Tell us about your faults!

[kung]

Hi ALL
Just thought id put this one up for all those faults we find.
heres one to kick it off !
Domestic RCD tripped and wouldnt reset cause was a blown low energy light bulb.
There you go now for yours !

 

[Ohmyword]

Got called out one new years eve many years ago - the customer said that her kids were getting shocks when climbing into the bath.
Checked the cast iron bath to earth and their was no voltage present.

I noticed that the carpet was very wet so put my volt meter probes between the bath and the carpet and found that there was about 75 volts.

I moved my probe across the carpet and the voltage started to increase as I got closer to the toilet.
Put my probe directly on one of the screws that held down the toilet, and bingo I got 240V.

Turned off the power, removed the screw, powered back up and the voltage had disappeared.

Floorboards came up next and I found that the screw which was about 6" long had gone straight through the cooker cable which was running through a hole in the joist below. Bloody plumbers !

By the time I got back home new years eve was almost over and I was the only one who was sober !

Think of the money you saved AND NO HANGOVER ;-)

 

[Mr.Si]

Is there a prize for spotting all the faults?!

Go for it

Just to add insult, it's a 1 way lighting circuit and there are 2 reds and 1 black at the switch, which, is actually a 2 way intermediate switch too...



How irritating.

Is this an old fashioned way of doing things? (surely a 1 way switch is only ever 2 wires (live feed and s/w) or do we wonder if there was another switch hidden away somewhere?!
Well, it's a rewire job anyway...

 

[Wiredspark]

Last week I was changing a 110v DC Emergency light system over to a 230v AC. Here are some of the things I found.

1. The Battery cubicle was not connected via a phase monitor and therefor both Blue and Yellow could have gone down and there would be no Em Lts.

2. After disconnecting all the existing fittings (one circuit at a time) I IR'd the pyros and found them to be dead short. So I popped up every other ceiling tile in the place to trace the pyros to each besa box and eventually found that there were fittings that because a corridor had been built onto the place where the old exit was, the fitting had just been ----ed up above the ceiling tiles. So these were disconnected.

3. Ir'ing the circuits again found that they were still shorting so each leg had to be disconnected untill faulty pyros were found, disconnected, new leg run and and terminated and eventually Ir'd clear.

4. Once this was done I found fitting that had no key switch. Fittings that had a key switch but it had been disconnected by "the local guy" so he could fit a PIR in the room and several fittings which were fitted outdoors full of water with the pyro's entering through the top of the fitting. (I know this isnt against the regs but surely you'd bring them in the bottom to stop water lying on the fitting in and around the pyro gland lessen the chance of ingress)

5. When the additional buildings had been built they had forgot to fit Em Lts to the Em exits.



edit: was number 5

 

[kingficer]

I have to think more about this....

 

[timtomted]

low energy lamp keeps flickering after being turned off ?? this is happening on 2 lamps on 2 seperate circuits ?? The lamp on each circuit both happened to be 2 wayed.. i have replaced the strappers ...

 

[kingficer]

Its really helpful for me and the other beginners.....

thanks....

working at height training, Work At heights

 

[Ohmyword]

Go for it

Just to add insult, it's a 1 way lighting circuit and there are 2 reds and 1 black at the switch, which, is actually a 2 way intermediate switch too...

View attachment 10821

How irritating.

Is this an old fashioned way of doing things? (surely a 1 way switch is only ever 2 wires (live feed and s/w) or do we wonder if there was another switch hidden away somewhere?!
Well, it's a rewire job anyway...

Never assume anything, it could save your life!
You don't say where this switch is located. Sometimes you find bedrooms have been refurbished and a 2way cord pull switch has been left above the new ceiling.
I suppose it doesn't have to be a bedroom..... Perhaps the building has been ';worked on' and a switch has been 'bridged out' or plastered over? Or both???

 

[Ohmyword]

low energy lamp keeps flickering after being turned off ?? this is happening on 2 lamps on 2 seperate circuits ?? The lamp on each circuit both happened to be 2 wayed.. i have replaced the strappers ...

