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Forum Index : Other Stuff : Electrical fault-finding nightmare....
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9063 |
Wow....this is impressive - in a bad way... Nightmare.... Quite disturbing, what someone with a little knowledge - but no understanding of the regulations - can do. EDIT: I suppose I should point out, that I am not a registered electrician myself, but I have done plenty of wiring on my own house - which is allowed here in NZ. But the point being, that even though I am not TECHNICALLY qualified as an electrician, I know all the regulations and adhere to them 100% This kind of house, is a fire waiting to happen IMHO. Edited 2024-01-27 16:15 by Grogster Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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SimpleSafeName Senior Member  Joined: 28/07/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 286 |
Actually, I went through the apprenticeship waayy back in 1975, and got my Journeyman's and Master's tickets. And there was plenty of "early code" installations back then (in other words, plenty to complain about). A few examples: Lots of "Knob and Tube" wired homes. Probably still are a bunch out there. Some "modernization" work where the gas lamps were converted to electric lights and the wires were pulled through the (abandoned, and hopefully purged) gas lines. Motors did not come with junction boxes (aka "peckerheads" in electrician parlance). You would run a conduit close to the motor and use a weatherhead on the end of the conduit (this would be done indoors as well as outdoors). Early precursors to wirenuts/wingnuts where the connection was done using a brass barrel and a set screw and a plastic insulator was screwed on to the threaded end of the brass barrel. Soldered connections. The wires were twisted together and a ladle filled with molten solder would be lifted up to solder the connection (fun fact, that's how I wired a house in Mexico, not because I preferred this method, it was because Mexicans don't seem to believe in wirenuts. They simply twist the wires together and put a bit of tape on them). Motor starters only sensed overcurrent on two of the legs for three phase. Ungrounded plugs (I almost forgot them!). So when I see someone, especially an electrician, whine about the quality of the previous guy's work I just shrug it off. There was, and apparently still is, a running competition as to who was going to be the next Nikola Tesla. Simply put, every electrician is better than the next one. :) Edited 2024-01-28 00:21 by SimpleSafeName |
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| SimpleSafeName Senior Member Joined: 28/07/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 286 |
Oh! And rebuildable fuses! Did the single link blow out? Easy fix, put two of them in the next time. :) https://www.engineeringradio.us/blog/2010/12/the-100-amp-fuse/ And screw in fuses where you would occasionally find a penny in behind the fuse. LOL! Edited 2024-01-28 00:26 by SimpleSafeName |
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| mab1 Senior Member Joined: 10/02/2015 Location: United KingdomPosts: 152 |
TBH I've seen worse (i am a qualified and practicing electrician). For e.g. there was a house that had been partitioned into two with the circuits split accordingly, then subsequently re-combined to a single dwelling again. In the main fuseboard there was a 32 ring main and two 20a radials - but they were all connected together in the house, so you could draw a theoretical 72a from a 2.5mm2 spur. Can't say i was impressed with his faultfinding skills: took him a long time to think to try a continuity test and see it was a direct metal to metal short - which is relatively easy to track down by the method he (eventually) used. If he'd spent less time bemoaning the quality of the diy add-ons and focussed on the fault he could have pinned it down in 1/2 hr. |
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| SimpleSafeName Senior Member Joined: 28/07/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 286 |
Exactly, and we don't go around shaming our customers over it. Never badmouth your customer, either directly or indirectly. Your mates on the other hand, are fair game. :) And your point that in this case the customer partially funded the video is spot on. Probably some newbie trying to drum up business. When I do watch an electrician's video (especially a UK based one), it's going to be a David Savery one, just for the comedic content. Brings back that 70's vibe. :) And where I live in Tennessee, you can buy yourself a license rather than earn it. The state is so anti-worker that they would rather see houses burn down than have a construction worker financially succeed. We have the LLE license here (limits the holder to a $25K job), so two or three trips to Home Depot and you are fully qualified. Helps keep those $12 an hour "electricians" busy. Stay safe brother. :) |
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Revlac Guru  Joined: 31/12/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 961 |
I didn't watch the video, take too long load, I will also point out that Regulations are not 100% perfect, there have been many costly mistakes thus they keep changing them all the time.  Cheers Aaron Off The Grid |
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| SimpleSafeName Senior Member Joined: 28/07/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 286 |
That, and there was a lot of "Jailhouse lawyering" going on where we would try to circumvent the intent of the regs for a happier outcome. The abuse of the ampacity tables once THHN showed up on the scene (magically everything was a 90C circuit) was epic. (I will say this, no one was happier to see the demise of TW and THW than me.) And back then you never found an electrician who derated their ampacities based upon the number of wires in a conduit. Nor did you find a "AHJ" (inspector) who gave a hoot. And strangely enough, those buildings are still standing. Hmmm... So a big part of the evolution of the NEC (what we use here in North America) is due to us sparkys trying to get around what the Mike Holts of the world were trying to saddle us with. :) |
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