Discuss Image showing effects of consumer unit fire! in the Security Alarms, Door Entry and CCTV (Public) area at ElectriciansForums.net

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Gavin John Hyde

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This popper up on my twitter feed tonight, shows a house gutted in Greater London from fire due to a consumer unit fire.... Make sure you double check your terminations and installs and it can almost always be avoided if you do things properly.
Image showing effects of consumer unit fire! upload_2018-6-10_23-23-40 - EletriciansForums.net
 
Fire brigades are noturious for blaming fires on electrical faults, without actually pinpointing exactly what it was so probalbly woryh taki g this with a pinch of salt.

As for telling us to double check tightness I would like to think that people do that as a second nature without actually having to think about it.
 
Fire brigades are noturious for blaming fires on electrical faults, without actually pinpointing exactly what it was so probalbly woryh taki g this with a pinch of salt.

As for telling us to double check tightness I would like to think that people do that as a second nature without actually having to think about it.
I would like to think its 2nd nature too. See far too many loose wires though.
 
I see far too many loose wires, and connections. Seen many a faceplate connections burnt out, and many MCB's, RCD's, Fuses etc burnt out. Never seen a house burnt down due to them though, or anything close.
 
Fire brigades are noturious for blaming fires on electrical faults, without actually pinpointing exactly what it was so probalbly woryh taki g this with a pinch of salt.

As for telling us to double check tightness I would like to think that people do that as a second nature without actually having to think about it.
not true, i was doing an eicr on a very new property that was about to be leased out, cooker mcb had about 15mm of copper showing above terminal, switched it off and gave it a little pull and out it came

only decent sparkies check their connections are tight
 
not true, i was doing an eicr on a very new property that was about to be leased out, cooker mcb had about 15mm of copper showing above terminal, switched it off and gave it a little pull and out it came

only decent sparkies check their connections are tight
You are an apprentice, why the hell are you doing an EICR???
 
Fire brigades are noturious for blaming fires on electrical faults, without actually pinpointing exactly what it was so probalbly woryh taki g this with a pinch of salt.

As for telling us to double check tightness I would like to think that people do that as a second nature without actually having to think about it.
Agree Dillb, we all used to check, but today? who knows what or who is doing electrical work?
 
Over the course of a working lifetime, connecting & double checking thousands, possibly millions of terminations, do you not think you might just leave the odd one or two loose?

We are all human, prone to make mistakes.
 
But hey a fire rated enclosure or DB will help solve the problem wont it :fearscream:
Now you are taking the proverbial? best way would be to improve training.
Because in my opinion, poor training and Plastic Electricians are the main cause of consumers unit fires. Seems that the main thing these days is to make the install of CUs look pretty, cable tie all the conductors together, take pictures and post them on line, hoping they will get brownie points, rather than, ensuring the connections etc are done properly.
Saying that, doesn't mean it should look carp, but safety is the best option, By the way, good morning, have a good day.
 
I did a board change a couple months ago - everything hunky dory.
Got a call back to same house last week, asked the guy what was wrong. He said the shower wasn't working. I asked what actually was happening with the shower?
"Some smoke" was the reply. :confused:
A "friend of the family" had changed the guys shower since my board change.
Cover off, the neutral was black instead of blue.... crispy and brittle insulation. A little tug and it just falls out the terminal block. Same with the c.p.c.
Pulled spare cable out the wall, new bit of block, reterminated, tested and everything good again.

Sorry, no photos. But it shows you how easy a loose termination can start overheating, and may, in the right circumstances, cause a serious fire.
 
I did a board change a couple months ago - everything hunky dory.
Got a call back to same house last week, asked the guy what was wrong. He said the shower wasn't working. I asked what actually was happening with the shower?
"Some smoke" was the reply. :confused:
A "friend of the family" had changed the guys shower since my board change.
Cover off, the neutral was black instead of blue.... crispy and brittle insulation. A little tug and it just falls out the terminal block. Same with the c.p.c.
Pulled spare cable out the wall, new bit of block, reterminated, tested and everything good again.

Sorry, no photos. But it shows you how easy a loose termination can start overheating, and may, in the right circumstances, cause a serious fire.
Hope you charged him, did he start to blame you for the problem? bet the answer is in the affirmative, be surprised if it isn't.
 
He paid me over what I asked for because I came out so quick.
He didn't blame me at all... he blamed his "family friend"
Good customer, and hopefully i'll get more work from him as he's lost trust in getting non-qualified people in
 
He paid me over what I asked for because I came out so quick.
He didn't blame me at all... he blamed his "family friend"
Good customer, and hopefully i'll get more work from him as he's lost trust in getting non-qualified people in
get the guy who installed the shower to come back round, grab him by the finger, and push his finger the wrong way and try to make it touch his wrist, see if he still wants to be an electrician after that
 

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