Good Morning Thread - Come say good morning, tell us what you've got on today. :)

We have this thread on TilersForums.com and it's just been restarted because the old thread had 20,000 replies and 500,000 views. And there were 700 pages. Started to lag a bit on slow connections.

I think we had a bash of this before, but I can't find the thread, so thought I'd start another one off.

If you have time in the mornings, come post in the thread before you head off to work, let us know what you've got on and what the weather is like in your area etc. Anything at all is fine.

Posts and likes get counted towards your total stats in this thread.

So GOOOD MORNING PEOPLE - WEATHER IS NICE TODAY IN STOKE. I'M THANKFUL IT'S FRIDAY, HAD A RUBBISH WEEK. THANK GOD IT'S OVER.

View attachment 53708

 

[pirate]

Yes, @pc1966...he is obviously very skilled. I expect he could be a dentist/surgeon, or even an electrician, if he turned his mind and skills to it!
Obviously, he'd be overqualified to be a wet-pants!

 

[nicebutdim]

This morning I awaited a DPD delivery with great anticipation...
My new Unilites! They are fab!
Also, not that I want to be too partisan, but using the code from a well known sparky youtube site, I got 25% off...happy days!

I noticed that discount code a few weeks back and went to take a look - one look and closed the tab.

Unilte make great products and they've never been cheap, but recent price increases are beyond a joke. I bought the HX800R from Powertoolmate for just over £30, about 4 months ago, at which time I think Unilite were charging a bit more... current price on Powertoolmate £33.99 - current price direct from Unilite £75.

My days of looking at Unilite products are quickly drawing to a close.

 

[pirate]

I hear what you say, but time will tell...quality is key, I think.
Years ago, maybe 15 years ago, i bought a LedLenser torch and it was over £70...for a torch?
Still using it on a daily basis, and it's been submerged, hit, dropped, abused and subjected to everything you could imagine...was it worth the price?
Definitely! I'd buy another one tomorrow...but don't need to because the original is still working fine!
It's often a trade-off these days. Head-torches are so cheap, so efficient, but if you break or lose one...well, it's a few quid and off you go again.
Sometimes, the pleasure of using something of quality is more important than using something cheap. Yet, I confess, I have many cheap torches, because they are...well, cheap!
However, the pleasure of using quality gear, knowing it's going to perform all day, every day, makes life so much easier and pleasurable.
I don't have a £40k Rolex...I have a £40 G-Shock for everyday use. It's horses for courses...
However, it's a fascinating subject!
I look forward to input from members here, but maybe needs to be a separate thread, so I apologise if I appear to have hijacked this one.

 

[pirate]

Just to clarify @nicebut dim
I bought the switch-blade lamps, like this

Compact folding Inspection Light | IL-175R - Unilite UK

The IL-175R is a compact slim inspection light with a 180° vertical folding head. It has 3 sperate LEDs, each with their own purpose. Come check it out!

unilite.co.uk

and its bigger brother


I agree the other units seem very expensive, but these designs are great for general inspection, not for illuminating a work site. For that, I just use the Erbauer ones from Screwfix, which I love! The extension pole/tripod for these is only £18. You can charge from mains or in your car/van, and if they get broken, well it's just a few quid. I love 'em!

https://www.NoLinkingToThis/p/erbauer-rechargeable-led-work-light-3200lm/206gy

 

[pirate]

Just to add...my teenage neighbour thinks it's very cool! You can hold it up, on low power, at a rock concert, and wave it slowly from side to side...like a cigarette lighter, but much better....
(Shakes head...)

 

[nicebutdim]

Their products are well designed and very well built and I certainly didn't intend to suggest otherwise. I also understand that many companies will have been forced to implement recent price increases, but this seemed to me more of a marketing strategy - hike prices and offer sizeable discount codes through sponsorship deals.

I'm happy to pay a decent price for a quality product, which is why I was happy to pay around £30 for that particular light, but £75 seems inexplicable - even with 25% off.

Putting my personal issues to one side I'd be very surprised if you were anything less than pleased with their products.

 

[pc1966]

Just to clarify @nicebut dim
I bought the switch-blade lamps, like this

Sort of a flick-knife against vampires?

 

[littlespark]

This morning I have been mostly repairing my Christmas tree lights.

My own fault. I was cleaning the floor with my generic suction cleaning device… (hoovering with a dyson) when it searched and destroyed the wire between the power adaptor of the light string and the little control box.

Thankfully I’d kept an older string with broken lights and a working controller.

 

[pirate]

@littlespark, there may be a member on here near to you who could help you with that rewire!

@nicebutdim, I am very happy with my purchases, but I agree they are a bit on the pricey side! Still, I'll enjoy using them, and if they don't perform I will let everybody know.
How i will do this is start my own youtube channel, say how amazing they are and maybe get some freebies! Probbaly won't get a Metabo wall-chaser though...

