Hall of Shame Photos

[Engineer54]

And there's you complaining of people coming over to SA and installing electrics to there houses to meet the likes of BS7671, DIN/VDE, NEC etc etc!! lol!!!

 

[Marvo]

Lol, and that little comment just earned you a photo of a freezer defrost control panel installed to the BES666 regs (Bopthatswana Electrical Standards)

 

[RWJ]

BES666 regs (Bopthatswana Electrical Standards)

666 the number of the beast...... Love iron maiden

 

[trev]

Marvo that is a thing of beauty mate. The installer must be so proud

 

[Marvo]

Makes me wonder when these bozo's step back and cast an eye over the fruits of their labours....what the hell goes through their minds?

Here's one more of a commercial lighting installation in a very high end restaurant, also done to the same irreproachable standards and codes.

 

[needasparks]

See it says 2006, please tell me it has stopped and burnt out by now.

 

[Marvo]

Lol, we ripped the entire system out and reinstalled from scratch on just about all these jobs. The pictures were taken for inclusion in the quotes to give the customer an idea what they have and why they might want to pay us to replace or repair it.

 

[needasparks]

And they needed your photo's to point that out ?

 

[Marvo]

You'd be surprised, most of the time this kind of kak is above ceilings or in places they don't see it. They're usually blissfully unaware and we get a call after three or four other cowboys have taken money off them and failed to fix the problem.

 

[needasparks]

shocking. but other countries have a blinkered view to us. Bet we push as much rubbish work though.

 

[Engineer54]

I've got a photo of a CU in China that'll knock the pants off of anything you've shown so far!! lol!!

I looked at this CU (if you can call it such) ...pulled at a few cables to see where they were going, but after half an hour or so gave up, ...couldn't see how or what was happening or what anything was doing. This was to a small 2 bed apartment... Wanna see it ?? lol!!

 

[RWJ]

I've got a photo of a CU in China that'll knock the pants off of anything you've shown so far!! lol!!

I looked at this CU (if you can call it such) ...pulled at a few cables to see where they were going, but after half an hour or so gave up, ...couldn't see how or what was happening or what anything was doing. This was to a small 2 bed apartment... Wanna see it ?? lol!!

Too right!!

 

[Engineer54]

OK, here it is.... See if any of you can make out what's going on...lol!!

This DB was installed just 13 to 14 years ago believe it or not lol!! The Meter is quite sophisticated it can be contacted by mobile phone to credit it's account. If only the rest of the installation was up to that same technology ...lol!!!

 

[RWJ]

lolol at least they've used gerin's

It looks a bit like a board I've just ripped out of a Great Yarmouth hotel

 

[Engineer54]

No idea what the 2 fuses do, the breakers control lights and sockets in the apartment!! not separately, they both control a portion of both the light and sockets. No cooker outlet, they don't use ovens in Sth China, so just normal sockets in the kitchen... all 2 of them!! Voltage is 230V throughout. Oh, and they may look like rewirable fuses but there not, ...they have flat oval cartridge fuses!!

 

[Marvo]

OK, here it is.... See if any of you can make out what's going on...lol!!


This DB was installed just 13 to 14 years ago believe it or not lol!! The Meter is quite sophisticated it can be contacted by mobile phone to credit it's account. If only the rest of the installation was up to that same technology ...lol!!!

I think you've got to look at these installations in a much deeper and holistic way in order to get the most out of them. As far as this one goes I'm liking it on a poetic level. Immediately before it's uncorked there's an assault on the visual palate. The bottling and labeling is in the ageless trend of minimalism which lulls you in a false sense of security. Then you taste and right off the bat you've got that old meets new thing going on, it's simple yet with a very complex after-taste and not a hint of wood.

I'm guessing this CU is lacking mainstream appeal and won't be to everyones taste but it's got merit and well worth the effort to appreciate it.

 

[Andy78]

Not really a pic of shame, but maybe just maybe, if someone had not left copper showing, a life could have been saved.

 

[Marvo]

Not really a pic of shame, but maybe just maybe, if someone had not left copper showing, a life could have been saved.

View attachment 10286

The irony is thick, he was probably killed as the circuit was isolated.

 

[Andy78]

Not sure really. But his back leg was in the poorly terminated live terminal and his wee sleekit nose could have brushed the earth strap.
At least the customer found out why he had flies in his flat in the middle of winter.

 

[Marvo]

There's a story behind this photo, it's not the usual moron-installed rats nest. We put in a request to the power authority to have the metering box relocated out of the fire cupboard. They replied saying the enclosure belonged to them as they installed their kit in there first. We requested a site meeting to show them the equipment. The main water castings were manufactured at Mather and Platts in Manchester and had the date cast in the front which corresponded with the hand written maintenance paperwork that was also still in the cupboard. The date was several years before that area of Cape Town was electrified. They conceded that they might be mistaken about it being 'their cupboard' and moved their equipment without further ado or costs.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

OK, here it is.... See if any of you can make out what's going on...lol!!

