Tell us about your faults!

[trev]

Well the vid was posted by Electtest so that could be a company name

 

[Silly Sausage]

One of his replies...

"Oh dear, if you do this job as a living rather than "learn" it out of books you will realise that the Ze referred to is the Ze of the db not the installation. Therefore removing the earthing conductor will result in an infinity reading. As for the voltage stick not failing to work between two successive tests, seconds apart and the coincidence of a failing disconector, the probability of those events is vanishingly small. I have to job to do !"


Hahaha...quality!

 

[rich.250]

What a legend!! Never new time could be used as a proving unit!! That's cheaper

Also since when has zdb included bonding...........
From the response he hasn't got any quals or knowledge!!

 

[rich.250]

I feel sorry for the people who say good video!
Deluded people

 

[Strima]

Thing is people use on-line videos to learn how to do tests, I know when I was learning to use my Megger I watched a few just to get the jist of it.

He must have a few quid lying around, two MFT's to play with...

 

[rich.250]

Indeed..... I just can't believe all the people saying great vid etc
Sickens me lol

 

[Deleted member 38070]

found this.. changed for trip types, couldnt leave it! (luckily i had some from a cu change)
customer didn't want to know.. :-(

 

[trev]

What do you mean by "changed for trip types mate"?

 

[Bobster]

What do you mean by "changed for trip types mate"?

Im guessing mcbs?

 

[jjjinx]

anyone fancy changing the tube on this flurescent I found in an elderly couples flat they wanted to rent out.

 

[Lucas]

Jesus christ that is poor! How on earth does someone do that?!?!

 

[rich.250]

Wasn't best pleased when I pressed this test button......
Monday morning wake up call. Should of been looking really.

 

[Strima]

Just use a paper clip to push it in... :lol:

 

[Resu]

Had a call-out today, lighting mcb tripped when en-suite lights were switched on and now wouldn't reset. Upon some digging we unearthed this fine specimen. Was attached to one of Screwfix's finest non fire-rated halogen downlights and buried under 2 feet of insulation.

The second T&E lying on the floor was baked so it literally fell out the block when I touched it. (It wasn't bent in such a way when I took it out, I was demonstrating the brittleness to the customer!)

 

[Swicade]

That reminds me of a job afew months back...

24 of those horrible non fire rated downlights in a kitchen fitted by a kitchen firm during a kitchen install about 3yrs ago. Small kitchen + double garage coverted to big kitchen diner with utility room. People selling the house now but no certificate to sign off for LABC so i get a call. After checking out the install found 4-5 cable's looking like post #965 BUT not only that all 24 lights fed by a single 1.0mm radial which terminated into a JB in the loft......same JB was the end of the 6.0mm cooker circuit on a 32A mcb.

Kitchen ring was also run around the loft and spurred off via a JB to each socket in the cupboards.


Re-wire of ring back to consumer unit (dedicated kitchen ring 32a), changed all 24 lights to fire rated and added 2 10a lighting circuit's in 1.5mm and disconnected cooker circuit (gas range being used so ignition spurred off new ring).


Cert sent to LABC, building regs sorted, house sale going ahead so now one happy customer.

 

[imago]

Changing a CU as part of a house referb, stripped the old board out and fitted the new board with basic circuits for work to continue, and tested the remaining circuits ready to couple up. A quick check prior to the couple up showed line-CPC fault on upstairs lighting circuit. Great! Newly plastered ceilings, walls etc boarded loft, tiled bathroom, laminate floors.

Ho hum, out with the Fluke and round I go trying to narrow it down a bit using the 'getting warmer, getting warmer, colder now' resistance test. Pinned it to the landing light being nearest (thankfully not in the walls) and went into the loft. Second board I lifted and there it was. Could have been worse I suppose :-/

 

[Guest22]

What HP is it Ethan?

I've only worked on small induction regulated motors, up to 50HP. Never did like them.

Yeah tony these are well over 5 ton and the HP im told is about 450 :0
These are just a pain nowadays

 

[Strima]

Changing a CU as part of a house referb, stripped the old board out and fitted the new board with basic circuits for work to continue, and tested the remaining circuits ready to couple up. A quick check prior to the couple up showed line-CPC fault on upstairs lighting circuit. Great! Newly plastered ceilings, walls etc boarded loft, tiled bathroom, laminate floors.

Ho hum, out with the Fluke and round I go trying to narrow it down a bit using the 'getting warmer, getting warmer, colder now' resistance test. Pinned it to the landing light being nearest (thankfully not in the walls) and went into the loft. Second board I lifted and there it was. Could have been worse I suppose :-/

Couldn't have got closer to the centre if they'd measured it!!!

 

[hassman459]

How any power plant shut automatically leaving behind darkness...

 

[Strima]

Not reall a fault but a **** poor design. Bloke I play golf with had ordered a new LED 3D all singing all dancing TV for his bedroom. John Lewis were going to charge him £50 installation fee so he decided to do it himself.

