Dodgy trade pictures for your amusement! - 1 Million Views!

[bill01803]

Is that a MK board with stray RCBOs

 

[littlespark]

The mainswitch is taking the “MK lean” far too seriously.


My point about the cover was that there is a t&e just leaving the open front. Not be able to replace the cover without cutting a little slot….

 

[DPG]

Not sticking up for shoddy workmanship, but that doesn't look like a finished job to me. Is there more to the story?

 

[Dave OCD]

What do you mean ? I finished it a while ago !

 

[James]

What do you mean ? I finished it a while ago !

Thought I recognised your work there!!

 

[Conductor]

I can't blame a fellow spark for this but some of the previous work was dubious to say the least.

I got a call to a pub that had previous evidence of a rat invasion and they had chewed through the cable supplying the outside lights under the floor space in the first floor.

Yesterday whenever the hand dryer was switch on it tripped the RCD. IR test showed a short on all three wires. Followed it back from the gents roof space above to discover this. Ehmmm nice wires says Mr Rat! My understanding is that vermin will chew through anything that blocks their path, rather than the thought that they are simply sharpening their teeth. The hand dryer was spurred off the lighting circuit for the toilets, neither the cable or the breaker were spec'd high enough to handle the power of the dryer anyway.

At first it wasn't really obvious that the chewing had happened until you pulled the wires back through the hole in the wall. What gave it away was the black marks all over the cable that something had been passing back and forth. The hole leads back under the living room floor for the accommodation above the pub. So I by passed the dodgy part of the cable back to the CU with a temporary cable, until the laminated floor can be lifted next week to see what lies beneath? My Jack Russell is coming with me next week just in case!!

Even better still, who saw the need for the wedge to hold the door open :nonod:

 

[DefyG]

So client says "Wonder what has caused it"?

I say I'm no expert but could be a damp problem.

Client says "we dont have damp in this house"!

Need a second opinion??

 

[nicebutdim]

Definitely no American tanks damp in that house.

 

[littlespark]

All the available damp has been absorbed into the back box….

The building equivalent of rice in the salt shaker.

 

[ipf]

In a Switch Room.
Who's thrown that away? Code 1.
6x6 from bus bar chamber with 90 degree lid missing.



but is anybody going to stick their hand up?

 

[Raptor0014]

Modern problems require modern solutions…

 

[littlespark]

Apart from the IP issues with cable entry, it is technically inside an enclosure….. unless, as pictured, there is no cover.

 

[mainline]

Apart from the IP issues with cable entry, it is technically inside an enclosure….. unless, as pictured, there is no cover.

It’s not fit for purpose the smps is going to get very warm

 

[littlespark]

It’s not fit for purpose the smps is going to get very warm

Maybe… but with no cover, there’s plenty air circulation

 

[mainline]

Maybe… but with no cover, there’s plenty air circulation

Then it's not in an enclosure, you can't have it both ways.

 

[littlespark]

Then it's not in an enclosure, you can't have it both ways.

Drill air holes?


( I know this is being stupid)

 

[mainline]

Drill air holes?


( I know this is being stupid)

I'll agree with you.

 

[James]

It is of course possible to have IP rated holes.

 

[littlespark]

It is of course possible to have IP rated holes.

Just not on the top.


All depends on the actual IP rating.

 

[DPG]

It is of course possible to have IP rated holes.

Exactly. A lot of people seem to think that an IP rated case is waterproof. 'IP' is meaningless without numbers.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Useful article: The Comprehensive Guide To IP Ratings | RS - https://uk.rs-online.com/web/content/discovery/ideas-and-advice/ip-ratings though what a Ball Bearing has to do with it?

 

[DPG]

Useful article: The Comprehensive Guide To IP Ratings | RS - https://uk.rs-online.com/web/content/discovery/ideas-and-advice/ip-ratings though what a Ball Bearing has to do with it?

Wow that's a bit waffly - I suspect it's been AI generated to be honest. Still contains useful info though.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Agreed, useful charts though.

 

[LewisM]

Not electrical but not sure how somebody managed this with a giant placard above it…

 

[mainline]

Was asked to fit this new consumer unit in a static mobile home, bought from Fleabay.
I refused.

 

[nicebutdim]

Was asked to fit this new consumer unit in a static mobile home, bought from Fleabay.
I refused.
View attachment 110199

What was your initial objection? The immediate one before all others became apparent.

 

[mainline]

What was your initial objection? The immediate one before all others became apparent.

The feel of the mcbs and the switch action just felt cheap and nasty.

 

[Simon47]

Not electrical but not sure how somebody managed this with a giant placard above it…



View attachment 110144

FFS !
It took me a while to work out just what I was looking at. But once I'd worked that out, that's shocking workmanship on an aircraft. And the reason for the specific notice ? I'd guess they've had incidents in the past when a control cable has become slack and got caught round the clamp bolt - not something that's going to make life boring for those on board.

But then, I've read/heard of worse maintenance issues in aviation.

