Cowboy electrician

[Bob Geldoff1234]

I was called to a house where they said the fuse for the sockets kept blowing.They had kept replacing the fuse until it didn't blow anymore but now the sockets have no power!.

When i arrived to have a look they said another electrician had come out and in order to fix the fault had replaced the consumer unit! The sockets still had no power to them.
Anyway i had a look and found the house to wired in rubber cable.Obviously the blasting had totally destroyed the conductors blowing apart the fault and now was sat there with no power.

I turned my attention to the consumer that the 'electrician'(and i use the term loosely) had fitted.
Heres what i found.
http://i.Upload the image directly to the thread.com/OVG1tOt.jpg

He has used the old cotton covered tails and fed it through an unbushed hole with the red clearly digging into the consumer unit.

Also the main earth cable looked like it was only 2.5mm!
http://i.Upload the image directly to the thread.com/ADKv2od.jpg
No earth bonding to gas or water.
Heres the inside.
http://i.Upload the image directly to the thread.com/ooOlYg2.jpg

Needless to say there was no certificate,no labels,no part 'p' notification etc.

I am gob smacked at the incompetence of this so called electrician.

What do others think?

 

[Wilko]

Hi Bob, welcome to the forum.
It's a shocker, literally. For me, it does take the biscuit with the cotton covered tails. I think I saw this at my grandma's house when I was a little un. But they wouldn't have been pushed through a metal CU !
Hopefully they will address this properly now ?

Edit : I think these tails ARE from my grandma's house !!!

 

[Barry White]

Must be a diy job

 

[telectrix]

how can anyone make such a monkey's abortion out of a small job like that?

 

[Leesparkykent]

Blimey...I think whoever it was wasn't an electrician.

 

[telectrix]

seen better jobs done by wet=pants.

 

[westward10]

Do you know the monkey that did this.

 

[Barry White]

So the"electrician"??? came to fix a fault with the sockets and didnt instead he fitted a few more faults?

 

[Andy78]

Track this one down and make sure the customer gets in touch with trading standards and the scheme (I know this is unlikely) this guy belongs to. You owe it to your trade and to the customer.

 

[Risteard]

instead he fitted a few more faults?

Genius!

 

[telectrix]

but it's a non-combustible CU.what could possibly go wrong?

 

[4285scott]

It's clowns like this cowboy give us honest electricians a bad name how do they sleep an night knowing they might kill someone

 

[westward10]

Here that left rcd has tripped has he left a fault there.

 

[Bob Geldoff1234]

They got him off Facebook.I know who it is and have been in contact with him to give him a roasting.The customer has threatened him with trading standards unless he gives them their money back (£250).I don't thing he's in any scheme(i wonder why).I have to go back next week to rewire the house properly.The lighting is in plastic but has no earths so thats being done as well.It goes without saying i will be replacing the tails with 25mm and the earth with 16mm and bushing the hole properly.Main earth bonding will be carried out to gas and water.
I am an Approved NIC domestic installer so they will get a proper job done and certs at the end when safe.

 

[freddo]

He should be reported whatever. It's notifiable work, and the work has been carried out to a standard that falls far below the minimum requirements.

 

[westward10]

They got him off Facebook.I know who it is and have been in contact with him to give him a roasting.The customer has threatened him with trading standards unless he gives them their money back (£250).I don't thing he's in any scheme(i wonder why).I have to go back next week to rewire the house properly.The lighting is in plastic but has no earths so thats being done as well.It goes without saying i will be replacing the tails with 25mm and the earth with 16mm and bushing the hole properly.Main earth bonding will be carried out to gas and water.
I am an Approved NIC domestic installer so they will get a proper job done and certs at the end when safe.

He wants more than a roasting.

 

[sparksburnout]

They got him off Facebook.I know who it is and have been in contact with him to give him a roasting.The customer has threatened him with trading standards unless he gives them their money back (£250).I don't thing he's in any scheme(i wonder why).I have to go back next week to rewire the house properly.The lighting is in plastic but has no earths so thats being done as well.It goes without saying i will be replacing the tails with 25mm and the earth with 16mm and bushing the hole properly.Main earth bonding will be carried out to gas and water.
I am an Approved NIC domestic installer so they will get a proper job done and certs at the end when safe.

I know it doesn't make it right but who the hell gets a tradesman off Facebook??? Sometimes customers don't exactly help themselves?

 

[Midwest]

Absolutely shocking, fancy fitting a BG board. What was he thinking!

 

[freddo]

What is the 2 cables in the 40a MCB?! Is that a 1.5mm in the 32A MCB?!

 

[tomspark93]

what a mess

 

[sparksburnout]

Absolutely shocking, fancy fitting a BG board. What was he thinking!

Whats wrong with BG boards then?

 

[David M]

Here that left rcd has tripped has he left a fault there.

It's the 32A mcb thats tripped (though I did have to look twice) I guess that's the faulty socket circuit, though I guess the neutral is ok since the RCD still holds
rest of the install is class, I'd be proud to put my name (Billy the Kid)to that.