Sorry I don't have an answer for you - but to let you know that I too have experienced this annoying phenomenom. I just replaced the low-energy lamp with a GLS lamp

 

[plugsandsparks]

Got a call late from a lovely old lady, "Theres a loud whoosing noise coming from the bathroom lights"
Me - Have you turned the lights off?"
Lady - Yes an its still mking the noise.
Me - OK get a torch and turn the breaker off for the lights.
Lady - done that its still there.
Me - OK turn all breakers off
Lady - Done that its still there.
Me - OK turn everything back on, its not electrical.
Me - hold the phone close to the noise - I hear a very loud noise that sounds like running water.
Me - Does it sound like water to you?
Lady - yes it does a bit...
Me - OK turn the water off at the stopcock under the sink.
Lady - Done that its still making the noise.
Me - OK, i will have to come over, be there is 20mins
Gentleman - Its OK, we have found the noise, it was the electric toothbrush inside the bathroom cabinet.
Me - Oh.......

BTW - they are my parents

 

[nickblake]

LOL nice one i had one a customer ranting an raving over a mains powered smoke detector which was bleeping i took the head off and battery out and said it was still bleeping , they were EI mains battery ones , he said it was comming from the base so shooting over there sure enough there was a bleep , it was not the smoke detector after about half an hour of waiting and listening for the bleep it was located to an old battery smoke detector in a box under one of the kitchen units laugh oh yes

 

[plugsandsparks]

I live in a small village so do get referred.
Got a call from a guy who knew me and suggested i call an retired lady who was having some trouble with lights.
OK i call her and arrange a visit.
Me - whats the problem
Lady - Hall light will not work.
I have a look and find there are no lamps in the holders.
Me - There are no lamps do you have any?
Lady - yes i have some here.
I put them in and no joy.
I then discover the hall chandelier does not have any internal wiring in it, but the connection block was still in the rose as per normal
Me - err there's no wiring, has someone been to look at it before.
Lady - err well a chap had a look at it
Me - OK but it could never have worked so what was he trying to fix.
Lady - no comment
Lady - oh the dining room wall lights don't work either and come to think of it the porch and outside lights dont work either.
Me - uck a duck.... after lots of tests and head scratching suspected a neutral had disappeared. Tried in vain to find it and even lay a temporary neutral across the floor just to confirm it was just one fault that was causing all these lights to fail.
Anyway after numerous cups of tea and the old lady wishing she had never mentioned the problem with the lights i concluded no one had been upstairs and done anything from above so it must be a problem from below. Anyway i went back to the bizare chandelier and poked around behind the ceiling and i eventually felt the existance of an extra wire. About an hour later i had managed to fiddle around and get the wire back through the hole in the ceiling and connected up to the other neutrals and hey presto.
Felt really bad charging her for the time it took but left her with some advice to always call an electrician rather than.......

 

[Mr.Si]

Never assume anything, it could save your life!
You don't say where this switch is located. Sometimes you find bedrooms have been refurbished and a 2way cord pull switch has been left above the new ceiling.
I suppose it doesn't have to be a bedroom..... Perhaps the building has been ';worked on' and a switch has been 'bridged out' or plastered over? Or both???

Investigation in the loft showed that it was indeed pre-wired for 2 way lighting, but it wasn't terminated very well, it was just a cut wire with electrical tape over it.



Removed and made safe now. 1 way lighting installed with a lovely lightwaverf dimmer switch and a remote.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S II via Tapatalk

 

[plugsandsparks]

Was doing a routine PIR on an industrial site that had its own 11KV substations.
Started at the MDB in the substation and just doing the Zdb and PSC and got a reading of 0.18 for Zdb. Thought oh dear, that does not look good for all the D type breakers out in the factory, therefore it must be my meter as the transformer is next door less than 20ft away. Anyway checked another MDB that was on another transformer and got 0.02 so thought well its not my meter after all.
Asked the resident electrician to find me a D40 type circuit out in the factory and sure enough ZS was well over spec. Went back to the transformer and took off the terminal cover and put the meter directly on the transformer terminals and still 0.18.
Checked impedance using neutral and got a decent reading (0.01).
Stopped the PIR as there was little point going forward and got the chief electrical engineer out and after a bit of head scratching we concluded that the earth inside the transformer was not good. We bonded the earth to neutral in the MDB and i carried on with the PIR, no idea how long it was like that but just goes to show - in this job always a surprise waiting around the corner