 

[mainline]

Was asked to fit this new consumer unit in a static mobile home, bought from Fleabay.
I refused.
View attachment 110199

Tests carried out on these units on behalf of Leicestershire Trading Standards revealed safety concerns. The Residual Current Device melted rather than cutting power, some of the Miniature Circuit Breakers failed to trip, and parts of the circuit remained live even with the main power switch turned off.

 

[LewisM]

FFS !
It took me a while to work out just what I was looking at. But once I'd worked that out, that's shocking workmanship on an aircraft. And the reason for the specific notice ? I'd guess they've had incidents in the past when a control cable has become slack and got caught round the clamp bolt - not something that's going to make life boring for those on board.

But then, I've read/heard of worse maintenance issues in aviation.

Yeah if the bolt for the band clamp is sticking up then when the aircraft is flying and you get slack in the cable then it can chafe on the bolt.

But yeah I’ve seen much worse people using the wrong grease on the landing gear so risk of fire as temp rating isn’t enough for the brakes. Another one somebody had crimped the socket end of crimp then shoved the end that is meant to be crimped into the connector

And this one from not to long ago where the main cable from the engine generator had been run on finger tight on phase A so it got so hot it melted out the lug

 

[nicebutdim]

Just delightful knowing that aircraft maintenance can be as slipshod as all other maintenance.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Not electrical but not sure how somebody managed this with a giant placard above it…



View attachment 110144

Even the placard is wrong the bolt head should be at the top and the stud below as both control cables run above the clamp.

 

[mainline]

Went to some industrial units to look at wiring in a portable toilet block and Static caravan, then went and looked at getting a supply for them.

I think I'll pass on this one

 

[ipf]

Don't know about portable loos but that looks like a real sh** **le

 

[mainline]

Don't know about portable loos but that looks like a real sh** **le

I told him it's dangerous.

 

[Simon47]

And this one from not to long ago where the main cable from the engine generator had been run on finger tight on phase A so it got so hot it melted out the lug

Years ago I used to own a share of a Piper Warrior (160hp, 4cyl single engine). We had problems with the alternator tripping off - assumed to be the over-voltage trip* operating. After months of "we'll try ..." from the so called engineers, I called them up and said "I'm coming down, I'm going to strip, clean, and reassemble all the connections in the battery and charging circuit"** - note, not a "can I" but an "I am". Of course, they started with all the "we'll have to check your work" (I said "fine"), etc., etc. reasons why I shouldn't. When I arrived, they said "can you take it for a test flight, we think we've found the problem" - I did, and they had.
I was 'kin livid, and had it been down to me I'd have made quite a stink about it. There was a bad crimp on the alternator field connection - when it was high resistance, the regulator would crank up the field voltage to compensate, then when it went low resistance, it would cause a higher than needed field current which would trip the over-voltage protection before the regulator could turn the field down. It had been crimped with a pair of pliers, or one of those plier type crimping tools - cut connector in half, found flat oval cross section rather than squeezed down to a gas tight connection. The tell-tale was about an inch of the white insulation was grey. And for good measure, one of the mechanics innocently commented that he'd noticed that when replacing the alternator during one of their previous "we'll try ..." steps.
I don't know how much it cost us in parts and labour - for one bad crimp that one of their own engineers had noticed some time before this came to a head.

* Typically on these small aircraft, there is both a voltage regulator that controls the field current to maintain a constant battery/bus voltage, and an over-voltage trip that cuts the alternator field if the voltage goes above a certain threshold (to prevent a disconnected battery from frying all the electronics). Sometimes they are separate units, more typically both functions in one module.
Also, unlike cars, the alternator is not self-exiting - it's field comes from the battery/DC bus via a switch and an external regulator.

** I'd been asking friends and been advised that a common reason for this problem was a bad connection that caused intermittent connection, and hence intermittent alternator issues.

 

[LewisM]

Yeah I’ve heard that general aviation has a lot of DIY daves.

The planes I work on are slightly larger.

 

[Simon47]

Yeah I’ve heard that general aviation has a lot of DIY daves.

These weren't DIY Daves, these were supposedly professional "engineers" who certainly knew how to charge for their time !
It would have been nice to be allowed to do some of it DIY - we'd have made sure we did a better job.

The planes I work on are slightly larger.

Just a tad. Mind you, I've heard a few tales from that size of the business ...

 

[Mike Johnson]

And not just the Engineers, I was present when the Engineer signed over the World Aerobatic champions Pitts to the pilot, but emphasised that after the service ( he was at lunch) he had not filled the oil tank, said champion said OK no problem I will do it before I take off, he duly taxied to the end of the field and as is his wont took off and went inverted, the oil drained out as he forgot to put the cap on, give him his due, he Chandelled the Pitts landed down wind and used the momentum left to taxi onto the apron, he did not come into the club house, just got in his car and left.

 

[James]

These weren't DIY Daves, these were supposedly professional "engineers" who certainly knew how to charge for their time !
It would have been nice to be allowed to do some of it DIY - we'd have made sure we did a better job.

Just a tad. Mind you, I've heard a few tales from that size of the business ...

smaller issues are often unreported for small private aircraft, the bigger ones it is harder to hide when you put the wrong size screws in the windscreen!