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Try liver failure and your spot on.

Split concentric is easy enough to get hold of from main dealers. As has been said it has to be treated as you would T+E. If you want the job to look good, proper break-out boots are needed. I got hold of some DNO concentric, it’s as tough as old boots!

When I first started in this trade we had dozens of mercury switches on the plants. I can’t think of any glass tubes failing, the copper pigtails breaking off or being out of adjustment were the normal culprits. And yes the canteen Jackson tea urn had mercury switches.

At the foundry I found umpteen circuits with the wrong protection, usually oversized. 800A fuses on a 16mm² was a good one. Labels and drawings were like reading a Jackanory storybook.

I’m surprised that so little emphasis is put on professional indemnity. For my photography business I had £2M for PI and £1m for PL, I suppose the cost of re-staging an event if I bogged up would be far higher than for someone tripping over my camera. Be sure you get both PI & PL from the...

A while back I read of a device that cycles between chargers, one on full rate, the rest on a reduced rate. Time to start phoning around charger manufactures.

Looks like the meter cupboard in my first house.

Can't say I'm sorry to have retired from Dante's Inferno.

That’s when the work rolls in and being a pensioner people expect you to be cheaper. Learn to say NO!

I’ve only been SE in fields other than electrical. I enjoyed them despite the extra hassle of paperwork for the accounts, etc. Being nice to “customers” put a strain on my system. The electrical day job if I had to pay for spares and consumables I used would make me a gibbering wreck within a...

Fault finding sold it for me. Trying to explain your thought trail is nigh on impossible. Covering up (lying for) other electricians mistakes is an art form. I enjoyed myself, mainly, there were the s****y bits but doesn’t every job have them. As for management, I’ve done production...

Hospital again tomorrow and another foot long needle in to the stomach.

I’ve been home a week now, it’s going to be slow going. I’m using a zimmer frame to get around home, a hospital bed has also been installed. To add to  the fun the hospital have found a thrombosis in my leg and the original problem with my abdomen is back with a vengeance so I will be going back...

I got lumbered with a job to correct / update the drawings for an old plant following a near nasty accident. The electrician isolated a section following the drawing, fortunately he tested before touching anything and it was still live. It was due to a crossed dual feeder and I was asked to sort...

To be honest I’d go for the industrial side, you already have some experience of it. Managing a contract isn’t easy as I found out early on, fortunately the company were there to help (they threw in the mire, they got me out). There’s a lot more to moving and installing a transformer (see...

Open and closed rings are used for LV and MV distribution systems for reliability. What are we looking at?

You’ll not get split phase from a 3Ph MV supply, there would be no point.

I don’t want to but tomorrow I’ve got to start looking for a wheelchair to get around the flat. Getting used to a walking stick was bad enough, a wheelchair is going to cause chaos in the limited space I have. At some point I’m going to have to move in to sheltered accommodation, that I’m not...

The get rich quick guys wouldn’t touch a job like that if they knew what was involved and to be honest I wouldn’t trust them with the job. But they’ve done the course and they’re now invincible! Its fun watching to start with, but in the back of you’re mind is “I’m going to have to sort this...