 

[Midwest]

Whats wrong with BG boards then?

From my own personal experience, with BG FCU's DP switch (x 2) not isolating the live and their tech support response, I tend to steer clear of BG products now.

 

[DPG]

I know it doesn't make it right but who the hell gets a tradesman off Facebook??? Sometimes customers don't exactly help themselves?

Can't blame the customer here. The advertising method does not indicate quality of tradesmen. Plenty of cowboys in the Yellow Pages. Daz

 

[Terry macaskill]

Here that left rcd has tripped has he left a fault there.

Think its only the 32a mcb that has tripped,but what a mess...

 

[Pete999]

I was called to a house where they said the fuse for the sockets kept blowing.They had kept replacing the fuse until it didn't blow anymore but now the sockets have no power!.

When i arrived to have a look they said another electrician had come out and in order to fix the fault had replaced the consumer unit! The sockets still had no power to them.
Anyway i had a look and found the house to wired in rubber cable.Obviously the blasting had totally destroyed the conductors blowing apart the fault and now was sat there with no power.

I turned my attention to the consumer that the 'electrician'(and i use the term loosely) had fitted.
Heres what i found.
http://i.Upload the image directly to the thread.com/OVG1tOt.jpg

He has used the old cotton covered tails and fed it through an unbushed hole with the red clearly digging into the consumer unit.

Also the main earth cable looked like it was only 2.5mm!
http://i.Upload the image directly to the thread.com/ADKv2od.jpg
No earth bonding to gas or water.
Heres the inside.
http://i.Upload the image directly to the thread.com/ooOlYg2.jpg

Needless to say there was no certificate,no labels,no part 'p' notification etc.

I am gob smacked at the incompetence of this so called electrician.

What do others think?

View attachment 34239

Class job (NOT) what a lash up

 

[ackbarthestar]

Whats wrong with BG boards then?

That's what I thought.
Did you know that the BG plastic board passed the BE EN 61439 flame test.....I'm not absolutely sure where I heard this but its out there somewhere!

 

[stummish]

If you hear the customer had an electrician from Facebook you instantly cry a little inside. Very poor job, I've seen worse like but that is impressive how many regs he's managed to break in 1 job.

I've used BG in the past, but not out of choice. Give me a schneider easy9 for domestic any day and I'll be a happy monkey. I'll even wave a tiny German flag while wiring it up!

 

[telectrix]

hate the easy9. lack of space. can't dress cables behind din rail. main switch arse about face.

 

[Midwest]

This is a bit old?

 

[stummish]

@telectrix how dare you! I think they have loads of room. What brand do you (and anyone for that matter) prefer?

 

[telectrix]

try feeding 10x 2.5mm T/E from below alongside the N bar.

 

[D00DY_T00DY]

try feeding 10x 2.5mm T/E from below alongside the N bar.

Fitted 6 easy 9s in a block of flats...sorry... "apartments". They're nice when you have all your new cables through the back

Usually end up fitting whichever local wholesalers sell. Usually BG or contactum.
One of them the neutral bar unclips itself and it's a nightmare! Fighting with all your cables and then the bar starts flapping about.

 

[LeeH]

If you hear the customer had an electrician from Facebook you instantly cry a little inside. Very poor job, I've seen worse like but that is impressive how many regs he's managed to break in 1 job.

I've used BG in the past, but not out of choice. Give me a schneider easy9 for domestic any day and I'll be a happy monkey. I'll even wave a tiny German flag while wiring it up!

Thought they were French.

 

[D00DY_T00DY]

If you hear the customer had an electrician from Facebook you instantly cry a little inside. Very poor job, I've seen worse like but that is impressive how many regs he's managed to break in 1 job.

I've used BG in the past, but not out of choice. Give me a schneider easy9 for domestic any day and I'll be a happy monkey. I'll even wave a tiny German flag while wiring it up!

Speaking of great German engineering. Have you heard of the new CK Slimline screwdrivers. Precision made in Germany?

(Sponsor me @CK Tools )

 

[davesparks]

If you hear the customer had an electrician from Facebook you instantly cry a little inside. Very poor job, I've seen worse like but that is impressive how many regs he's managed to break in 1 job.

I've used BG in the past, but not out of choice. Give me a schneider easy9 for domestic any day and I'll be a happy monkey. I'll even wave a tiny German flag while wiring it up!

They're French!

 

[davesparks]

hate the easy9. lack of space. can't dress cables behind din rail. main switch arse about face.

The new version look like they have lots of space in them.

 

[LeeH]

They're French!

Thought so...

 

[stummish]

Apparently I'm slightly racist. The name sounds too German so I don't belive you! My mistake, I'll go crawl back into my hole

@D00DY_T00DY you've got enough from @CK Tools this month!

 

[LeeH]

Think you're getting confused with Schindler.

Schindler's List/Lifts.