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 !

 

[cdavies33]

The spark that did that rewire should consider a new profession to be honest, if that the job he did on the board.... God know what the rest of the place looks like, its embrassing

 

[Dom.]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

Jan 2007. HTC in MK. When the sparkies came round to change lamps they couldn't get the wall uplighters in the reception to work for love nor money.

Lifted up the ceiling tiles, traced the wiring, used a test probe...
Then someone looked at the actual bulbs (BC, or ES) and they weren't 240V there were 15V or some odd voltage. Doh!

 

[isitnow]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

hahahaha sellotape!

did some remedial work in a shop once twin and earth was sellotaped to the wall

 

[adam.h]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

did some remedial work in a shop once twin and earth was sellotaped to the wall

Double sided sellotape works and looks better, you cant see it

 

[FAA Greenie]

Good evening guys,

Went to a house during the week to fit a shower circuit and put a light into the loft at the same time. As I entered the loft I was confronted by the attached photo's. now, first off, I know the 'volt-sticks' are not reliable dead testers, however, they are handy for quick checks of cables for anything nasty that needs testing further and I always have one in my pocket. At first glance, I thought to ask the client when I saw her next if she just wanted me to cut it down and get rid. At second glance I got out the volt stick out of habit and held it up to the exposed and corroded copper showing through the perished rubber.

I nearly fell through the ceiling when the volt stick lit up like a christmas tree and beeped it's tone at me!!!

What isn't shown on the photo's is that the cable runs through a partition into next doors loft. I have to admit that the porcelain insulator got me worried, though the small size if the the crumbling cable connected to it confused me (looks like 2.5mm).

I went down and switched off at the mains to see if anything was still on it only to find that it showed dead with the volt stick. OK, go get the long lead and megger MFT out, test, still dead. Turn the power back on and the upstairs lighting and sockets only, MFT shows near enough 100v and the volt stick goes mad again. Isolate socket cct and same thing.

Upstairs lighting cct has no earthing ( CU is labelled correctly), and I then thought to check the 1.5mm I had laid into the loft for the lighting cct and clipped most of the way, with the volt stick and even though it was connected at neither end, got a result.

Is this a common thing? I can only assume that with a lack of earth to absorb any induced voltage that the whole lighting circuit is inducing a standing voltage into anything it comes accross?

 

[barnzi]

Looks like an for amateur radio. It's not unusual for them to pick up stray voltage from mains wiring. Small antennas like that aren't too difficult to handle, unlike the big outdoor antennas which could have thousands of volts on them in relation to the ground.

 

[FAA Greenie]

Looks like an for amateur radio. It's not unusual for them to pick up stray voltage from mains wiring. Small antennas like that aren't too difficult to handle, unlike the big outdoor antennas which could have thousands of volts on them in relation to the ground.

I did wonder if it was some sort of antenna, In my past life in the Royal Navy I fiddled with radio stuff a lot but if the 'snakes wedding' wrapped around the larger cable was the original feed, it would be a bit to large for a tuned circuit so to speak, I may be wrong. What would be ideal is to see what is on the other side of it in the neighbours loft...

 

[barnzi]

I've made them and seen them made out of all sorts. My worst offence was using CPC, chocolate block and T&E c.c

 

[Jurassic Sparks]

volt sticks will sometimes pick up static electricity from loft insulation as well as induced voltages

 

[Guest123]

A few from a Dom PIR I did today........just had a whole new bathroom install mind, shower, fan, center light etc all connected to this lot.

An 8 way 3036 CU with upfront VOELCB & nowt else!!!!

 

[Acer]

One of these photos reminded me of a fault I came across a few years ago...whilst working in house installing some additional lighting the customer mentioned that her two boys were getting shocks from a brass wall light in hallway..upon investigation I found that the light was fed from an adjacent switch. The switch contained a two core feed and a three core flex from the wall light..obviously DIY. The switch itself was a two way switch ..the neutrals were twisted together, the red from two core to switch common and the live from light to L1..guess where the earth from light was connected...L2 so when the light was switched off the whole fitting was live...

 

[adamwilliams]

Yes! I got a problem with my electric circuits at my home.I am not able to run my appliances which demands a power supply more than 15 Amp......What to do?

 

[adamwilliams]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

I am going to check my MCB right now..................Hope I'll find something in it..Wish me luck!!

 

[Edward Hlavacek]

Re: Tell us about your faults !

I was called back three times! Lady said her computer lines were down so I tested them and they had failed so I had pulled three new lines. Found a rat that kept eating my wires for lunch. Took me 4 hours to find where the rat was eating. So I invited the rat to dinner and gave him some peanut butter then SNAP! The trap broke his little neck, Job complete. Tangent Electric | Seattle Electricians and Electrical Contractors

 

[BELEC]

Installer left a drill hole for the swa tag on top of the 3 pole isolator. on the particular one he decided to crimp the earth seperatly leaving a hole exposed for the lovely british weather !



the "electrician" signed this job of for a landlord ive started workin for in liverpool. the 1st thing i spotted was a lack of that green stuff he didnt like. i'll let him of for not using earth sleeving. lousy but not lethal... the board was a mess like the rest of the installation.

......however i wont forgive him for not realsing the utilities had not provided a earth link !! for their TNCs sytem...so he just left it. and off course just left the earth bonidng to gas and water floating above in tray work.