This DB was installed just 13 to 14 years ago believe it or not lol!! The Meter is quite sophisticated it can be contacted by mobile phone to credit it's account. If only the rest of the installation was up to that same technology ...lol!!!

so they dont do IP ratings over there in china eng?..lol......

 

[Marvo]

Okay, this is one of my personal favorites. The story the customer told went like this. This board had been problematic for a while, many tripping faults and a small fire later an electrician had told them it needed stripping and rewiring completely. The customer said okay and this was the board after the rewire.

When they'd finished the work both RCD's couldn't be reset without immediately tripping again. I really felt bad for the guy who rewired it (yeah, right), he obviously got confused because he'd used what was supposed to be the earth bar as one of the RCD neutral bars. In an attempt to bypass the problems this caused he'd removed the main earth from the terminal on the enclosure and used choc blocks to run the earth all over the panel so the circuits could connect to it without contacting the chassis.

This was one of the few appalling jobs where justice prevailed and the customer had seen the debacle before he wrote the cheque so the moron didn't get paid thankfully.

 

[Knobhead]

I thought that was one of my control panels

View attachment 10303

 

[GLENNSPARK]

class 1 enclosure......no earth to it...hmm......

 

[Marvo]

Last one for the night.

I thought that was one of my control panels

View attachment 10303

Here's the real life version of your pic

These were courtesy of a hotel's maintenance staff.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

well if it was RCD`d...lol.....

 

[Engineer54]

Last one for the night.



Here's the real life version of your pic

These were courtesy of a hotel's maintenance staff.

View attachment 10310

Remind me not to stay at that hotel, .....The place is filthy!! lol!!!

 

[Marvo]

Remind me not to stay at that hotel, .....The place is filthy!! lol!!!

That place is spotless , here's one that's less concerned about cleanliness

 

[Silly Sausage]

Hope that's taken from above!!!

Cheers for the pics, keep em coming!

 

[GLENNSPARK]

That place is spotless , here's one that's less concerned about cleanliness


View attachment 10311

paella anyone...lol....

 

[DaveyD]

Ok, so not as interesting as above but anyway here was last weeks. 0.75 cable spured off of a 32a RFC.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

had one the other day.....1.5mm T&E spurred off a 2 gang socket....feeding a 2 gang socket......told em they could either have a 1 gang or a no gang..lol....we were changing old to new switches/outlets by the way.....

 

[james the spark]

I had a good one a couple of weeks ago 2 sockets fed in bell cable should have got a pic but i have to say they never had any problems with them lol.

 

[Octopus]

Just this afternoon, in my wholesaler, a gentleman was buying 25 meters of flex to run a cable through a hosepipe down his garden.

Lord only knows what he was going to put on the end of it!

 

[needasparks]

Just this afternoon, in my wholesaler, a gentleman was buying 25 meters of flex to run a cable through a hosepipe down his garden.

Lord only knows what he was going to put on the end of it!

Bet its not going to be a tap.
was the flex some of that spanish stuff you see on holiday that runs everything cookers, showers roadside cafes. lol

 

[Darkwood]

Just this afternoon, in my wholesaler, a gentleman was buying 25 meters of flex to run a cable through a hosepipe down his garden.

Lord only knows what he was going to put on the end of it!

Maybe i take my hat off to him if he manages to thread 25m of flex through a flexible hose.... a task that aint gonna be as easy as he thinks

 

[needasparks]

I was gonna comment on the threading the flex through hose then thought. How would I know !

 

[Kenny.]

Maybe i take my hat off to him if he manages to thread 25m of flex through a flexible hose.... a task that aint gonna be as easy as he thinks

25m of string and an air line, Easy peasy

 

[SparkyDips]

Is this an old Wylex 3036 CU converted to a DIN rail arrangement?? Might explain why there's no cover to be seen, ...it wouldn't fit the new arrangement ...lol!!!

i believe its one of many "bespoke" boards lol

Probably from "The Electricians Guide to the Building Regulations"

yes correct

 

[SparkyDips]

Okay, this is one of my personal favorites.

View attachment 10302

is this one of them magic eye pictures?? still can't see it?? lol

That place is spotless , here's one that's less concerned about cleanliness


View attachment 10311

yummy!!

 

[jamie-spark]

Some of those new outdoor junction box thingies

 

[SparkyDips]

now where the f### does this go!!

 

[Andy78]

Just found some old ones on the hard drive

Bonding of metal containment


"Shall we get the sparks in before we build this dividing wall?" "Naah sod it"

 

[Barry Rathbone]

Camera installer drilled through this cable and 'fixed' it. "It's a permanently fixed cable to the homeowner" oh good no worries says the homeowner.

Bearing in mind this is a barn gutout and rebuild and hadn't even seen power at this point 3 weeks ago!!!
Luckily for me it was shown as I walked in a week later to finish off wiring, fuming wasn't the word.Was promptly replaced in 20min.
God knows what would have happened if the plasterers had covered it......