Pet Hates

[tbs1983]

1.Twisted Earths,
2. dodgy threads on metal back boxes,
3. that horrible cellophane and foil inside some brands of FP200,
4. cheap soft brass terminal screws on switches/sockets etc.
5. snapping small terminal screwdrivers cos I'm too lazy to get the bigger one out of my toolbox!

 

[grantr37]

1) drill with dodgy safety clutch= oeoeoeoeoe clatter ...(hits wall)slide...splat...hobble...hobble daaafuuuu kkk ...swing swing swing ...swing...gone.....(tescos carpark 300 yds away)....smash..
2) cheap holesaws that fall apart in 10 seconds...
3)drilling conduit boxes...
4)tools that magically get swapped for broken cheap old crap by someone else at tea time...
5)being on site in winter when someone decides to turn off the generator on their way out, cutting the lights....
6)having to buy a tool needed on the day and getting stung rip off prices for cheap cr@p because nowhere nearby sells decent ones....
7)scaffold getting off hired when I needed to use it....

 

[JeanGenie]

1. Certain makes of armoured glands where you can't get the back nut on.
2. Cheap metal conduit boxes where it's not a true 90 degree angle.
3. Bushes that snap.
4. Connections in accessories that wont tighten up as soon as you put the end of your cable in.
5. People borrowing your kit then not bringing it back.
6. Multiple earths in one sleeving

 

[ste77]

1)poor workmanship (which i normally have to fix)
2)laziness (which i normally end up working late for)
3)untidyness (which i normally fall over)
4)and whoever it is that keeps removing schedules from most of the dbs i have to work in

 

[JeanGenie]

Apprentices that spend all day texting

 

[Ducksy]

Not being able to find any local parking (I work in central London) lame

 

[glasgospark]

1)lifting carpets
2)lifting floor boards
3)refitting above
4)can i have a discount
5)its only a small job
6)cow boys
7) pozi drivers that snap
8)battery dead on drill
9)torch no battery while under the floor ...................

 

[plugsandsparks]

Screwdriver where mag is not quiet strong enough to hold screw in horizonatal position, but same screwdriver over eager to collect filings from all over the place, really does my head in.
Anybody know how to de-mag a screwdriver

 

[ayjay]

to de mag a screwdriver strike it on a hard metal surface
one of my pet hates is cell phones
but the worst is some theif swapping the battery in your drill for their duff one

 

[dcelectrical]

police men on bikes
so what if i am eating a sarnie whilst driving i could talk on the phone eat a sandwich and hold coffee cup between my leg and change gear and i still would not be as dangerous as that mini cab driver
bus drivers - yes i know i stopped on a double yellow - you do not have to pull up alongside me and pretend you cant get through - you could get a bus through there mate!

 

[Brightspark2]

1)poor workmanship (which i normally have to fix)
2)laziness (which i normally end up working late for)
3)untidyness (which i normally fall over)
4)and whoever it is that keeps removing schedules from most of the dbs i have to work in

All of the above...

What is it with schedule one...full distribution panels with no schedule...why has someone removed them and not put them back????...its near on impossible to trace anything in large plants...I can just imagine them hidden under loads of junk in someone's van...really annoys me...

 

[Dean Williams]

1. twisted earths in sleeving
2. lazy people not identifying cores of armored for single phase.
3. NICEIC annual inspections
4. square d stablok mcbs that pop out when tightening terminals.

 

[ste77]

All of the above...

What is it with schedule one...full distribution panels with no schedule...why has someone removed them and not put them back????...its near on impossible to trace anything in large plants...I can just imagine them hidden under loads of junk in someone's van...really annoys me...

I just imagine someone doing it out of spite or using them to do material lists on. its so annoying especially on new jobs where you know it may not have been there from the start which brings me back to points 1 & 2

 

[monkee]

i hate when they dont give head sorry.. sorry i mean tea..

 

[KFH]

The wonderful customer supplied lights from various retail outlets that have no space for more than one cable and require you to support them with one hand while trying to connect the cable with the other two. Then you have to try and support the fitting while trying to get those pesky little screws into the mounting bracket. I always end up dropping them and have to do a pull test on my connections while I grovel around on the floor trying to find them. AAAaagggghhhhhhh

 

[amlu]

wago lighting connectors coming handy with crappish lights... just dump the supplied chocblock.

 

[KFH]

wago lighting connectors coming handy with crappish lights... just dump the supplied chocblock.

