Mr DIY strikes again.

[Evans Electric]

A would be buyer gets us to do a PIR on a house .   It came out " Unsatisfactory"   due to earth rod  & lack of RCDs on a TT system .

Noted some readings all over the place on kitchen ring. 

Guy buys the place , gets us to do the TT stuff  and can we look at kitchen plugs as they keep tripping out .

We'd got the guy to rule out nearly all his appliances from causing tripping .

Main problem seemed to be Mr DIY  replacing sockets with  flat plate "posh" sockets  rammed onto 25mm boxes.

Cables under pressure jammed against the back of the boxes  .  ( Causing tripping when warm) 

Every connection loose.

Earth wire left unconnected.

Spur unit switching the ring leg & not the  socket below.     ( That threw us ...first we had continuity on the L - L   then it was open .  ('cos my mate had switched the spur) 

Warning should be attached to for DIYers buying flat plate accessories that there may not be enough room .  

 

[ProDave]

I came across a bog standard ceiling rose yesterday where someone had decided it needs no earth so why bother connecting it. All 3 CPC's cut back short at their cables.

The level of ignorance is sometimes astounding.

 

[phil d]

I came across a bog standard ceiling rose yesterday where someone had decided it needs no earth so why bother connecting it. All 3 CPC's cut back short at their cables.

The level of ignorance is sometimes astounding.

I think that would be ignorance on your part Dave, and I'm most surprised at you! lol

Earth connections are not needed, they perform no useful function, the equipment works fine without them. And besides, if you attach those silly little bits of bare wire they only cause problems when you change a light fitting, everyone knows the terminal marked E is for attaching those 3 red wires to.

Brake lights on cars, all they do is drain the battery, you know when you are stopping, so why have silly red lights that come on? they just drain the battery and cost money to replace, when the lamps fail, just leave them!

Indicators, what are they all about eh? Have you ever tried holding your smart phone, trying to turn the wheel, eat a sandwich, and flick the indicator switch? obviously not! they're pointless, the car is turning so why do you need a little orange light flashing?

If you think about it Dave, there's loads of stuff that isn't needed in this modern society, a lot of it is just a way of separating you from your hard earned cash!  A cop I know recently stopped a bloke in a 12 month old Audi, it had fancy alloys, a cracking stereo, did well over a ton, and had 4 racing slicks that Jensen Button would have been proud of!

"So what's the problem officer?" the driver asked when my mate pointed out the state of his tyres,"it goes doesn't it"

I think it's an age and experience thing Dave, we're old and experienced, and see beyond the fact that something just "works"

No doubt the irony in this post would be lost on some younger readers too.

 

[Evans Electric]

I thought it was part of the Driving Test now .

d Driver must be able to eat a Big Mac ...drink a Coke.... light a *** ... send text message  while turning right on a main city road in the rush hour, in the dark, in the rain while listening to  some high bass  crappy  beat music at 1000 dB .

 

[Murdoch]

^^ the driving test, will soon feature "being able to follow a route on a SATNAV"

God help anyone who lives near a test centre......

 

[Andy™]

^^ the driving test, will soon feature "being able to follow a route on a SATNAV"

you mean drivers will then not be responsible for stuff like this...

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/man-blames-sat-nav-after-driving-wrong-way-down-leeds-motorway-and-injuring-five-people-1-8438297

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/06/sat-nav-blunder-sees-african-zulu-warrior-tribe-make-200-mile/

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3692717/drivers-satnav-blunders-wrong-country/

 

[Lurch]

Warning should be attached to for DIYers buying flat plate accessories that there may not be enough room .  

I'm pretty sure there is.

d Driver must be able to eat a Big Mac ...drink a Coke.... light a *** ... send text message  while turning right on a main city road in the rush hour, in the dark, in the rain while listening to  some high bass  crappy  beat music at 1000 dB

Yep, check.

 

[phil d]

A would be buyer gets us to do a PIR on a house .   It came out " Unsatisfactory"   due to earth rod  & lack of RCDs on a TT system .

Noted some readings all over the place on kitchen ring. 

Guy buys the place , gets us to do the TT stuff  and can we look at kitchen plugs as they keep tripping out .

We'd got the guy to rule out nearly all his appliances from causing tripping .

Main problem seemed to be Mr DIY  replacing sockets with  flat plate "posh" sockets  rammed onto 25mm boxes.

Cables under pressure jammed against the back of the boxes  .  ( Causing tripping when warm) 

Every connection loose.

Earth wire left unconnected.

Spur unit switching the ring leg & not the  socket below.     ( That threw us ...first we had continuity on the L - L   then it was open .  ('cos my mate had switched the spur) 

Warning should be attached to for DIYers buying flat plate accessories that there may not be enough room .  

I hate flat plate stuff, my daughter in law having decorated their living room, so no replacing back boxes, bought some, then moaned they were not flush after I fitted them to the existing boxes,I ended up going round when she was out and very carefully chopping out and replacing them.

On the subject of back boxes, I remember when I started out, it was 16mm for switches and 25 mm for sockets, recently I did some work and it was 25 for switches and 47 for sockets, it makes you wonder where it's all going to end.

I don't know if anyone else ever encountered this,but, I remember years ago and I did quite a few alarm systems, each had an unswitched fused spur, looking at the connections from the rear it was top left live in, top right live out, bottom left neutral in bottom right neutral out.

One job I fitted said fused spur, and had a dead short on it, couldn't work out why, checked everything, nothing trapped, nothing touching, but dead short L to N.

I found it after a bit of head scratching, for some reason they'd changed the design of the spur, identical shape, size and everything, but for some reason they'd changed the wiring position. top left was now live in,bottom left was live out.so connecting them up as usual meant putting a dead short on, I wonder how many others got caught out with that one? you get so used to doing things automatically when using the same gear, I'm just glad I hadn't fitted loads of them.

 

[Evans Electric]

Yes I've been caught out in the past , specially when changing to a different make .  

The best spur ever produced was/is the MK  with a straight row of connections in the middle , instead of all that twisting it round one way then the other. 

Not used a 16mm box for some time now , all the new work seems to be dot & dab so no chasing out boxes , just plant a 25mm  on the blockwork . 

25mm for switches as I nearly always 3 plate at the switch .  

On the subject of not double checking terminal markings ,  a prison sentence was handed down to a heating fitter who was caught out in that way .  He did his own electrics , always used a particular programmer ,  fitted one in a dark cupboard , didn't know they had changed the L-- N-- E  terminals , made some pipework live I believe .   

I remember the judge had said the dark cupboard  was no excuse , it was his responsibility to fix a light up .