Recent content by Colin Jenkins

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    UK 100 Amps or 60 Amps

    Hello Andy. Don't panic! The advantage of remaining at 60 amps if you can is that there is less fault energy present (therefore less damage) if something nasty goes wrong at the meter head or consumer unit. With LED lighting, improved insulation and improved technologies, domestic loads are...
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    New fuseboard fitted badly

    The consumer unit is a Skrewfix brand. Maybe a clue it's a DIY-type replacement, not a time-served sparks. The fixed cables should have been marshalled into an adaptable box with a DIN rail connector bar to extend the circuits to the CU. Utterly dismal workmanship which should be isolated...
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    Guess the item (old screwdrivers)

    We live and learn........I didn't know Stanley made an adaptor!
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    Guess the item (old screwdrivers)

    Hello DPG. The 8 small bits to the left are from a blue-handled Stanley Pushdrill, 1970/80s vintage. It works exactly like a miniature Yankee screwdriver, but makes pilot holes in timber rather than turning a screw. The Pushdrill and Yankee bits don't interchange; both are useful tools...
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    Cra*tree

    Hello GrumpyJohn. I have found exactly the same as you have. I don't understand why two well-established decades-old UK brand names have decided to significantly reduce quality to save a few pence on an electrical accessory. I won't use either of them anymore, and will never return to them. Sad.
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    CU outside the front door

    Hello Andy. It looks as though an external door has been removed in the past. If correct, this has resulted in a hazard if drifting snow or drizzle gets in. The client will be astonished at the cost of re-locating the service inside the remaining doorway. I would advise the client to re-instate...
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    Not seen one of these for a while

    Hello Freddo. Will do when I get out to my shed again - hopefully tomorrow. Regards, Colin Jenkins.
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    Not seen one of these for a while

    Hello Littlespark. Nice one! It's a Crabtree outside weather proof light switch. I recall they were all two-way from memory. Note how good the insides of that switch still are! I have a brand-new and unused one of these in my spares box. I stopped using them in the mid-1980s due to...
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    Tables for SWA armour cpc?

    Hello Rockingit. It's Table D9 for 70 deg C and D10a for 90 deg C in IET Guidance Note 1. Regards, Colin Jenkins.
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    Old ISCO, just interested in the vintage

    Hello Happy Steve. This type of metalclad cu-out was used well into the 1950s; the design probably dates from the 1930s. Safe enough if left alone, but potentially very dangerous if disturbed. Often the biggest hazard with these is a worm-eaten meter board crumbling away and leaving the cut-out...
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    Eicr,I never like these

    Hello Cliffed. This type of wall light connection is very common. See Pretty Mouth's comments which explains the thinking used (excuse?) for doing so. The bashing out of the masonry behind the light constitutes an "incombustible enclosure" I was given to understand in my 1960s apprenticeship...
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    Does anyone still use connector block..?

    Quite right Dustydazzler! I looked after ten American textile machines for fifteen years with all control wiring connected up with lots of wirenuts and not one of them ever failed or caused a problem, despite vibration! That said, I have never used Wirenuts myself. I still use screw...
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    IS this safe..how do I fill it in??

    +1 for Paul L. A metal architrave single box behind each fitting will allow the wall surface to be made good and safely enclose the connections. Not for DIY though - you will need a professional electrician. Best regards, Colin jenkins.
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    Consumer units...

    Hello Dustydazzler. I use a standard screwdriver every time as pre-set torque figures unsettle me a bit. I "settle" stranded conductors by hand whilst tightening the terminal, then tug test-check for security. Single-strand conductors need care to avoid crushing the conductor; I double these...
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    Mistakes you have made

    Hello James. I had just left school and was working in a domestic property with a "tear----". Floorboards up all over the house, all rusty nails left sticking up. I knew the hazard, but being so junior thought this guy knows what he's doing and rushed on with helping with the cable runs. Five...

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