First Annual "designed By A Muppet" Award Nominations..the "izals"

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kerching

kerching

©Kleenex™
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So over the years I have worked with some shite...designed by cretins.

I have also used some brilliant stuff as well....WAGO boxes and lever connectors, Superrod stuff, hager light switches with a neutral terminal, self amalgamating tape, UNO plugs, impact drivers, SDS drills, Fein Multitool, CT1 etc etc...the list goes on

However to every piece of Luxury Kitten Soft Bog paper there must also be a corresponding roll of IZAL

So i shall call this "the Izal Awards"

Nominations....feel free to add your own

Terminals on Columbus time lag switches

Terminal connections on almost all LED flood lights with or without PIR

Connections on the majority of RCD spurs

Terminals you cannot get your GS38 probes into as they are too fricking small

ANY b&Q light fitting

T5 ballasts that last nano seconds

Bulkhead fittings that are not designed to accept wire

OEM fixings made of Brie

RJ 45 snagless leads that have so much plastic on the hood that they will,not fit in the port

CCA data and phone cable

LED lamps that boast a life longer than the Universe BUT only have Twelve month warranty

...loads more to follow but it has been a long day AND i have to nip up to Scotland in the morning

 
On the otherwise well designed "Control Gear "  consumers , you can't write on the circuit labeling  because its that shiny plastic , pencil no good, biro hardly marks it ,  you need to purchase some sort of special pen that will write on it .

Crabtree sockets .   If you put three 2.5 solids in the terminal , one will keep coming out .        There was a time after metrication that many accessories had excellent  , box type terminals .   Most seem to have gone back to the basic screw from the Stone Age.

Npower electric bills  that say  " Do not fold the paying in slip  or staple cheques to it "  

Unfortunately the slip is bigger than the envelope .  I have enclosed a note pointing this out  & a claim for free electric for the year .       ( I do not expect a reply)      

 
Me likey :)

Can we have a poll of the worst stuff and send the manufacturer a turd or something to signify our disgust at their poor design and lazy craftsmanship.

Hope it doesn't turn into another moaning thread!

Here we go:

Mk plastics- seem to have gone for a cheaper option it's almost translucent now :(

Ikea light fittings: basicly throw everything away apart from the bit holding the light bulb and start again.

Skeleton boards where the earth terminals are right at the back and cant be accessed without removing fuses/mcb and just about everything else!

Class 2 fittings with a tiny weany insulated connector.

Cooker terminals.

Bacho tools, seriously gone down hill, cheap n nasty without the cheap bit.

Thats enough for now, am sure more will come to me!

Good thread Kerch :)

 
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Don't we already have this thread running somewhere? :slap

I had the 'pleasure' of wiring some Clickmode plug in ceiling roses t'other day, they were the biggest pile of shite ive ever come across.

Got more to do soon, lucky me

 
The bad:

Just about any LAP accessory. Especially their light switches, carefully designed not to grip all the wires at once.

ANY flat plate accessory.

Almost any downlight. I have yet to find one with a decent terminal box.

Buy and Quit bathroom lights with stupid terminal boxes that when you open the cover, the contact blocks fall out.

Any accessory with those silly screw heads that are supposed to work with either a flat or cross head screwdriver. The reality is neither fits properly.

Most plasterboard back boxes (except Appleby, they are the only good ones) where the plastic locating lugs don't stay put, or the brass screw inserts spin round (whoever thought a round insert into a round hole would not spin round has no understanding)

As already mentioned LED outside floodlights, that universally have the most rubbish termination method possible.

Wylex CU's, simply because every 6 months they change the colour, design, or even the labelling of their mcb's, so it's virtually impossible to get a replacement MCB that looks the same as the rest of them.

Just about any of the cheap "no name" FCU's that melt if you try and draw anything close to their supposed 13A rating.

TLC Direct. I used to thing they were good but sometimes they are just plain daft. I was looking for a 3 phase board recently only to find they sell the boards, but not the 3 pole MCB's to go in them.

The good:

I like Click Mode accessories, particularly their light switches with the interchangeable switch mechanisms.

Hager CU's, mostly because the design and look of a Hager MCB has remained the same since the year dot so no matter how old the CU, any replacement mcb will look identical.

Crabtree stuff is usually pretty good.

Appleby dry lining boxes. The locating lugs stay in place, and the screw inserts are a hex nut into a hex hole. Amazing they don't spin round (it's not rocket science is it)

On a side note. I think anyone who designs an accessory should be made to spend a month fitting them in dark confined spaces. Then go back and re design them to make them easier to fit.

 
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cheap floodlights with PIRs that all leak and fill the PIR up with water

Magnamole - talk about inventing something we didn't need cos we all got super-rods.

2d light fittings that toast the lamp holders, some are even getting to the point where the casing melts if left on all day every day

 
NozSpark said:
I don't know what the problem is with LED flood lights,,,, all the ones I've installed come with a flex
Click to expand...
Which then forces you to supply and install a waterproof junction box if you have gone to fit a light where you are presented with a flex coming out of a hole in the wall.

 
Blue Duck said:
Yeah but if you happen to not have one on the van.... Or the flex is too short for where the customer wants it & you have make 2 junctions :(

Oh and its usually t&e poking out the wall ;)
Click to expand...
1. Easy to carry stock

and

2. Charge them for 2 connections

3. Mount the wiska box directly over the hole the T&E is coming out of!

Its not that difficult!

 
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Murdoch said:
1. Easy to carry stock

and

2. Charge them for 2 connections

3. Mount the wiska box directly over the hole the T&E is coming out of!

Its not that difficult!
Click to expand...
It is (like yesterdays job) where the hole in the wall the cable came out of was right behind the rainwater downpipe. 

 

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