Aldi now selling accessories

trev · Oct 4, 2011

We needed some yorkshire puds today so off I went up the road to Aldi. While looking for them I passed a big basket of 120 watt halogen pir light fittings billed as security light, right next to them were chrome switches and sockets.
One of the halogen boxes was open so I took a look, a little bit of info about making the terminations but nothing at all about EG can the existing circuit take the extra load, how to make sure it's got a connection to earth. Of course there was the bog standard if in doubt consult a suitably qualified electrician but I just thought the whole world is going to hell in a handcart.
Now I know that an extra 120w is not going to put much of an extra load on a lighting circuit but that's hardly the issue is it?
With hindsight I propably should have put this in the deskilling thread.
I think I'll hang up my test gear and go sweep the streets or something

stevie2011 · Oct 5, 2011

as long as it has been manufactured to british standards who cares.

Rockingit · Oct 5, 2011

stevie2011 said:
as long as it has been manufactured to british standards who cares.

I do. I would no more encourage a DIY'er to play with electricity than I would give my 10 month old daughter a razor blade to play with. Just because we CAN (or think we can) doesn't mean that we SHOULD.

CU's are still on general sale to the public, even though the public can't fit them (cutting swathes of Part P aside). Why?

stevie2011 · Oct 5, 2011

electricity is dangerous and i would add that people, even though supposedly being taught a basic level of physics at school, still are not aware of how dangerous it is, but what can you do?

people often pick up bits from wickes or the supermarket after just looking and get an electrician to fit it. people shouldn't fit things the arn't competent to do, but people do. Nobody can stop DIYer tinkering with electricity anymore than we can stop people speeding, there are laws in place but people still do it. furthermore it would be useless to campaign to create new legislation so that only people registered with the NIC or NAPIT or whoever can buy electrical accessories and materials from certified wholesalers.

my point is, since nothing can be done about it, its not worth getting stressed about.

Rockingit · Oct 5, 2011

LOL - I don't do stress. I leave that for the missus. But I think you're wrong in thinking that nothing can be done about the problem. The government legislated about Gas safety, introduced Corgi/Gas Safe and withdrew boilers from public sale. Ergo, you don't see much about gas explosions on the news anymore.

I'm not one for nanny states, but I do think there could be a fair chance that as Part P is being looked at again, either 1) it'll be scrapped or reduced to a level of complete pointlessness (can't see that happening) or 2) improved and vastly tightened.

We have laws in this country about gas, chemicals, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, driving, guns, knives, glue...... etc etc all intended to keep the population safe (and raise a bit of tax cash) but not on the one thing that surrounds all of us 24/7 and can arguably kill us the quickest. It does seem a bit daft.

Engineer54 · Oct 5, 2011

Rockingit said:
CU's are still on general sale to the public, even though the public can't fit them (cutting swathes of Part P aside). Why?

Who's to say the general public are buying these CU'S?? Far more likely it's electricians buying them to cut down on costs etc!! Could even be a homeowner buying one, along with everything else to rewire a house, saving him money on materials and having an electrician install on a labour only basis. Who are you, or anyone else, to say that a homeowner can't try and save himself money in this way??

Of course you are going to get the odd one or two numbties that will try to take it all on themselves, but your never going to stop them... Then of course, the electrician comes along to put things right, everybody's happy again!!

We work in the electrical industry, we are NOT the electrical Police, and nor should we be!!

Rockingit · Oct 5, 2011

You misunderstand me, I think. I'm not suggesting that we should be the electrical police, that's the job of government. What I'm saying is that it seems to me that as things stand we have a daft system. As the people who work in the industry, we are best placed to offer advice to policy makers about what does and doesn't actually work in practice, but I'm a sparky not an MP. Each to their own.

Yes, it may well be house bashers buying the CU's off the shelf in Wickes, or Mrs Jones that thinks she'll be ripped off, but my point is that it can also be Mrs Jones' 15yr old son who's done a bit or reading in an outdated school text book or their immigrant next door neighbour who can't read the instructions in English.

If you take this argument to it's fullest logical extent, then tonight I'll be out in my shed making some moonshine. I'm sure it'll taste fine and be perfectly harmless.

So my point is simply this: we all know it's an imperfect system of working, but it shouldn't stop us from wanting to improve it.

Engineer54 · Oct 5, 2011

That's the point, you cannot keep making ledgistration to save fools from themselves, that will detrimentally affect the majority or sensible. You'll probably find that by making all this ledgistration, that prices will rise, and rise significantly too... affecting even more people, including the jobbing electricians.