 

[Mikegh]

2nd call to an immersion RCD trip, plumber is mad busy and wants heater reconnected so he can test it

IR tested and disconnected on 1st call , ready for replacement and reconnection

Heater cap was almost inaccessible so hadn't looked inside on 1st call, managed to remove cap and inspect and test at terminals

To make matters worse my backup troubleshooting Megger is on the blink , hopefully it's just batteries ,only a few weeks since my Eagle Megger packed up

 

[Lou]

The boss is making me work replying to threads and emails on all the forums. Barely a week till the big day now - is everyone looking forward to a little break?

 

[7029 dave]

The boss is making me work replying to threads and emails on all the forums. Barely a week till the big day now - is everyone looking forward to a little break?

You got lots of medals Lou. lol

 

[telectrix]

Lou. lost my notifications from top of page. they come up for a second when I select a thread or forum, then the top header of the page changes and they sre gone.

 

[littlespark]

Bumpity bump….

Have yourself a merry little spark-mas

1st of December, it’s littlespark’s version of an advent calander. One video of a Christmas song from now til 24th Some classics, some quirky. Enjoy! Ps. You can use the like/dislike buttons to vote for and against each video. But please can I ask you to not add your own videos in...

www.electriciansforums.net

Been at my brothers in Edinburgh today for a covid safe gift exchange… and I forgot he had this item. I’ve blanked out the artist name from the ticket as a little game, but he stole this running list from the front of the stage at the end.

Along with a pair of drumsticks

 

[nicebutdim]

Bumpity bump….

Have yourself a merry little spark-mas

1st of December, it’s littlespark’s version of an advent calander. One video of a Christmas song from now til 24th Some classics, some quirky. Enjoy! Ps. You can use the like/dislike buttons to vote for and against each video. But please can I ask you to not add your own videos in...

www.electriciansforums.net

Been at my brothers in Edinburgh today for a covid safe gift exchange… and I forgot he had this item. I’ve blanked out the artist name from the ticket as a little game, but he stole this running list from the front of the stage at the end.

Along with a pair of drumsticks

View attachment 93159

Dave called and said he'd like those sticks back.

 

[littlespark]

My brother said Dave had gone through dozens of sticks as they got thrown at the crowd at the end of each song…

But blimey…. 1991. This was just before the band released that album with the the swimming baby on the cover… oh, what was it called?….

Never mind. It’ll come to me.

 

[timhoward]

To make matters worse my backup troubleshooting Megger is on the blink , hopefully it's just batteries ,only a few weeks since my Eagle Megger packed up

I have the same backup Megger BM. It's the backup-backup now really but occasionally saves the day. I grab it without a 2nd thought if I'm breaking down a ring, or for pre-CU change IR tests.
I'd try a clean of the contacts on the selector switch. In my view it's well worth keeping it alive, they are great little testers, and I'm sure it will still be working come the day my Kewtech and my Metrel give up!

 

[littlespark]

Stayed in this morning for open reach engineer, broadband had been cutting out and buffering… so now got a new phone master socket, and about 20Mb/s faster. (60 up to 80)
Good enough for what I need.

During that I got a phone call.
“Could you come and have a look. Main fuse blew and Scottish Power said to get an electrician to look at it. Dead short”

I wonder what could be wrong here? The 40 and 50 at RHS look like they’re splitting apart.

I assume the 63A RCD is the mainswitch.

Other question. What’s the best solution? Replace rcd for 100A? Possibly been changed before as it’s not same make.
Will push for new DB, but need a short term fix for xmas

 

[timhoward]

Other question. What’s the best solution? Replace rcd for 100A? Possibly been changed before as it’s not same make.
Will push for new DB, but need a short term fix for xmas

Obviously dead short needs finding!
I'd imagine them splitting apart is a result of thermal damage/overload and/or being under mechanical strain - I'd first check for loose connections on the shower circuit at the board, pull cord and shower.
Very short term - given Hager is seemingly a close fits you could probably acquire a new set of Hager MCB's and new bus bar for minimal cost and pop them in.
I'm also wondering if by the time you have identified the fault and disconnected most things finding it a board change afterwards would be quicker!
(I wouldn't be changing RCD for 100A without consideration of supplier fuse, tails, and max demand and don't see it as a solution to the dead short or the deformed breakers)

 

[littlespark]

Getting on site, I see there was some details missing…. Like the other half of the board. Customer sent the first pic.

So RCD looks a bit black, as does the 50 and 40….
As a stop gap before Xmas, I cannibalised a new Wylex board and replaced everything on the left.

There was a dead short on the feed to the rcd…. Insulation melted through, blowing the main fuse. SP replaced a 100A with an 80 for some reason. The switch fuse supplying the Swa to here has a 100 in it.
Customer said the fuse blew when the shower was on, AND the oven… so I thought simple overload. Left shower disconnected as I didn’t have a wylex that size.
Turns out their boiler is electric… takes 12kW and is on same 50A mcb as the shower.

Will be getting a board change out of this, but after new year.