Tell us about your faults!

[kung]

Hi ALL
Just thought id put this one up for all those faults we find.
heres one to kick it off !
Domestic RCD tripped and wouldnt reset cause was a blown low energy light bulb.
There you go now for yours !

 

[Danbo]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Don't know if this is the right section for this.
I was called to a job simply to add an outside socket. Came off the ring and then tested the circuit. The house had recently been rewired so i presumed there would be no problems.
After opening the front of the CU i couldn't find any ring circuits...ALL individual wires into each MCB. My first thought was they all must be radials.
Nope...Both the upstairs and downstairs rings had been wired into 2 different 32A MCB's.
I've seen some bad wiring in my time but not something so basic on a new install, i was shocked.
I know the firm who did the work and all I can presume is it was an apprentice who wired the CU up.. but that wouldn't excuse the fact the work wasn't checked. Should I report them to NAPIT who they're with, or speak to the owner.

What do you think?

 

[mickys86]

It might be worth chatting with the owner. He might not know what's going on and would probably be pleased for the information

 

[Danbo]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Probably right...i'll give the owner a call. It had made me alittle angry to see such blatent incompetance, but like you say the bloke who owns it might not have a clue. Thanks

In keeping with the theme of this thread...I did recently see a gem of a fault when ripping out before a rewire last year. An electric fire must of had a fault previously and damaged the line wire into the fire. Instead of replacing the damaged cable with a PVC cable or flex...he had used a Steel wire which you use to suspend things from etc and just wrapped it up in insulation tape.

 

[sparkinlee]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Got called today to look at an immersion heater in a flat in a 70s build block. Went to test Zs, and the MFT wouldn't take a reading - checked voltages and found earth floating at 23v above neutral! Went back to fuse board in flat and found the same.

Went to meter cupboard downstairs, located the correct SWA supplying the flat in question (the design appears to involve the armouring and all the metal conduit and trunking providing the earth path back to the incoming supply) and found:

...armour visible, and no electrical connection between the gland and the armour. When I pulled down on the cable...



It appeared to me that the SWA had probably never been properly terminated, so quite possible the flat in question had been without an effective earth connection for 30+ years!

Upon clamping the armour properly in the gland, Ze (or should that be Zs?) at the fuse board in the flat fell to 0.08!

 

[jackdollar524]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Domestic RCD tripped and wouldnt reset cause was a blown low energy light bulb

 

[Jurassic Sparks]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

first of all I would start by measuring the voltage at the main isolator in the consumer unit, check the connections are secure ( they are often loose)
check the voltage with everything switched off on the incoming side from the cutout/meter
230/240 v it will vary a little
then switch the light on and see how much voltage drop is occuring and record it ( should be nothing)
then operate the shower and measure again
if the voltage stays more or less the same plus or minus 4V then repeat the test on the switched side of the main switch from the neutral bar and the copper bar feeding the fuses ( if you can access it safely)
if the results are the same the problem lies further on
it could be a loose connection withing the fuseboard
or it could be the lights are spurred of the shower or the shower is spurred of the lights???
not unusual but lethal
you really need to see how the shower is fed from the isolator switch follow the cable along
often the old fashioned MK1 eyeball is the most efficient method
if the voltage drops of alarmingly on the first test, then its the supply cables either loose undersized or possibly the supply cable to the house failing, I have also seen the cut out fuse loose ( it should have screws and nuts to pinch it up)
but thats a supply company problem
stick some pics on here it you like

 

[Mr.Si]

on rewiring my lounge (finally) fi.ding annoying and naughty (by todays' standards) things.

also, how many different types of masonry does one house need?!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[Jurassic Sparks]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

naughty naughty
no grommet for the cable leaving
the CPC should be feed to terminal block first for the fitting and then looped to the back plate
wires are ok in the safe zone just a bit of a bodge
with an attic hatch above it would have been easier to drop down
as fas as masonery it depends on the bodgers and whats handy
I recently found concrete used to patch studwork walls!!
and that bodge dates from 1958 when the house was built, the house had pre made studwork walls, you slotted into place, and you were supposed to drill the timber at top and use a rod to force a gap into the cardboard cells for the cables
this lot used a sledgehammer by the look of things and then used concrete to infill
that took soem digging out for a rewire???

 

[erniexx]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Following a recent Consumer Unit upgrade last year. We had two mcb trip events for no apparent reason. The last trip was accompanied by a smell emanating from the CU. I ordered a new mcb. As I went to fit it, I noticed that the pair of wires were charred, and came out of the terminals by hand!

 

[Jurassic Sparks]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

there has been some problems with poor quality chinese clone equipment doing the rounds
even through the wholesalers
I would suggest you get the MCB checked, you may need to change them all

 

[Marie-Claire]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

im female i have no faults - joking apart i had non tripping rcd's the were totally faulty, in fact i wish i would have took them apart now as i bet they were empty inside

 

[Silly Sausage]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

.........

 

[1shortcircuit]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

im female i have no faults

Wrong! You do have a fault!!!

Your Avatar was made TOO SMALL lol

 

[fali786]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

What would you do if a manufacturer spec did not work in terms of cable size required?

 

[telectrix]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

don't quite follow what you mean. do you mean it won't carry it's rated current?