 

[spod]

Hi Just want to hello as I'm new to the forum & to say that this is good thread to read, cheers

 

[rich.250]

Found this last night, she's a beauty LOL

Found in a db

 

[plugsandsparks]

Ha brilliant, had one about 9 years ago in a house Cu, it was tripping the RCD, one paw was on live and the other was on the earth bar, not a rodent type myself had to get the client to remove it, yuck

 

[Kiers1970]

Replaced a shower a few years ago, the punters told me they were in the shower and it burst into flames, their solution to this, point the shower head at the shower, whilst still standing naked in the bath.......lucky!

 

[timtomted]

Hi Just want to hello as I'm new to the forum & to say that this is good thread to read, cheers

Hi Spod im a new member and aint got a clue how to find answers to my posts, did you reply to my prob if so i dont know where to find it. timtomted

 

[Silly Sausage]

Replaced a shower a few years ago, the punters told me they were in the shower and it burst into flames, their solution to this, point the shower head at the shower, whilst still standing naked in the bath.......lucky!

It's probably exactly what I would've done as well!

 

[QSGAZ]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Following a recent inspection i found this breaker supplying a single phase board.

 

[scotsparky]

Found this last night, she's a beauty LOL

Found in a db

Its Lindsay lohan!!!

 

[Bobster]

Simple job today auto drain solenoid on a compensation vessel had stopped working after a recent fire on site. It was obvious the cables had been damaged and replaced and whoever had done it must have forgotten to replace the fuse.

Ok walk to the substation I'm pretty sure has the DB that the supply comes from. Check all the boards no sign of where its fed from.

After half an hour of tracing the cable back to the same sub I found where it was fed from. Out of a 63A Red Spot DB marked up on the front 'welding socket supplies'

Whoever put it in, to give them there due, had used a correctly sized fuse and marked inside the door.

 

[Bobster]

Oh and I found this in the sub, our very own guard rat. Must have touched something it shouldn't and someone stuck him to the top of a piece of switch gear.

 

[tombennetts]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

View attachment 10917Following a rece
ection i found this breaker supplying a single phase board.

i wish i had thought of that for the old boards with obselete breakers. can i strap a match between 3 single phase ones and use as a 3 phase? obviously i would make sure they are all rated the same, couldnt have a 32, 16 and 6 as that would just be unprofessional!

 

[Graeme Harrold]

Got an 11K line running over the house, and our unfortunate daughter watched 1x unlucky and 1x stupid seagull blow them selves to bits as the bridged the wires..........

 

[Knobhead]

I’ve had a 11KV board explode due to vermin getting in to the bus-bar chamber. Anything that gets rid of them is OK by be.



Got in sever trouble on a Norwegian north sea crossing. The crew didn’t like us squeezing calcium carbide into a ball of bread and throwing in to the air.

Not our fault the seagulls would swoop down and snatch it before it hit the water!

Do a bit of chemistry and you’ll work out the result.

Gets rid of vermin! QUICK!

 

[ocso1979]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Good morning,
I have got silly trouble,I am foreign electrician and try apply for ECS card ( I have passed my test)but I cant really fin anyone who could write me a recommendation as it need in section 10 in application form.I have tried to reach the companies which I worked in past but some of the doesn't exist anymore.

Anyone some idea?

Thank you

 

[Guest111]

I’ve had a 11KV board explode due to vermin getting in to the bus-bar chamber. Anything that gets rid of them is OK by be.



Got in sever trouble on a Norwegian north sea crossing. The crew didn’t like us squeezing calcium carbide into a ball of bread and throwing in to the air.

Not our fault the seagulls would swoop down and snatch it before it hit the water!

Do a bit of chemistry and you’ll work out the result.

Gets rid of vermin! QUICK!

yes Tony my mate got a -------ing doing same on Blackpool prom with bicarb I think it was, got fed up of them trying to knick his chips,apparently they are a protected species,the gulls not the chips lol

 

[telectrix]

why are they protected? they're just rats with wings.

