Contracting versus Maintenance Electricians and on into the future

[Pete999]

There has been a lot of debate regarding differing types of Electricians, I have nothing else to do so I thought you would like to read about my sojourn in this trade of ours, if you don't then tough. here goes.

I started as an Apprentice with a small contracting outfit in Bath, in the early 60s 1960s that is for you comedians out in forum land.

Said firm went bust during the building boom and I was transferred to one of the large building consortium's after several years of house bashing, cold building sites and having just got myself engaged to my now Wife ( yes people did get engaged in those days ) Mortgage to pay, I thought ---- this for a game of soldiers, I need a proper job.

I had all my qualifications, and a lot of experience of building sites, and applied for a job as a maintenance Electrician with the then Department f the Environment (D of E) on an RAF base near my home, got the job, but it was a bit of a cultural shock, you see the rest of the Sparkies came to work in a collar and tie, get the picture? and their tools consisted of an old Army bag with a few bits and bobs inside, pliers etc. the hardest thing they did was change a few lamps, I did learn a lot from them though which stood me in good stead for the rest of my working life, I went from there to two overseas postings, and finally a job with the big boys in central Government, I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you get the chance to try different aspects (maintenance and Contracting)of being an Electrician, go for it, I did and it worked out well for me.

Sorry if you find this boring, wait til I publish my book.

 

[Engineer54]

What new kit are you referring too?? lol!!

Oh are you referring to any new plant that was installed?? If so, it would be the manufacturer and their representatives, under the supervision of our company Engineers who would be responsible for initial/preliminary and final signing off/handover of the system....

 

[Knobhead]

We set up and commissioned all our new gear. But as it was nearly all designed in house it was the really the only way.

Some gear would be bought in but we had a habit of using it for something it wasn’t designed to do. It’s a bit tricky when what you need isn’t readily available.

 

[Engineer54]

We set up and commissioned all our new gear. But as it was nearly all designed in house it was the really the only way.

Some gear would be bought in but we had a habit of using it for something it wasn’t designed to do. It’s a bit tricky when what you need isn’t readily available.

The RD on all new major plant could be in our design office for over two years, as everything had to work perfectly on the first shift after installation, with no exceptions. There were super penalties to be paid out by the manufacturer and auxiliary contractors if it didn't.

Some of the processes were rigged up in large warehouses and tested to prove the system prior to acceptance and installation on the factory floor. Much of the auxiliary installation was installed by us and others long before the plant came to be installed, a 3 week shutdown isn't very long, and if you were to have seen some of the plant that went in in those short 3 weeks you'd have been amazed it was even possible.

Needless to say, they worked 24 hour days, some workers never left the factory!! lol!! There was money to be made on our companies 3 week shut downs!! lol!!

 

[Pete999]

My TWS job in Moscow was the best 17-23 Russian Tradesmen to supervise absolutely brilliant guys, a bit rough around the edges but totally loyal I made some good friends there, when I taught the Russian Sparkies the three plate wiring system they thought I was a magician, best time in my working life, nearly 35 years ago but it seems like yesterday. The Russian Electrics was a bit odd at times but nothing to difficult, one thing sticks in my mind, we had to strip out some redundant A/C gear and convert it to purely ventilation, the Sparky was a bit green and I told him to come and let me know if he had any problems, well he came back dinner time and mumbled something about the magneto (contactor) I went and had a look, it was a 220v coil and Ivan had stuck it across 380v wondered why it was getting hot, explained the situation , he soon sorted it out.

 

[Engineer54]

My TWS job in Moscow was the best 17-23 Russian Tradesmen to supervise absolutely brilliant guys, a bit rough around the edges but totally loyal I made some good friends there, when I taught the Russian Sparkies the three plate wiring system they thought I was a magician, best time in my working life, nearly 35 years ago but it seems like yesterday. The Russian Electrics was a bit odd at times but nothing to difficult, one thing sticks in my mind, we had to strip out some redundant A/C gear and convert it to purely ventilation, the Sparky was a bit green and I told him to come and let me know if he had any problems, well he came back dinner time and mumbled something about the magneto (contactor) I went and had a look, it was a 220v coil and Ivan had stuck it across 380v wondered why it was getting hot, explained the situation , he soon sorted it out.

I was brought in on a new British consulate building in Poland (before becoming independent) The partially finished original new building had to be knocked down, as MI6 security did a security sweep during construction and found the place literally riddled with listening devices and the like within all the walls and ceilings. So they got rid of all local hire contractors/tradesmen and brought the entire crew in from the UK. Must have cost an absolute fortune at the time....


The one thing i do remember of that time, we walked around as if millionaires... We were getting 240/250 swotty for our pound on the black market, when the official exchange rate was something like 16 swotty to the pound!! lol!! Only downside was that there wasn't much to spend it on, anything of any real value had to be purchased at the so-called dollar shops, where foreign currency was all they would accept. But as for going out on the town, everything cost peanuts even staying at the best hotels in town was around equivalent to 4 to 6 pounds a night!! Had always had rolls of Polish swotty in every pocket. ...lol!!