His Cambridge flat is roughly four years old and has TV points in all rooms, according to his 'house manual' he needed a splitter and jumper cable from his living room point to connect up his bedroom point.

The living room point is similar to this:


Basically the coax feed comes into the living room and is terminated there, then a separate coax runs from this plate to the bedroom and requires a splitter and cable to connect them up. Why on earth do people design installations such as this?

In and out in fifteen minutes including a brew and my next round of golf paid for including a sausage and egg buttie!!!

 

[rich.250]

Spot the problem.......
Problem is they sent cfl lamps!! Lol

 

[Resu]

More an accident than a fault. Customers socket ring tripped (joiner cut through ring!). We resolved issue later in day when no one was home and were about to leave when we heard the mcb trip again, eventually found this at other end of the house, which was still on fire. Turns out customer was using the hair dryer when it tripped and forgot to switch it off when she bunged it back in the cupboard. Was a close call to say the least!

 

[rich.250]

Bloody women

 

[Plonker 3]

Db change today fo my girlfriends parents, installed new bonding cables yesterday. Only 6 circuits, RFC, cooker, Shower, immersion and up and down lights.Only 17 sockets in the whole house should be done by 2 o clock with a bit of luck. Nope first circuit the RFC has a low IR reading (0.4M). Took every socket front off. finally took last one of and it is damp was hell, think they call it sods law

 

[Paullestrange]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Imagine the scene,Friday afternoon about 3 oclock,office gets a call,a 2KW heater gone down in the securitys site office,(cant have the security guards getting cold,they wont be able to fall asleep)anyway i get the job to go and replace said heater,site was around an hours drive from where i was,i eventually get there report to site manager,then have to show my cscs and get inducted on site,all the usual rubbish.No risk assesment no method statement,site manager reluctantly lets me get to work,its around 5 oclock now and not even got my screwdriver out,site manager standing over me,i guess he wanted to go home,im rushing around like somebody possessed,isolate heater circuit and disconnect heater from SFU fit new heater to wall wire it up energise circuit test heater nothing aaaarrrrhhhh.Lots of colourful language by this stage,site managers pacing up and down,i ask him any chance of a brew. Well didnt get brew tested SFU,its not swiching no probs run to van get new SFU safely isolate again,but now have to dissconnect circuit cables,CPC and N touch taking out whole site,ask site agent for keys to CU,their on the way to liverpool,site sparks got them in his pocket.When a very angry site spark returned i set main switch and everything was fine.I left site at 19.30.The moral behind this story is rushing gets you nowhere fast.Istill didnt get a brew,but the guards were nice and warm.

 

[keniff]

Imagine the scene,Friday afternoon about 3 oclock,office gets a call,a 2KW heater gone down in the securitys site office,(cant have the security guards getting cold,they wont be able to fall asleep)anyway i get the job to go and replace said heater,site was around an hours drive from where i was,i eventually get there report to site manager,then have to show my cscs and get inducted on site,all the usual rubbish.No risk assesment no method statement,site manager reluctantly lets me get to work,its around 5 oclock now and not even got my screwdriver out,site manager standing over me,i guess he wanted to go home,im rushing around like somebody possessed,isolate heater circuit and disconnect heater from SFU fit new heater to wall wire it up energise circuit test heater nothing aaaarrrrhhhh.Lots of colourful language by this stage,site managers pacing up and down,i ask him any chance of a brew. Well didnt get brew tested SFU,its not swiching no probs run to van get new SFU safely isolate again,but now have to dissconnect circuit cables,CPC and N touch taking out whole site,ask site agent for keys to CU,their on the way to liverpool,site sparks got them in his pocket.When a very angry site spark returned i set main switch and everything was fine.I left site at 19.30.The moral behind this story is rushing gets you nowhere fast.Istill didnt get a brew,but the guards were nice and warm.

So you have a working spare heater then lol!?!?

 

[terry5880]

not sure if on right place here but can anyone tell me the right fuse against the right wattage please

 

[Richard Burns]

not sure if on right place here but can anyone tell me the right fuse against the right wattage please

Not really the right place. If you mean for PAT testing then the recommendation is up to 700W 3A above 700W 13A; but follow the manufacturers instructions and computers/ vacuum cleaners often have a 5A fuse.

 

[terry5880]

ok thanks richard ive just started i was bought in to help fix the many broken laptops they got but now i been asked to do pat testing but there own guideline says upto 750watts 3amp 750 to 1200watt 5amp and above that is 13amp im sure that is wrong but if i just follow what they say then i cant get the blame

 

[Mr.Si]

Just been in Brittany last week, sadly faults that I don't have the power to rectify. Mind you, it is basically in Lanrelac, as farmy and rustic as you can get. Cartridge fuses for protection in the CU was all they had.
Most light fittings looked like this or worse... Those have seen some heat, that's for sure!



Secondly, on the border between Brittany and Normandy in a place called Dol, Out in the town centre walking around and I spot this in a Well with Metal Gauzes, hand is easily able to touch it...



