We Can't Keep Whining About 5WWs if...

[Hawkmoon]

We keep freely giving out advice and knowledge when OPs, who are obviously not competent, post for help on basic stuff:


1) Do extra sockets I install have to have RCD protection?
2) Why am I getting high r2 readings on a ring?
3) Why has my extractor fan stopped working?
4) Help me with kitchen socket neutral fault


I appreciate that even those of us who are competent in what we do will occasionally come across an area of the trade that is unfamiliar - e.g. the caravan park thread, or even hairdryers in a bathroom! - and seek help...But if we give our knowledge away freely to every TD&H on a public forum we are worsening the Electrical Trainee effect on our work/pay levels and our trade - why make it easier for them?


If the OP should know the answer, don’t tell him!


[FONT=&amp]Sorry - rant over[/FONT]

 

[DPG]

To be fair, people will have an electrical problem, then search on the web and come across this site (among others). They don't know the ins and outs of electrical work, part p, etc. and they can't be expected to - let's face it many sparks don't know the full ins and outs of them either!

The answer is to politely point them to the DIY section, rather than rip them to pieces. That's what it's there for. I'm sure I've asked questions on other forums (bikes, etc,.) that are painfully obvious to people who know about these things - I wouldn't expect to be torn a strip off me though.

Tin hat, extra tin hat and standing in well bonded (or earthed?) tin shed. Daz

 

[micknew]

But just because a DIY section has just been created does it make it right to give advice to any Tom Dick or Harry?
I don't think so.

 

[Hawkmoon]

To be fair, people will have an electrical problem, then search on the web and come across this site (among others). They don't know the ins and outs of electrical work, part p, etc. and they can't be expected to - let's face it many sparks don't know the full ins and outs of them either!

The answer is to politely point them to the DIY section, rather than rip them to pieces. That's what it's there for. I'm sure I've asked questions on other forums (bikes, etc,.) that are painfully obvious to people who know about these things - I wouldn't expect to be torn a strip off me though.

Tin hat, extra tin hat and standing in well bonded (or earthed?) tin shed. Daz

Confused - At what point in my post did I suggest ripping people to pieces or tearing strips off them?

 

[DPG]

You didn't, but it happens a hell of a lot on here when DIY people ask questions. At least now they have somewhere to go, and then people can decide whether to answer them, or just never to into the DIY section. Everyone's a winner. Daz

 

[Knobhead]

Tin hat, extra tin hat and standing in well bonded (or earthed?) tin shed. Daz

I can rent this to you. Reasonable rates

 

[Knobhead]

If the OP should know the answer, don’t tell him!

I’ll add a caveat to that, guide, but don’t tell.

 

[DPG]

I can rent this to you. Reasonable rates

Can I drill a hole in the side for a nut and bolt for the earthing tag?

 

[MDJ]

I don't like helping DIYers, that's why I have not asked the Admins here to allow me access to the new forum, there is a DIY forum and most threads get diverted there. Some of the established members here like helping them and fair play to them, they have asked for access, I suggest you do what I have started doing, if you see a DIY thread click the triangle and report the thread to the team so they can move it away from the main forums. As for Electrical Trainee, they are people trying to obtain a trade, we all know that 5 weeks won't cut it, However if they are posting here and asking for advice and are actually undergoing training then we might as well help them even if it means they get a bit of banter from us. one or 2 members here who we respect started that way and continue to train and ask advice, my respect to them. It is the guy from the pub saying he is part P qualified which riles me as there is no such qualification IMO which suggests competence, that is very different from a Electrical Trainee who are actually in training, the Part Pee Guy will get stick LOL

 

[Hawkmoon]

