Dodgy trade pictures for your amusement! - 1 Million Views!

[SparkyChick]

Yeah, sorry about the quality... that was my not so smart smartphone and it's crappy camera from 2009

Spot on with the fault. Tested Zs at a fitting the chap wanted changed and my MFT kept flashing CON... checked the leads, tried different combinations and I'm thinking warranty replacement time until I asked the chap if he'd had any work done recently... oh yes, he said, had the bathroom done... facepalm time! Broke out the ladder, crawled in the loft and found that above his bathroom

 

[kingeri]

I found stuff like that all over a new build recently, only went to connect the boiler, turned into an almost full rewire.

 

[Wilko]

If you have too many earths for your terminal strip just repurpose it as a miniature lightning arrestor

Edit - toooo slow, again

 

[freddo]

Pass.

View attachment 35716

 

[Rpa07]

Name and shame! GH you've let the trade down! Obviously not a competent person carrying out in service testing.

 

[Andy78]

It's entirely possible it could have been fiddled with in the past 3 years.

 

[gazdkw82]

What's on the other end? It's entirely possible someone has terminated the same way on the other end

 

[DPG]

Bad plug design - the user cannot visibly tell that the cord is out of the cord grip. Daz

 

[freddo]

It's entirely possible it could have been fiddled with in the past 3 years.

Perhaps, this was one that got missed as it was stored in a loft, I did the testing in 2014 and there were loads of problems in plugs it was clear the company did not inspect inside any plugs. Even the client asked me why I was opening each one as during the previous tests that didn't happen.

What's on the other end? It's entirely possible someone has terminated the same way on the other end

A heater was on the other end, the flex didn't look replaceable.

Bad plug design - the user cannot visibly tell that the cord is out of the cord grip. Daz

The users at this location are not the sort of people to carry out pre-use checks.

 

[Danny Gray]

I really should put my phone down and go to sleep but it keeps getting better!

 

[freddo]

Got called to help a young colleague find a fault one evening, the main supply was tripping. First thing I go to see what was tripping, odd that wasn't like that last month! Turns out someone had replaced the MEM 3phase RCD the day before, and since then everything was tripping every 5-30 minutes, the people there had tried to switched off circuits to try to reduce the problem, then we were called. The first thing I checked was the settings, the tripping current was set to 30mA, this is the supply for 30 'mobile' homes...
View attachment 35718
There are loads of other things, I'll let you lot find them, I'll give you one you can't see, the cables leaving left are 3M long and unsupported, and looking at the age/type of the seals on the meter and cutout I'd put money on it it was replaced live. I don't know where they got this unit from, I've never heard of the brand.

 

[SparkyChick]

Well I've been waiting for the last few hours to see if anyone else was going to comment, but I'd like to know the answers, so here's my list.

• Different live conductors through different openings raising the possible issue of ferromagnetic effects
  
• Excess exposed conductor on crimps
• Bad earth to the box (looks bad - would have been much better with a ring terminal crimp)
• Conductor identification on the cables from the left is dubious at best and particularly poor as they've used blue inner sheath for a line conductor, they could have made this much better using some coloured heat shrink on the crimp bodies (which would also have mitigated their inability to cut cable to the correct length for the crimp)
  
• No fixings in the box other than the screws in the keyhole slots from what I can see, so it could be lifted off those
• Insufficient thought given to protecting the cables from mechanical damage where they enter the box

Not sure about the earth as there appears to be a junction which is in shadow, but at the very least that doesn't appear to be adequately supported, neither does the cable, and I'd say it should have a BS951 label on/near the junction.

If I could isolate it, I'd be inclined to give all of those crimps a tug make sure they are crimped properly and securely fastened to the studs, but as it's live with no visible means of isolation I'd be a bit reluctant (with or without appropriate PPE).

 

[Rpa07]

Is the yellow ring shape a current transformer? or an overload sensor? or something else altogether which you will name for me!

 

[DPG]

Was just looking at that myself. Is that the neutral going through it? Must be leakage detector rather than a current transformer then?

 

[SparkyChick]

All live conductors are going through it, so earth leakage detection was my view. It's connected to the module on the right but you can't zoom in well enough to read the panel.

 

[freddo]

Yes for leakage, the coil and the little box on the right trip the MCCB. I would have thought the mention of 30mA would have given that away! The tripping current can be adjusted right up to 30A and a delay of up to 300 seconds IIRC.

 

[DPG]

Good point - it says RCD above. Mind you, 30A leakage current - nice Daz

 

[freddo]

Good point - it says RCD above. Mind you, 30A leakage current - nice Daz

Stick that up your earth electrode! (or should that be down?)

The madness today (sorry for poor pic quality):

View attachment 35724

 

[Rpa07]

It follows you around, don't it freddo?

 

[freddo]

XD I was just doing appliance tests, I swear!