PAT company caught out again

[M107]

Doesnt look like they are opening plug tops, if they were they'd have seen the convector heater that was plugged into this trailing lead was causing some issues.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j293/gazjothomas/IMG00107-20120313-0916.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j293/gazjothomas/IMG00106-20120313-0916.jpg

This is the same company that passed the power supply that was faulty last year.

Having said that you'd think firemen would know better than to plug a 13amp heater into a 15 meter long 4 way trailing lead rated at 10amp.

Forgot to say this was tested & passed 10 mins before the photo was taken, I was asked to look at it by one of the office bods who is a former sparks.

 

[batty]

I suppose the way they see it if something catches on fire it will be good practice.

 

[remustered]

you shouldn't be surprised by how ignorant non leccies are.

as a soon to be ex fireman I'm surprised to learn how much risk there is that you guys know about but isn't general knowledge.

most of joe public think that shop ready mades only need to be right amps, and that if its got 4 sockets its ok to use all for anything household that will fit......totally wrong I know but sadly true.

A lot of low level knowledge you take for granted as never been learnt and is considered special by common folk...

your cleverer than you realise. :Applaud

 

[Theorysparky]

I PAT tested a small office this week,,,had a bet with the girls about how many extension leads i would throw away.....

I won.....got rid of 3 and the kettle !!!!!!,,,,and a fan heater........

not the flavour of the month.....

 

[septiclecky]

And the HSE is supposed to be saying you don't need to carryout testing as often as you do, think local Fire Stations are going to be busy

 

[davetheglitz]

However - to do a proper PAT test takes around 5mins per item. Much cheaper to bung a sticky on it and say it was alright when it was tested....

 

[M107]

You'll be amazed at how many items around the site have "Pass. visual only" tags on them

 

[markyspark76]

What the pat testing company's have got Is a pattiling gun that fire labels on to appliances at will. I use to work for a company that wanted you to test 250 items a day !!!!

 

[Brian 157]

Sounds like the people who do the PAT testing here, my radio passed even though it was locked in a drawer... A colleague asked how they knew fuse sizes without opening plug-tops and was told the machine told him during the test - so there's a 4.7A BS1362 in that plug top is there?

 

[ProDave]

You can forgive the general public for not knowing, but a fireman should have known about the rating of the extension lead.

But hang on, isn't there an issue here? WHY OH WHY is it legal to sell an extension lead with a 13A plug on one end, and a 13A socket on the other (actually 4 of them) that is only rated at 10A? Surely the solution is to insist that ALL "13A" extension leads are rated at 13A? And by that i mean really capable of running at 13A for extended periods of time without melting.

It reminds me of a customer, I was doing something completely unrelated, when I noticed she had a washing machine and a tumble dryer running from a coiled up extension lead on a drum. The lead was somewhat hot. I told her it was not an appropriate lead, and in any case it should not be used while coiled up. Her reply: "Is that why they keep melting and I have to buy another one" : headbang

 

[Andy™]

It reminds me of a customer, I was doing something completely unrelated, when I noticed she had a washing machine and a tumble dryer running from a coiled up extension lead on a drum. The lead was somewhat hot. I told her it was not an appropriate lead, and in any case it should not be used while coiled up. Her reply: "Is that why they keep melting and I have to buy another one" : headbang

had a similar fault finding job a few month back - RCD keeps tripping. found it to be a 4 way 10mtr extension, with 2mtr unwound, with wasing machine, dryer, fridge & microwave all plugged in