 

[mspms]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

This one has baffled me (doesn't take alot): I've been called to a house that has a problem with the upstairs light circuit's cpc being live, enough to detect a fault on my voltage tester but not enough to light a neon. The stair well lights, which are on the downstairs circuit are also cpc live. The rest of the downstairs light are good. There are also 4 sockets with the cpc live(non of these are adequate to shock nor trip the RCD). I have checked the wiring on all light switches and roses, Extractor fans and shaving points, I have checked all visible wiring in the loft and apart from some dubious use of some chock blox where the owner has changed light fittings(which I have checked and ensured they are now safe) I can not find the fault. I'm obviously missing something but don't know what. Any ideas? Also, the MET is showing no voltage.

 

[needasparks]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

This one has baffled me (doesn't take alot): I've been called to a house that has a problem with the upstairs light circuit's cpc being live, enough to detect a fault on my voltage tester but not enough to light a neon. The stair well lights, which are on the downstairs circuit are also cpc live. The rest of the downstairs light are good. There are also 4 sockets with the cpc live(non of these are adequate to shock nor trip the RCD). I have checked the wiring on all light switches and roses, Extractor fans and shaving points, I have checked all visible wiring in the loft and apart from some dubious use of some chock blox where the owner has changed light fittings(which I have checked and ensured they are now safe) I can not find the fault. I'm obviously missing something but don't know what. Any ideas? Also, the MET is showing no voltage.

When you say you are getting a live voltage on the cpc's of circuits, What voltage are you getting and what are you checking it against as a form of reference and what instrument are you using.
I ask this as it will help us identify the possible fault you have.

 

[telectrix]

wander lead from MeT to each point prove R2.

 

[mspms]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

I'm getting between 60 and 70 volts at each earth terminal. I'm using my mft to determin this. I'm also checking with my led voltage detector. I've carried out continuity with readings ranging from 0.45 ohms to 0.6 ohms.

 

[needasparks]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

I'm getting between 60 and 70 volts at each earth terminal. I'm using my mft to determin this. I'm also checking with my led voltage detector. I've carried out continuity with readings ranging from 0.45 ohms to 0.6 ohms.

Your still not saying what you are testing between, obviously cpc and...........?
you need a known true earth supply to give you any true voltage on what you are testing, more so when faultfinding.
Tels idea is the best.

 

[Guest111]

why are they protected? they're just rats with wings.

no apparently thats pigeons your thinking of,all though they,re all a pain in the arse in my job!

 

[needasparks]

On another note.
I had a coldcall to investigate an immersion timer not working, turns out loads of equipment in the house don't last very long and tv's, phone router etc. so checked immersion and neutral is live ! check brand new cu installed last year by a DI and tails are in the mainswitch the wrong way round so whole house reversed polarity.
I then wondered how he got test readings then realised he must have done them in his lounge rather than hers.
These Electrical Trainee have to be stopped before they kill someone. wish i could name and shame.

 

[mspms]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

I was testing between live and earth.

 

[Richard Burns]

Not really a fault but I was doing some wiring on a bunglaow and realised there was a supply to the garage, go and have a look and there is an RCD and 2way CU fed from 10mm T&E, OK no problem; hang on a minute there is no 10mm T&E from the supply, trace it back in the loft and 1m from the CU they have spurred off the socket ring (with a broken junction box)! For the price of a junction box they could have bought the extra metre of 10mm and used one of the four spare ways in the CU. Who knows why.
Oh and the lights were wired in black sheathed and insulated single core cable, again who knows why!

 

[needasparks]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

I was testing between live and earth.

There lays your problem. If you have less than 240 Live to cpc then it can only be no earth potential on cpc so if you say the cpc is present it can only have become disconnected. The rcd will only trip if there is a fault to earth, you have no fault just no earth.
Lights down one at a time and check connections and see where it stops using telectix suggestion of long wandering lead from MET and check R2 till you find it. good luck.

 

[mspms]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Many thanks needasparks. I will have to look at all light connections again. Just to confirm that i am looking for a disconnected earth somewhere in the circuit?