It was bloody cold there at the time (40C below) so i did buy a full length sheepskin coat and rusky hat at a dollar shop for around a 150/170 pounds, which were good quality and above all Needed!! lol!!

 

[Dcf]

I think I'll mostly agree with tony here even though I'm from a more installation based background.
the amount of electricians I come across , who think putting a few nuts and bolts on a bit cable tray is where it's at over the years has been frightening.
ask them how any of it works and the blank faces tell me all I need to know.
to me , of you are an electrician it's part of your job to know how whatever system you install is meant to work correctly.
otherwise how are you ever going to fault find it?sub the work out to somebody that does?
when one of the plants we used to work on closed the maintenance guy who was a mate of my old gaffers came for a job for a while.
real nice old guy with a vast knowledge of motors and process control.
he was no good at general contracting/ jobbing work as he was far too slow and over thought everything.
all the old boys I worked with had a healthy respect for his skills though and would help him out if needed.
i think my gaffer got him a job in plant maintenance somewhere more suite to his skills.
the ability to go on a job you have never been on and work out a general plan off attack quickly is not one to underestimate. It's not taught in college btw.

 

[7029 dave]

Installation lads just follow a drawing without knowing how anything works. When it doesn’t work, who has to sort the mess out?

Commissioning and fault finding are an integral part of maintenance work.

As for vast experience, a trained monkey could do the job.

Sorry Tony and Eng, I don't agree. Trained money!!!, NO that is not the way, so you think installation Electricians don.t fault find and commission their work. I have worked at many hospital's in me time, and the so called maintenance sparky's were all sitting in their little workshop/ stores drinking tea and changing a few lamps and fittings. (or cleaning). Me at the front end doing the real work.As for factory's production etc, can't say, only that one firm I worked for had the contract for metal box (tin caned factory), maintained the production line, the boys on that said it was a douse. lol

 

[shanky887614]

Sorry Tony and Eng, I don't agree. Trained money!!!, NO that is not the way, so you think installation Electricians don.t fault find and commission their work. I have worked at many hospital's in me time, and the so called maintenance sparky's were all sitting in their little workshop/ stores drinking tea and changing a few lamps and fittings. (or cleaning). Me at the front end doing the real work.As for factory's production etc, can't say, only that one firm I worked for had the contract for metal box (tin caned factory), maintained the production line, the boys on that said it was a douse. lol

hospitals sparkirs are not industrial maintinence.

most are bone idle

 

[Knobhead]

Sorry Tony and Eng, I don't agree. Trained money!!!, NO that is not the way, so you think installation Electricians don.t fault find and commission their work. I have worked at many hospital's in me time, and the so called maintenance sparky's were all sitting in their little workshop/ stores drinking tea and changing a few lamps and fittings. (or cleaning). Me at the front end doing the real work.As for factory's production etc, can't say, only that one firm I worked for had the contract for metal box (tin caned factory), maintained the production line, the boys on that said it was a douse. lol

A hospital is just a good quality distribution system with a few bits added.
You don’t know how the equipment works. Because of that you can’t fault find on it other than the basics.

What’s your knowledge like on instrumentation, hydraulics and pneumatics?

Could you work on a chemical plant were all the equipment is bespoke. You can’t call anyone in to help out as the only people who know how the process works are the company men.

Could you deal with thermal run away in a process, a major power outage that puts life in danger due to the process becoming unstable, I doubt it.

Can you work on MV switchgear and cables other than just put them in place?



Come on admit it, you’re just a cable monkey. The bain of my life for years!

 

[7029 dave]

Cable monkey it is then. lol Horse's for course's.

 

[Pete999]

A hospital is just a good quality distribution system with a few bits added.
You don’t know how the equipment works. Because of that you can’t fault find on it other than the basics.

What’s your knowledge like on instrumentation, hydraulics and pneumatics?

Could you work on a chemical plant were all the equipment is bespoke. You can’t call anyone in to help out as the only people who know how the process works are the company men.

Could you deal with thermal run away in a process, a major power outage that puts life in danger due to the process becoming unstable, I doubt it.

Can you work on MV switchgear and cables other than just put them in place?



Come on admit it, you’re just a cable monkey. The bain of my life for years!

Cable Monkey, that's a new one must file that away for the future

 

[7029 dave]

Cable Monkey, that's a new one must file that away for the future

Yeah, and I reckon he has disrespected about 70 to 80% of the members on here.!!

 

[Knobhead]

Since I started on my first major project, we always called them that. It's what they are.

 

[Knobhead]

Yeah, and I reckon he has disrespected about 70 to 80% of the members on here.!!

It’s a simple statement of fact.

You’ve only got to look at 75% of the questions on here for it to tally with your figure.

 

[Carlosfandango]

So if were all a bunch of "cable monkeys" that are clearly way below your stature, why do you spend so much of your time on this forum?