French electrics scare me.

 

[micksparky]

Went to do an EICR a couple of weeks ago and found the whole extention and indoor pool/spa area wired like this.


She said the builder that wired it said he was also an electrician..... and he didn't need to give a EIC as it was only an extention not a new build.

 

[trev]

He probably didn't need to test it either since it was an extension, or maybe he just knew it was ok. Bloody shyster

 

[micksparky]

yes maybe he had a kind of e.s.p that rendered the need for testing unnecessary.

 

[trev]

I've worked with guys who have had that Mike. I wasn't blessed with it so I still prefer to spend the time with my test gear

 

[Silly Sausage]

What's the problem! The socket will be earthed via the screws and back box.......I don't think so.

 

[ayjay]

i worked /did my apprentiship for meggitt marsh, we used to install ringmains in steel conduit with no cpc
the earthing was reliant on the socket fixing screws only
if the earthing was crap we just went around tightening the 20mm bushes in the ko boxes!

 

[electrifix]

fitted a curtain pole at my own house...knew the fixing would be close to cable but decided... eeahh be reet! all was ok till my wife and i put the weight of the curtains on the pole... stood admiring them then my wife closed them and sparks flew from the metal pole and rings whooops!! ...if only we'd bought foil curtains!!! lol!!

 

[rich.250]

i worked /did my apprentiship for meggitt marsh, we used to install ringmains in steel conduit with no cpc
the earthing was reliant on the socket fixing screws only
if the earthing was crap we just went around tightening the 20mm bushes in the ko boxes!

Why did you not just tag from the back box to the socket faceplate??
You would still need to tag it despite it being 'effectively' earthed through the screws.....

 

[trev]

Why did you not just tag from the back box to the socket faceplate??
You would still need to tag it despite it being 'effectively' earthed through the screws.....

As long as there's a fixed lug you don't have to Rich. I was taught to take the cables to the terminal on the socket then a lead to the box and still do it to this day, for the amount of time it takes I deem it worthwhile but it's not a necessity.
Dog rough if you don't imho

 

[rich.250]

I know you can rely on it the other way round to earth a metal box but don't agree that you should have no cables in the earth terminals in a socket. As it wouldn't be installed to manufacturers instructions would it.....??
And I agree trev! Rough!
I thought if it had a terminal it should be connected to it? Will have a look for the reg I'm thinking of later

 

[DNS]

When I am wiring a socket on a ring final I WILL always sleeve the cpcs separately, I will connect the two from the cables (ring) into the terminal on the metal box. Then I will always have one cpc from that terminal to the earth terminal on the socket and when one wire is being terminated, I always double the end over.

 

[Ohmyword]

I agree with Trev. I've been 'in the trade' all my working life (& I'm 60 now). I always take the cpc's to the socket terminals first & loop out to the metal box. Over the years the earthing/bonding of the metal boxes was relaxed. In my opinion, if one does it the other way round and a good connection is not made on metal box terminal, the earthing to the socket could 'fail'. I reckon that it's better to lose the earthing of the box than the earthing of the socket
If there are two earthing terminals on the socket would you use each one ie. connect the cpc of one ring cable to one terminal & the other cpc to the other?
I still think connecting both cpc's in the one terminal makes more sense. I use the same reasoning (as earthing box) because if one bad connection is somehow made (or wire broken) then continuity of ring cpc could be compromised.

 

[trev]

I always put both cable CPCs in one terminal on the socket with a loop out to the box.

 

[Swicade]

I'll admit i tend not to loop to the back of the box at all...only time i do is if it's a metal clad surface backbox...since they relaxed the backbox earthing. CPC's are always seperatelyt sheathed and then connected to the same earth terminal though.

 

[rich.250]

The same earth terminal is fine IMO. Unless its for high integrity earthing!

Although I always put one in each and then a tag off one.

As for going to the back box first. I'm not keen, as said above. If you have a lost connection the socket could be used with no CPC.......

 

[Doomed]

A kitchen that has had under cabinet lighting fitted by a local electrical company.
The only bit I opened was the lid to the J201, so they used a J201 for the neutral and wagos not in an enclosure for the rest... WTF?

 

[ayjay]

12 volts?- still ,i can,t understand why the installer did that--
probably a boy left alone, non supervised, or a clueless idiot

 

[Ohmyword]

12 volts?- still ,i can,t understand why the installer did that--
probably a boy left alone, non supervised, or a clueless idiot

I was thinking more on the lines of - monkey :-D

 

[Doomed]

no no - this is the 230 supply to the downlighters!

 

[Lucas]

When I am wiring a socket on a ring final I WILL always sleeve the cpcs separately, I will connect the two from the cables (ring) into the terminal on the metal box. Then I will always have one cpc from that terminal to the earth terminal on the socket and when one wire is being terminated, I always double the end over.

Each to their own but I see that as incredibly bad practice.