I must admit to loving Wago connectors (I know I am a pervert ). Still have difficult with some where the short length of leads and size of the Wagos makes it difficult to fit everything in the space available and I still have to make a hole in the ceiling to push a Wago box in with the loop through wiring.

That's my other pet hate - cheap crap, that is often very expensive, that has had no thought/design given to installation or maintenance and usually has to be replaced in a couple of years. You can't make money installing it because of the time it takes and you end up replacing many under guarantee.

 

[BlueToBits]

"Thanks for the quote. Now could you give me a list of materials and re-quote for labour only"

 

[Tiberius]

Knock out sections that don't knock.....

 

[Welchyboy]

TWISTED EARTHS! Without a doubt no.1 (especially in a 3phase board)

old slotted screws, especially rusty ones

leaving the lid of your screw box undone when you pick it up

Trying terminate cables into old wylex and similar boards when the earth bar is impossible to reach

drilling out a downlighter hole when the a previous builder has swept all the crap and brick dust under the floorboards above

people always on the ponce for cable, boxes etc

 

[PEM]

1. CU where just about every cable is too short.
2. Part P, why !!! Just paperwork for Councils.
3. The client who never offers a coffee.
4. Places so dirty you feel obliged to clean before you start so you don't stick to anything.
5. The "oh could you just do this as well in the price".
6. The French.
7. Probably more to come
Cheers

 

[VoltzElectrical]

Some of the posts on this forum!

 

[telectrix]

1. CU where just about every cable is too short.
2. Part P, why !!! Just paperwork for Councils.
3. The client who never offers a coffee.
4. Places so dirty you feel obliged to clean before you start so you don't stick to anything.
5. The "oh could you just do this as well in the price".
6. The French.
7. Probably more to come
Cheers

8. plumbers.

 

[Swicade]

Customers
Ikea
Cyclists
B&Q
Customers (again)
CEF
Price of Diesel

 

[44ALLAN]

Rich twts who get away with murder...........oh sorry wrong forum:censored:

 

[sparks55]

Gripper rods

 

[DNS1]

People who cut the cables far too short in back boxes so once the switch/socket is taken off it's never going back on again
People who expect you to do a rewire without removing all their crap first
Cheap screwdrivers
Cheap tools in general (my dad is a nightmare for buying power tools in Aldi "cos they were cheap"
Realising at the end of the job that I've left one of my tools under a floorboard or in the loft...

 

[Welchyboy]

When they don't seem to ever bring out amendments you can simply print off and add to your existing regs books anymore and you have to continually keep buying new regs/OSG/GN1,2,3,4,5,6,78 etc etc even though 99% of it is exactly the same
just to please the NIC

 

[partypest]

1: short cables in anything.
2: cheap light fittings
3: all the clients cr@p that's in the way.
4: cpc's twisted together in one sleeve.
5: chocolate terminals
6: HMRC
7: the price of fuel
8: cutting holes in ceilings
9: CSA's bigger than 4mm
10: working in the cold

Not in any particular order!

 

[Stroppy]

Metal boxes with the vertical oval fixing hole the same side as the adjustable lug, making one side have two adjustments and the other none. What a stupid design, by someone who has clearly never installed one.

 

[telectrix]

on switch boxes i just use the centre hole. tin hat on.

 

[KAS1]

SKY TV what a rip off

 

[Stroppy]

on switch boxes i just use the centre hole. tin hat on.

On switches that's fine, as a few mm out won't notice, but socket boxes are a real pain in the bum, especially if you need to line up several side by side.

 

[ayjay]

i use box joiners

 

[telectrix]

i use box joiners

tell me more. what are they?

 

[pennywise]

I use couplers and bushes to put boxes together, keeps them level, a standard gap and I can wire straight through.

 

[Stroppy]

20mm steel conduit couplers? That's a good idea!

 

[pennywise]

Yep 20mm steel couplers and bushes, just have to make sure you knock out the right knock outs on the back boxes as sometimes only two sides of both boxes will line up to make them level.

 

[johnboy6083]

My pet hate is gear with dual knockouts that when you knock the 20mm knockout, the 25 comes with it.
or, as I found the other day, an Schnieder board where the knockouts were harder than the surrounding material. Ended up drilling all of them.

 

[pennywise]

My pet hate is gear with dual knockouts that when you knock the 20mm knockout, the 25 comes with it.
or, as I found the other day, an Schnieder board where the knockouts were harder than the surrounding material. Ended up drilling all of them.

thats why I carry around 25mm to 20mm reducers, drives me potty when that happens:rolleyes4: