when did the impact driver become the tool of choice to do terminals up ?

[UNG]

Some of the new build lash-up wiring i have seen over the past 5-10 years , the trade died along time ago

One question I seem to get asked more frequently these days is "are you a proper electrician"

Bloody disgraceful, definitely saw the best times in the late 70's to the late 80's IMO

You mean when being an NICEIC approved contractor actually meant something and was something worth having

 

[Dustydazzler]

The Domesticated Installer scam Killed any prestige the trade once had , giving a title to DIY sparks was a real killer

 

[UNG]

The Domesticated Installer scam Killed any prestige the trade once had , giving a title to DIY sparks was a real killer

The NICEIC's defined scope approval was the start of the slide it was then accelerated by the Domestic Installer scheme

 

[7029 dave]

One question I seem to get asked more frequently these days is "are you a proper electrician"


You mean when being an NICEIC approved contractor actually meant something and was something worth having

This is true, you know because like me we were there in that era.!! The trade is unrecognisable as we knew it.

 

[Dustydazzler]

This is true, you know because like me we were there in that era.!! The trade is unrecognisable as we knew it.

I started within the trade in around 1997 and as a young apprentice I wore my NIC branded uniform with real genuine pride, it made me feel like a real tradesperson

by the early 2010s I had given it all to the local charity shops as wearing it felt cheap and nasty

I love this trade but I am glad I only have about 5-10 years left in it before I can pack it in

 

[freddo]

Here is a very poorly filmed video I recorded last year when trying to remove an MCB from an MK consumer unit. The screws on this MCB were insanely over tightened. I had to take the busbar out with the MCB attached so I could put all my weight on it with a new driver bit to get it out. The video isn't staged, that actually happened.

 

[UNG]

I love this trade but I am glad I only have about 5-10 years left in it before I can pack it in

I enjoy the trade and the more difficult challenges it throws up from time to time I don't see a time where I will fully retire but I will pick and choose what I do and when I want to do it

What I find depressing is the acceptable standards that are getting lower and lower in the 46 years I have been in the trade the definition of what a qualified electrician is has changed and not for the good or betterment of the industry when we now have an industry that is operating in a far more complex environment to what it was 30 - 40 years ago.

I always remember saying to one of my college lecturers back in the late 70's that the industry will change and become more complex and we will have to move with it or just become wiremen installing cables from A to B and leave the connecting and commissioning to someone else and it started with the new upstarts from the data industry who didn't install their own containment because that is what the electricians did and then they suggested that the electricians put the cabling in as well, as time has moved on the data industry has lost it's niche
When I started electricians installed anything that used cables the 3 - 5 years at college covered all aspects of what you were expected to install or fault find and now and now we find the college or quick training covers the bare basics and the rest is filled in with expensive specialist courses that quite often have to be refreshed every three years

 

[Dustydazzler]

I will be well out by then , but it will be interesting to see the state of things in the next 10-20 years and if things get a bit better or a lot worse in that time

 

[Lister1987]

Don’t tell me you use an impact driver!

Would have though a multi-tool would be better suited?

 

[Lister1987]

You mean when being an NICEIC approved contractor actually meant something and was something worth having

....and when the 239* was actually technical and required acknowledge working knowledge and ability to recal information and not just find it ina book........I'm sorry where were we going with this again?

 

[GBDamo]

Don’t tell me you use an impact driver!

Are you mad? Multitool for skinning.

 

[UNG]

....and when the 239* was actually technical and required acknowledge working knowledge and ability to recal information and not just find it ina book........I'm sorry where were we going with this again?

Actually no
We are back beyond the relatively new 239* add on's in a time when that knowledge was all part of the core qualifications and not additional courses and exams