes of 50.

 

[nicebutdim]

And why have I got an esteemed badge?

That must be the dodgiest thing about this thread ?

 

[Teddy Lop]

Few recent ones for you...

Had to do an EICR for a GP surgery yesterday

Hmm, can we fit a few more circuits in?

same GP surgery, one of several... Erf? wos that for?

if there's a defibrillator upstairs does that make it a C3?


The other week, things got heated, not MK's fault for once!:

Builder has no idea what might have caused it, plonker perhaps doesn't realise the cable is date stamped 2020..


And lastly, homes for Haringey approved subcontractors installing new sub mains bullied one homeowner into spending £800 for a new con unit, which has been tripping ever since. see if you can tell me why that might be!

 

[Mike Johnson]

That Logic RCD says it all, but to be fair the neutral conductor is too short so put it in the other terminal. ?

 

[dodger421]

Not an electrician exactly, but the outstanding work of a white goods repair specialist on my own cooker.

A zone on the induction hob wasn’t working, stripping it down revealed a blown capacitor on the board. The manufacturer wanted £450 for a replacement board or £155 to send an “engineer” with the part to replace it. Seemed a bit of a no brainer for a £600 cooker that’s only 3 years old so I booked the visit.

Fast forward to a week after the hob unit was replaced and we go to use the top oven for the first time. Turn the temperature knob and the RCD and the MCB both trip. Great I thought, the element must have blown. No worries, just reset the board and we’ll keep cooking with the bottom oven for now! Nope, they both trip again instantly with the cooker switch on.

Pull the cooker forward to investigate and spot this little gem through the back plate.

The earth was obviously just hanging and must’ve finally fallen onto one of the Live connectors for the upper element. Add to that the grommet that he didn’t think needed refitting and I’m now utterly impressed by the incompetence of this “engineer”. M

 

[LewisM]

Few recent ones for you...

Had to do an EICR for a GP surgery yesterday

View attachment 65608

Hmm, can we fit a few more circuits in?




The other week, things got heated, not MK's fault for once!:

View attachment 65610

Main fuse started the fire?

 

[Dartlec]

Few recent ones for you...

Had to do an EICR for a GP surgery yesterday




And lastly, homes for Haringey approved subcontractors installing new sub mains bullied one homeowner into spending £800 for a new con unit, which has been tripping ever since. see if you can tell me why that might be!

View attachment 65611

Nice markup on a Screwfix special with a bonus new name to add to the list of makes I've never heard of - not all brands care which way round they are wired though, do they? Some don't have any labelling for L or N.

 

[Mike Johnson]

"Not all brands care which way around they are wired though, do they?" you get a problem with the busbar though.

 

[Dartlec]

"Not all brands care which way around they are wired though, do they?" you get a problem with the busbar though.

Well, yes that is a bit of a deciding factor ?

 

[Simon47]

not all brands care which way round they are wired though, do they? Some don't have any labelling for L or N.

Actually, if they don't have a functional earth wire then there's no way it can care - so swapping L&N sides round won't make any difference at all to the device. I suspect that none of them would care whether you swapped in and out either.
But as said, it makes a difference whether you connect L or N to the busbar.

 

[Teddy Lop]

Nice markup on a Screwfix special with a bonus new name to add to the list of makes I've never heard of - not all brands care which way round they are wired though, do they? Some don't have any labelling for L or N.

I've seen "logic" brand marketed as a "compatible option" with several mainstream brands. hmm.

As for whichever way round it goes if it has an N stamped on it then there's one option... Plus the fact that "upgrading" to the correct part solved the random tripping so obviously there was something going on, perhaps with the test circuit.

 

[Steve T]

I wonder what was fitted first, the suspended ceiling or the fcu?

 

[telectrix]

my money's on the FCU being there first. and those 3.5mm heads at 2 p.m. do my head in.

 

[littlespark]

my money's on the FCU being there first. and those 3.5mm heads at 2 p.m. do my head in.

yeh, but the screw holding the fuse in is at 10 oclock

 

[pc1966]

yeh, but the screw holding the fuse in is at 10 oclock

2-10-2 some cryptic message?

 

[Dave OCD]

Here's an old DNO cast iron cutout/splitter box serving a few Housing Association houses,[from the late'50s/early 60s?] the cable must be close to 50mm diameter. I was working in one of these places that's been privately bought doing a CU change. Not putting that picture in the 'dodgy' thread though. ?

 

[Fazz711]

Found inside a DB at work.
That makes six + another six in the trunking under DBs.

 

[dodger421]

I’m not sure if this was the electrical contractors or the internal bodge squad (aka the projects team), but this was fitted in the last few months as part of a new working area to feed an external container with a double socket, and a few lights in SY. There’s a heater element in an IBC that seems to be supplied from somewhere else too.

Brand new Contactum enclosure with RCD main switch. Buying Contactum MCB’s at the same time was clearly much more difficult than butchering the enclosure to fit the Crabtree.
I’ve not fully traced it out but I think the D16 feeds an RCD double socket in the container, because whoever installed it hasn’t heard of selectivity either!

EDIT: I forgot to add the SWA supply from the other side of the plant is glanded onto a rotary isolator that’s then glanded to the Contactum enclosure, presumably with galv conduit but it’s basically flush so probably not given the quality on display. I’ve not opened anything up, mostly out of fear that things can only get worse underneath the veneer of crap.

 

[Dustydazzler]

nibbled out the cover of board with side cutters , very creative solution

 

[littlespark]

nibbled out the cover of board with side cutters , very creative solution

side cutters?
Looks like he used his teeth!

(I got really confused there. You must have been editing your post as I pressed reply... thinking “that’s not what it says???”)

 

[MrPupsi]

On the same note, brand new board, couldn’t be bothered to get the correct fitting MCB.

Landlord said he had an EICR done a couple years ago and this wasn’t picked up then!

 

[pc1966]

On the same note, brand new board, couldn’t be bothered to get the correct fitting MCB.

Landlord said he had an EICR done a couple years ago and this wasn’t picked up then!

FFS it is not like they are hard to get or obsolete ones, I would imagine a 5 min trip to local Screwfix!

Also looks like the RCD's N fixing has been bent as screw appears no longer lined up to the access hole.

 

[telectrix]

FFS it is not like they are hard to get or obsolete ones, I would imagine a 5 min trip to local Screwfix!

Also looks like the RCD's N fixing has been bent as screw appears no longer lined up to the access hole.

do you mean the L? it's the bent busbar that's causing that.

 

[Dustydazzler]

Such a shame on a brand new install when the equipment is mutilated like that.

 

[telectrix]

as if it's difficult to get a BG MCB.

 

[pc1966]

do you mean the L? it's the bent busbar that's causing that.

Doh, yes! Posting before enough coffee this morning.

 

[pc1966]

as if it's difficult to get a BG MCB.

Step 1 - search for "BG MCB" on line
Step 2 - click on first link for Screwfix
Step 3 - order on web site, or write down number and get one locally for £3.69