A question to the experienced electricians out there...
I'm a mature 2365 level 3 student with plenty of previous DIY experience and over the last few months, have been lucky enough to have been doing some casual (as-and-when-needed) work with an all round fully approved electrician. Been doing all-sorts in domestics, commercial and industrial. Although he is not time-served he seems to know what he's talking about when it comes to design and installation. However, when it comes to technique, we are disagreeing somewhat and this is causing a bit of stress and tension between us. The biggest issue I have... or rather, he has... is the way I strip SWA cable...
The way I do it, which is the way I have been taught at college, is to use a hacksaw to score, even almost cutting the armouring making sure it is nice and level all the way round the cable, and then snapping them of by hand. I find this the easiest, quickest, least painful, most accurate way of doing it. His way is to first remove the appropriate amount of outer sheath to reveal the armouring, then with a pair of side-cutters, snip off the excess armour wires one at a time. I find this method physically awkward, difficult, inaccurate, and time consuming, especially when having to wrestle a big 4 or 6mm cable, but despite this he won't "allow" me to do it my way, arguing that his way is more accurate and quicker, even though he has never actually done it in my presence but always gets me to do it. I have seen several youtube tutorial videos showing "my" way and none showing his way. I realise that it is his business, etc, but I'm wondering if anybody else does it "his" way.
The other thing is the way I strip twin and earth. I prefer to pull the cpc out to split the sheath, or run a knife down the centre along the cpc. His way is to split the end, then using thumb and finger to pull one of the insulated conductors back on itself, splitting the outer sheath in roughly half, then taking that half of the split sheath and pulling to separate it, then using side cutters to remove the other half. I think if I do it this way for long enough I am going to develop severe arthritis in the fingers and then early retirement on medical. But again I am "banned" from doing this my way because he says his way is neater and he is very uptight (and I mean UPTIGHT) about how the end of the grey sheath looks, even though it will be behind the accessory. He requires it to be perfectly square with no splits or frays, and said the NICEIC inspectors will pull him on it. Really?
There are a couple of other things which I might mention later but I think I've droned on for long enough for now. Just wanted the thoughts of some other pro's and whether I would experience the same if I was working with someone else.
I'm a mature 2365 level 3 student with plenty of previous DIY experience and over the last few months, have been lucky enough to have been doing some casual (as-and-when-needed) work with an all round fully approved electrician. Been doing all-sorts in domestics, commercial and industrial. Although he is not time-served he seems to know what he's talking about when it comes to design and installation. However, when it comes to technique, we are disagreeing somewhat and this is causing a bit of stress and tension between us. The biggest issue I have... or rather, he has... is the way I strip SWA cable...
The way I do it, which is the way I have been taught at college, is to use a hacksaw to score, even almost cutting the armouring making sure it is nice and level all the way round the cable, and then snapping them of by hand. I find this the easiest, quickest, least painful, most accurate way of doing it. His way is to first remove the appropriate amount of outer sheath to reveal the armouring, then with a pair of side-cutters, snip off the excess armour wires one at a time. I find this method physically awkward, difficult, inaccurate, and time consuming, especially when having to wrestle a big 4 or 6mm cable, but despite this he won't "allow" me to do it my way, arguing that his way is more accurate and quicker, even though he has never actually done it in my presence but always gets me to do it. I have seen several youtube tutorial videos showing "my" way and none showing his way. I realise that it is his business, etc, but I'm wondering if anybody else does it "his" way.
The other thing is the way I strip twin and earth. I prefer to pull the cpc out to split the sheath, or run a knife down the centre along the cpc. His way is to split the end, then using thumb and finger to pull one of the insulated conductors back on itself, splitting the outer sheath in roughly half, then taking that half of the split sheath and pulling to separate it, then using side cutters to remove the other half. I think if I do it this way for long enough I am going to develop severe arthritis in the fingers and then early retirement on medical. But again I am "banned" from doing this my way because he says his way is neater and he is very uptight (and I mean UPTIGHT) about how the end of the grey sheath looks, even though it will be behind the accessory. He requires it to be perfectly square with no splits or frays, and said the NICEIC inspectors will pull him on it. Really?
There are a couple of other things which I might mention later but I think I've droned on for long enough for now. Just wanted the thoughts of some other pro's and whether I would experience the same if I was working with someone else.
. personally, i do both the same way as OP, but lately use a armourslice for SWA. to get a neat end on the sheath of T/E, lightly score with stanley knife before stripping.