I don't like helping DIYers, that's why I have not asked the Admins here to allow me access to the new forum, there is a DIY forum and most threads get diverted there. Some of the established members here like helping them and fair play to them, they have asked for access, I suggest you do what I have started doing, if you see a DIY thread click the triangle and report the thread to the team so they can move it away from the main forums. As for Electrical Trainee, they are people trying to obtain a trade, we all know that 5 weeks won't cut it, However if they are posting here and asking for advice and are actually undergoing training then we might as well help them even if it means they get a bit of banter from us. one or 2 members here who we respect started that way and continue to train and ask advice, my respect to them. It is the guy from the pub saying he is part P qualified which riles me as there is no such qualification IMO which suggests competence, that is very different from a Electrical Trainee who are actually in training, the Part Pee Guy will get stick LOL

I don't have a problem with people 'in training' - I am talking about 5WWs who, while they are on a job, ask our advice on basic stuff they should already know - and to top it all they probably got that job by undercutting one of us! lol

 

[DPG]

I must admit when you said every tom dick and harry I thought you were meaning DIY people, so my comments were aimed towards that. Apologies if I got the wrong end of the stick. It doesn't matter anyway because you can't hurt me in my tin shed (sorry, semi-permanent outbuilding with extraneous metallic parts). Daz

 

[MDJ]

Don't get me wrong, some Electrical Trainee are a nightmare, but we need to judge individually and not as a whole, a bit like the bedroom tax, the government wants everyone with a spare room to cough up, even those who use it for storing wheel chairs and oxygen bottles and cancer treatments, they need to judge individually as well :lipsrsealed2:

 

[GLENNSPARK]

well...

i for one am sick of emptyheads just drifting in here asking us for advice all over the cuff...

if i had my way there would be only one place for em:

 

[DPG]

Yeah, but then you'd need a different colour bin for them. And it wouldn't get emptied if the lid was sticking up, so it'd be no good them tall 5WWs.. Daz

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Yeah, but then you'd need a different colour bin for them. And it wouldn't get emptied if the lid was sticking up, so it'd be no good them tall 5WWs.. Daz

brown bin for them then...

landfill...or summat...

 

[Spoon]

Yeah, but then you'd need a different colour bin for them. And it wouldn't get emptied if the lid was sticking up, so it'd be no good them tall 5WWs.. Daz

You are just not thinking about this the right way.... you can super glue their knees to their chest... problem solved...

 

[leep82]

I do hope the diversity comment on a cooker cable isnt in relation to the thread i started. if you care to read it again, nowhere do i say i dont know how to apply it. Also worth noting the different responses i got to my question, so not as obvious as some would make you believe.

 

[Hawkmoon]

I do hope the diversity comment on a cooker cable isnt in relation to the thread i started. if you care to read it again, nowhere do i say i dont know how to apply it. Also worth noting the different responses i got to my question, so not as obvious as some would make you believe.

Yep - fair comment - I did ride roughshod over your post in my rant lol - apologies, will remove it

 

[coldyron]

Some threads make you want to pull your hair out. Can we not have a sticky "RCD problem" just to stop them cluttering up the main board?

However, not everyone knows everything. I am from a purely construction background where the regs aren't used nearly as much as they are in domestic (where I'd imagine the majority of posters on this board are from). I moved into the domestic side about a year ago and my knowledge is infinitely better just from reading some of the posts here.

I don't think you can tar everyone with the same brush. Sometimes you might be on your own, under a bit of pressure and your brain can just freeze so you post a thread on here hoping for some advice.

My only complaint with this board is that a lot of posts in threads don't actually contribute anything to the question asked. "What MFT do you use?", "I agree with insert name hero", "lol another Electrical Trainee wonder" etc.

I think my point is, if you don't want to answer a question asked then don't bother replying at all. I know if I was on here asking questions like "Why is this RCD tripping?" and no one replied then I'd give up pretty sharpish.

 

[Marvo]

.........I think my point is, if you don't want to answer a question asked then don't bother replying at all. I know if I was on here asking questions like "Why is this RCD tripping?" and no one replied then I'd give up pretty sharpish.

This pretty much sums it up for me. If I feel the OP warrantsa reply I'll make one, if not then I won't. It's also true if threads are ignored they drop down the pile very quickly and disappear, if you make irrelevant replies they then appear as a 'hot topic', constantly bumped to the top of the stack and get far more attention than they deserve.