changed a light and now it doesn't work????

[bk81]

Had an email from my wife, one of her friends husbands changed a light over and now it doesn't work. Dunno what people think sometimes, I can almost guarantee he mixed a neutral with sw/wire!

I wonder if people think, how hard can it be, electricians can do it?? lol

Anybody else get this?

 

[MDJ]

all the time m8, every time a member of the family changes a light, and yes they connect all the blacks together haha, usual problem.

 

[bk81]

How hard is it to look at what's connected where when you take the fitting down, that's what gets me! lol

Wouldn't mind if I was getting a call out but he won't learn his lesson if it's for free! ;-)

 

[telectrix]

ask him if he works for free.

 

[Baker1988]

yeah i see it alot at work it seems to happen quite alot,
I have also seen a socket been wired up on a ring where he has put 1 live in the live terminal and 1 live into the neutral terminal and then put the neutrals in a chock block in the back box and wondered why it did not work he said and i quote "i dont understand why it does not work it is live i have checked it with my tester so it should work" haha it was a 99p neon tester aswell haha, they dont understand what a neutral is there for

 

[bk81]

Whoa Baker, I'd be lost for words with something like that! lol, where do you begin!?

 

[craigday]

had a call out about 9pm about on other side of London because the person changed a light in his daughters room and again put all black together and brown together

 

[Stroppy]

See? Apartheid not working again...

 

[TaffyDuck]

I get this every time we go anywhere. The weekend before last we were visiting friends and I got the " can you look a a problem I have with my sockets" My heart sinks especially when my tools are 100 miles away. Turned out to be a simple compression fault in a socket box. Time before that was two way switching not working and occasional shocks from a metal light switch plate. Again easy fix, the numpty had put the yellow from the triple and earth into the earth block on the back box ( earth had been cut out) The list is endless

 

[Robotstar5]

As soon as the family realise you're a sparky, you start getting the phone calls. "there's 9 wires hanging from the ceiling, where do they all go?", the favourite was a brother in law who decided to fit a double dimmer, "lounge light won't come on and hall light won't go off". They also want to know why it's so expensive "just to move/fit a socket outlet".

 

[Instalec]

Usual case,they tell you they matched all the colours up haha

 

[GLENNSPARK]

i had one a while back at a place in garforth...3 gang switchplates...
one 1 way controlling the porch light....the other 2 were two wayed with the wallplate on the opposite side of the living room...when you operated the porch light..the living room pendant would come on....but would not 2 way with the other wallplate...lol...the other 2 switches were controlling the pendant (again) and the wall lights...which would just stay on...lol...
turned out they had been decorating an age back and had removed the wallplates as it was `easier to paper the wall like this`...lol....
i think it had been like that for about 5 years...
belled them out for them....got it sorted..

 

[Stroppy]

As a former computer engineer who is now an apprentice sparky I get the worst of both worlds: every man and his dog expects me to fix their computer in return for a cup of tea AND rewire their house in my spare time. I don't think so....

 

[Baker1988]

As a former computer engineer who is now an apprentice sparky I get the worst of both worlds: every man and his dog expects me to fix their computer in return for a cup of tea AND rewire their house in my spare time. I don't think so....

Haha I get this too have to fix every ones pc/laptop cos they been watching adult movie's and not got loads of viruses haha

 

[Stroppy]

Makes you sick, eh? On the other hand we do get to harvest some good 'norp'!

 

[Bobbyh]

Usual case,they tell you they matched all the colours up haha

Usually get ' but that's the way it was wired before'

 

[Andy78]

Usually get ' but that's the way it was wired before'

Ahuh. Last one I had was with a neighbour a few weeks ago. Was moving out and had swapped his chrome switches for white plastic thus embuggering the operation of the two way switching.
"You'll have just got a couple of wires mixed up, gimme 2 minutes" I said
"No no no, I'm not having that. I know what I'm doing, all the wires are right, it's EXACTLY as it was"
"Did it work before?" I ventured
"Well...yeah"
"And does it work now?"
"Well no but...."
I sort of did enjoy making the pompous arse look a bit of a div in front of his missus. Especially as she had originally suggested he might have got the wires mistaken, and had her ear chewed off for it.

 

[ian.settle1]

had a call out about 9pm about on other side of London because the person changed a light in his daughters room and again put all black together and brown together

Mixture of new and old colours, is it singles?

 

[YoungBart]

I tend to avoid getting the family ringing up for jobs ever since I blew my gran's Electric fire up. (I wouldn't mind but all I did was swap the lamp like for like), So I dont get them jobs anymore...:uhoh2:

 

[Stroppy]

Good plan! I'll buy in a load of 110v lamps to try that myself. Thanks.