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Discuss Another Bloody Cowboy, is this the worst CU change ever ??? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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bwm730

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Came across this recent CU change yesterday while quoting to replace some Storage Heaters.
The builder had replaced the original Main CU and seperate Economy7 CU with the unit pictured below.
He crammed both sets of tails into the mainswitch by cutting some cores off of each tail and put a strip of wood between the tails as extra insulation.
He installed the 1mm lighting circuit on a 20A MCB, the 6mm Cooker circuit on a 63A MCB and put 2 seperate ring circuits on 1 32A MCB.
Obviously no testing or certificates, he even mounted the new CU lower than the old ones so that now the door hit it when fully opened.
I advised the customer to contact LABC and Trading Standards and wait to see any results.

I have now replaced this with 2 seperate CU's, fully tested and certificated ( 2 IR faults found ) .

The Cowboy's skills are not limited to electrics as he also stuck some ceramic floor tiles down in the bathroom and kitchen with NO NAILS which have now started to crack and the laminate floor in the bedroom has been laid so tight to the wall that it is now rising in the middle.


Another Bloody Cowboy, is this the worst CU change ever ??? CU2 - EletriciansForums.netAnother Bloody Cowboy, is this the worst CU change ever ??? CU1 - EletriciansForums.net
 
So the storage heaters were live 24-7 after the csu change? Would have been a warm house in the winter, or whenever the fire started!
How do people get taken in so easily? There is so much information out there to help people not get caught out by a cowboy, that they must actively seek them out?
 
Came across this recent CU change yesterday while quoting to replace some Storage Heaters.
The builder had replaced the original Main CU and seperate Economy7 CU with the unit pictured below.
He crammed both sets of tails into the mainswitch by cutting some cores off of each tail and put a strip of wood between the tails as extra insulation.
He installed the 1mm lighting circuit on a 20A MCB, the 6mm Cooker circuit on a 63A MCB and put 2 seperate ring circuits on 1 32A MCB.
Obviously no testing or certificates, he even mounted the new CU lower than the old ones so that now the door hit it when fully opened.
I advised the customer to contact LABC and Trading Standards and wait to see any results.

I have now replaced this with 2 seperate CU's, fully tested and certificated ( 2 IR faults found ) .

The Cowboy's skills are not limited to electrics as he also stuck some ceramic floor tiles down in the bathroom and kitchen with NO NAILS which have now started to crack and the laminate floor in the bedroom has been laid so tight to the wall that it is now rising in the middle.


View attachment 13766View attachment 13767

it might be the electrical version of the mini competition

Another Bloody Cowboy, is this the worst CU change ever ??? images - EletriciansForums.net
 
What a loser! Wasting all those MCB's. He could have put the rings in with the cooker and the lighting and storage heaters in another one leaving plenty of space for future additions :wink_smile:
 
Sad to say but unfortunately a sign of the times, where anyone and everyone are trying to make savings! Some don't realise what dangers lie ahead until it is too late :-( The guy should be vapoursised as someone else pointed out :-(
 
I wonder how much percentage electrical work is generated by having to rectify cowboys stuff ups in the uk?

Post 9 - yeah women's outside lights no earth and choke block jobby (another thread and pics)
 
Full marks for effort. Must of been a right mission to ram that lot in. I had builders con unit similar to this a couple of years ago, as usual nobody wanted to know when the house owner contacted them. LABC were only interested in getting him to get someone else to issue certificates...
 
If you do not cut off a few strands how do you go about getting the two 25mm cables into the isolator !:bucktooth:






Joking aside what was the white tape or whatever it is covering the line on the breaker switched off !
 
Well, not even going to put my tongue in cheek and ask if it worked. Jesus, that is amazing and simply has to go in the latest mag from NIC or NApit etc.

BTW did the cover actually fit ?

Deserves an award of some type...
 

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