U
urbanmonkey
Todays job was to investigate faulty outdoor socket and intermittent RCD fault, turn up, get to work, loop test on socket. No Earth, open it up to find the cpc wrapped in blue insulation tape and the box is full of water, so i'm thinking DIY, asked the customer who did it and they produce a cert, all filled in with clearly imagined readings by an NICEIC member! find the socket the outdoor socket had been spurred from( cable chased horizontally around a corner, chopped through a bit of wood supporting the stairs and then through wall into outdoor socket!), it's a spur, from a spur next to it, no Earth on any of them, whole debacle is supplied by downstairs RFC and the whole 3 of them installed by the 'competent person'
Proceed to have a quick look in the board to check RFC continuity and ramp test RCD with nothing attached etc. No continuity on L, N or E. fantastic. Proceed to start lifting laminate and boards, starting at the additions and towards where any sensible person may have got into the RFC, only to find two cables under floor with tiny bit of black tape around them, its the two legs of the RFC just cut and left live under the floor, right near the spurs upon spurs?! cable he had used to supply the spurious spurs from disappears in the direction of the front door under the floor, no sockets or expected cable routes to outlets in the vicinity.
Was gettin late so I Stuck a j803 on the unidentified cable and another on the two legs of the ring to restore continuity, tested it to make sure and going back tomorrow to tidy it all up and redo it properly, also have a look at no N continuity on upstairs RFC, he's been in there as well, fcu for an outside light, taken from socket in bedroom supplying a whacking great sodium discharge lamp with some kopex hanging from it, doubtless all taped up inside again!
No point reporting him I guess, he's paid his subs and thats all that matters to them. On the plus side I've picked up a fair bit of work lately from sorting out guff like this, I can't see it being long before somebody is seriously hurt or killed tho, find stuff like this almost weekly now.
Proceed to have a quick look in the board to check RFC continuity and ramp test RCD with nothing attached etc. No continuity on L, N or E. fantastic. Proceed to start lifting laminate and boards, starting at the additions and towards where any sensible person may have got into the RFC, only to find two cables under floor with tiny bit of black tape around them, its the two legs of the RFC just cut and left live under the floor, right near the spurs upon spurs?! cable he had used to supply the spurious spurs from disappears in the direction of the front door under the floor, no sockets or expected cable routes to outlets in the vicinity.
Was gettin late so I Stuck a j803 on the unidentified cable and another on the two legs of the ring to restore continuity, tested it to make sure and going back tomorrow to tidy it all up and redo it properly, also have a look at no N continuity on upstairs RFC, he's been in there as well, fcu for an outside light, taken from socket in bedroom supplying a whacking great sodium discharge lamp with some kopex hanging from it, doubtless all taped up inside again!
No point reporting him I guess, he's paid his subs and thats all that matters to them. On the plus side I've picked up a fair bit of work lately from sorting out guff like this, I can't see it being long before somebody is seriously hurt or killed tho, find stuff like this almost weekly now.
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