todays little adventure at work........

[Guest55]

Well here i am , 9am in the basement of a council owned public building , ready for todays mains change to the new
uprated dno service.
at the main building db - all ready to whip out old cut-out tails and connect new swa sub-main from new switchboard.
so i pull main fuses , everything is off , battery light on and i begin.
what could possibly go wrong ????

;-D

 

[MDJ]

someone walks in with a cup of tea for you?

 

[Kamikaze]

The meter is missing?

 

[Guest55]

someone walks in with a cup of tea for you?

that would be a nice thing that wouldnt get a mention.
think much more cruel.

 

[keniff]

Edf come to read the meter?!

 

[beatboaby924y]

you're battery runs out???

 

[CSP2012]

All maglock lock you in...?

 

[mackers]

you wake up realize you've been sleep walking naked and pulled your neighbours fuse while there all eating sausage!

 

[beatboaby924y]

the go compare man turns up and sings you a song??

 

[MDJ]

no armoured cable gland?

 

[john999uk]

You forgot your tools?

 

[beatboaby924y]

no crimps or tool??

 

[Guest55]

no armoured cable gland?

what sort of chump do you take me for ?
course it was bloody glanded
and already fitted into the db ready to terminate.
sheesh.
;-)

 

[MDJ]

you had a phone call saying your technicians card was here and you left the job forgetting you disconnected all the power and left the whole place power free haha

 

[beatboaby924y]

your keeping us in suspenders here mate

 

[mackers]

wrong building? F.A went off brigade turn up or alarm went off and five O turn up ?

 

[beatboaby924y]

you forget to put your tools in the van

 

[ayjay]

you had a vindaloo the previous night an filled your pants?(thats happened to me)

 

[Kamikaze]

You found out your scared of the dark?

 

[Guest55]

so power off , emergency light above db good for three hours - i'll be done in 30 mins.
unscrews terminal cover around the main switch and then i see it
blue / grey phase terminal screw head snapped off - felt sick to my boots - i wouldnt be able to get the last phase out.
and you cant get the switch cover off with the power on which is why i didnt see it previously.

and this is a 40 year old bill talisman ( obsolete)
on a sat morning

mission control , this is apollo 13 , we have a problem lol.

 

[shagbite]

phew! i thought you were gonna tell us john inman walked in and offered to help you with your bullet.

 

[mackers]

lol! bet you wished u had been sleep walking!

 

[nikmet]

get one of those £5 tools from the shopping channel........they undo anything, snapped , stripped, rusted, etc :-D...............well thats what the presenter and resident 'expert' reckon!! lol

 

[mackers]

phew! i thought you were gonna tell us john inman walked in and offered to help you with your bullet.

would that have been "are you been servced" im free!

 

[Guest55]

get one of those £5 tools from the shopping channel........they undo anything, snapped , stripped, rusted, etc :-D...............well thats what the presenter and resident 'expert' reckon!! lol

it was a flush grub screw - nothing to grab - and i wouldnt like to guess the thread gauge either.

 

[MDJ]

ah yes a nightmare there biff, I suppose it is slightly possible it could have been drilled out, I think they are 5mm2 screws, maybe you could have tapped a 6mm2 in there, but bloody hell that would be a nightmare and not worth the risk, well on a saturday anyhow.

 

[Guest55]

ah yes a nightmare there biff, I suppose it is slightly possible it could have been drilled out, I think they are 5mm2 screws, maybe you could have tapped a 6mm2 in there, but bloody hell that would be a nightmare and not worth the risk, well on a saturday anyhow.

there was no chance of nipping out to get any gear with the clock ticking and battery lighting only.
this job had to be completed today.
my solution was , quite honestly , insane.
not fit for viewing on a public forum.
;-D

 

[Guest55]

and if i attempted to drill / tap the terminal and it broke - bye bye 1 phase.

 

[snowhead]

and i wouldnt like to guess the thread gauge either.

40 years, right on the metric changeover, most electrical manufacturers were a bit slow so still B.A. Probably

 

[ayjay]

just grab the cable with stilsons and wrench it out from its terminal, simple

 

[Knobhead]

You simply can’t beat a bit of mindless violence.

Wouldn’t use Stilsons though, 18” pump pliers work a treat.

This is the only use I have for my Stilsons now

 

[ayjay]

well a cheap pair of chinese pliers-------
seriously if the cable is inserted into a lug it can be pulled out
then the screws can be extracated been there done it

 

[ipf]

well a cheap pair of chinese pliers-------
seriously if the cable is inserted into a lug it can be pulled out
then the screws can be extracated been there done it

I think that may be just a little bit awkward, given the circumstances.

 

[dim_bulb]

So what did you do then biff?

 

[Kamikaze]

I recon he left a short bit of wire coming out of the terminal and then through jointed the new wire onto it.

 

[Guest55]

So what did you do then biff?

cut the tail 6 inch below the db , pulled the cable back into the DB and fitted a service block on to the end and connected the new phase conductor into it.
power on , mains change complete , went home. :-D
wrote on cert the db switch is fubar'd , and as no replacement switch will be available the council will have to decide on changing the whole board , which is beyond the scope of our agreed works - i.e its their problem now lol.
dog rough i know but was all out of options , meh , it will be fine as a temp fix.

 

[telectrix]

permanent fix is not too hard. drill out damaged screw and re-tap to original thread. or even oversize to fit a, YUK, metric screw. done it on my van when an injector blew out throuh main dealer's bodgit repair.

 

[Guest55]

permanent fix is not too hard. drill out damaged screw and re-tap to original thread. or even oversize to fit a, YUK, metric screw. done it on my van when an injector blew out throuh main dealer's bodgit repair.

maybe , but i couldnt take the risk of damaging the switch in the attempt and not getting all 3 phases back on.
anyway i wasnt the numb-nut who broke the terminal so i completely side stepped the hassle of putting it right ;-)

 

[dim_bulb]

Sounds safe, well done, yeah people are saying drill it etc but when it's unexpected and your short for time you have to improvise.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

so power off , emergency light above db good for three hours - i'll be done in 30 mins.
unscrews terminal cover around the main switch and then i see it
blue / grey phase terminal screw head snapped off - felt sick to my boots - i wouldnt be able to get the last phase out.
and you cant get the switch cover off with the power on which is why i didnt see it previously.

and this is a 40 year old bill talisman ( obsolete)
on a sat morning

mission control , this is apollo 13 , we have a problem lol.

easyouts.....small drill.....wind it in....wind the screw out...