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Amp David

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Quality one today.

Went to move shower isolator for my brother as hes doing a new bathroom. Ends up being a pig of a job as bathroom is in an extension, with a flat roof and the bathroom ceiling is timber clad.

Goes down stairs looks at CU and right away see this huge old iron service head. Then i see the nice new 16 mm earth along side the new tails, but then can't seem to see the earth connected to head or supply cable.

Ze tests at 13.9 ohms. Quality I think.

Out comes the circ saw and I take up the boards around the service to see if its and old 951 clamp hidden away, but no, nothing. So got the work light under the boards to be greeted by this beauty!

Had a cracker of a job today IMAG0027 - EletriciansForums.net

951 clamp onto the lead water service in the floor void. This being used as the earth connection.

They spent 3k on a rewire earlier this year. Not a single cable entering the CU is new, not only because they're all the old colours, but they're all still painted up in emulsion paint. Then I find no bonding to either gas or water and only half the new CU has RCD protection.

Had DNO out who confirmed that there had never been an earth supplied since day one, yet no earth rod insight. Good thing though DNO are back out tomorrow to sort an earth and change service head.

Since getting home tonight, my brother has gone back to update the customer regards his so called rewire and got to speak to the spark who did it. He blamed the testing on another guy who tested it all, confirmed that because there was no supplied earth they had used the water supply and when asked what readings he got for their Ze, he started stuttering and all of a sudden was lost for words.

This pics also makes be wonder. Its a dual RCD chint CU, but in place of the first RCD their seems to be a 63 amp C typre DP MCB instead. God only knows what his plan here was.

Had a cracker of a job today IMAG0030 - EletriciansForums.net
 
That is shocking. Obviously there is some paperwork to back-up the "rewire"?
Looks like a full refund is in order here...
What's really sad, is that these cowboys are taking work away from good electricians who are trying to decide whether it is worth carrying on in business....
 
So, to summarise...

1) Customer paid for a rewire which didn't happen...
2) "electrician" (I use the term loosely) connected main earthing to lead water pipe....
3) It was left as a "sort of TT system", but only half the board is RCD protected....
4) "electrician" (I use the term loosely again) didn't understand what Ze means.

To conclude....

The customer was robbed and put in danger.
Now, you can't tell me that there isn't somebody who will take this state of affairs seriously???
 
That is shocking. Obviously there is some paperwork to back-up the "rewire"?
Looks like a full refund is in order here...
What's really sad, is that these cowboys are taking work away from good electricians who are trying to decide whether it is worth carrying on in business....



Oh the certs, yeah whats one of them.

When mentioned to him that the DNO wanted to see the test certs for the rewire before they would reconnect to the supply, he started to sound a little nervous.

He actually reckons that he will make an appearance back at the house tomorrow.
 
Oh the certs, yeah whats one of them.

When mentioned to him that the DNO wanted to see the test certs for the rewire before they would reconnect to the supply, he started to sound a little nervous.

He actually reckons that he will make an appearance back at the house tomorrow.

I hope the customer is there to ask (if the cowboy does show up) how the new cables look just the same as the original. I'm sure there is a term for taking money for work you haven't actually done....
 
I would like to say I'm gobsmacked, but I'm not. Nothing surprises me now but it still gets my blood pressure up... :(

How many threads/posts have we had on dodgy installs in the last couple of weeks?
 
Testing whats that?,who would be able to id a circuit in that mess,good job there are real electricians around to takes care of such rubbish.
 
They spent 3k on a rewire earlier this year. Not a single cable entering the CU is new, not only because they're all the old colours, but they're all still painted up in emulsion paint. Then I find no bonding to either gas or water and only half the new CU has RCD protection.

Not sure if I'm missing something here, but those cables look brown and blue to me...
 
One question arises. If they have had a rewire were there not signs that one had been carried out such as a few more sockets dotted around, new sockets switches and light fittings, sockets in different places from where they were originally, chases waiting to be plastered/new plaster on chases etc etc?
Every rewire I have ever carried out has resulted in all of the aforementioned. I appreciate that the "victims" were not clued up electrically but surely there must have been signs.
Actually that's a few questions really isn't it?
 
Guitarist makes a pretty good point there (post #13)......unless there's a big joint box with all circuits extended to a new CU position...Everything else is a mess and trash though
 
I'll stake £50 that there is a fault on one of the circuits 'protected' by this 63A MCB!!!


So did I and the DNO chap.

But when the DNO chap stuck a temp up front RCD in it held, so god only knows

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Not sure if I'm missing something here, but those cables look brown and blue to me...


Hes over sleeved 99% the originals in the CU. I think he might of extended a few.
 
I hope the customer is there to ask (if the cowboy does show up) how the new cables look just the same as the original. I'm sure there is a term for taking money for work you haven't actually done....

This is what angers me the most. Its the customer who actually got him on the phone yesterday. To me it sound like its a mate of his and rather than give his mate grief, he'd rather just us do our bit and leave the other crap as is.

MADNESS:banghead:
 
This is what angers me the most. Its the customer who actually got him on the phone yesterday. To me it sound like its a mate of his and rather than give his mate grief, he'd rather just us do our bit and leave the other crap as is.

MADNESS:banghead:

Good mate then ?
 

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