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

[James]

wow, someone has been saving up all there bad luck and saving it for one sh!t day!!

 

[buzzlightyear]

It's like a arrow passed through it.

 

[pc1966]

A sad tale here, a friend of mind died recently and I went to see his workshop with one of his daughters to give her a hand. He was quite an interesting guy and generally very practical, but sadly not terribly good at electrical work, shall we say. Some of the originals stuff there was installed to a good standard, but in at least one of the boxes L2 was white wire, making it older than myself!

I was not there for electrics, just to lend a hand cleaning/moving stuff, so the only thing I could actually deal with there & then was the extension lead's plug with tools I usually have in my car boot.

The SWA from the switch (or switched-fuse) is really a spectacular example, it is connected but only by a handful of strands. I really would like to know why it ended up like that as I presume it was properly glanded in the past. The main set of DB used to feed multiple units in an industrial block but the left box of fuses now has just a single 40A circuit that is not on the unit's own billing meter, but nobody I asked has any idea of who/why it remains from this separated unit now.

Of course it needs major renovation, realistically a rewire and all of the stuff replaced, but I might have to do something (like a new SWA gland!) until the estate is sorted out and the siblings who now own it can agree on getting it sorted out professionally.

 

[ipf]

View attachment 113319
I was not there for electrics, just to lend a hand cleaning/moving stuff, so the only thing I could actually deal with there & then was the extension lead's plug with tools I usually have in my car boot.

Well, looking at the photo, you did a good job with the plug...

Sorry about your friend, RIP.

 

[nicebutdim]

There's never anything good to be found at the end of a length of orange flex.

 

[ipf]

High level supply, above ceiling, picked up for office LED panel lighting. One faulty. Loads of LSF on the ceiling, nearly strung myself up when a tile was removed.

 

[leesrubberroom]

Poor man’s chandelier

View attachment 28539

I think this might be considered stylish in some circles

 

[pc1966]

Back to my old friend's place again. Turns out there was no earthing of the armour! So the car lift had been really dangerous for years! I put a gland on so now it is earthed, but left it switched off anyway. As I finished doing that I knocked an envelope nailed to the wall, and lo! A "new" 20s gland fell out from some perished plastic bag. So clearly he had the gland for a long time with the view to fixing it but never got round to it
In the process I took a look inside and its a bit grim:

Yes, those are bits of fuse wire in what should be the location of bolted HRC fuses in the Dorman-Smith switched-fuse, and indeed that is white for L2 showing it dates pre-1966, and I agree the CPC to the Wylex box below is far too small.

The MEM box of rewirable fuses has asbestos flash-pads, so a problem for ultimate disposal, and it has way too much connected to it with little or no regard to adequate protection. It is most certainly a rip-out and replace the lot job once the estate is finalised.

 

[mainline]

Can you put some smoke alarms in the big farmhouse.

And btw watch your head

 

[SJD]

Removing a room of downlight converters, not only did they convert the large ceiling holes, but also the connections ... by means of the MR16 lampholder!

 

[pc1966]

Removing a room of downlight converters, not only did they convert the large ceiling holes, but also the connections ... by means of the MR16 lampholder!

Well it is creative, you could say that!

 

[pc1966]

Creative adaptation of a 13A plug:

 

[Avo Mk8]

Creative adaptation of a 13A plug:
View attachment 113818

Top notch job

 

[pirate]

There's never anything good to be found at the end of a length of orange flex

My neighbour's neck would be a good start...

 

[Greenarmy]

There's never anything good to be found at the end of a length of orange flex.

I have never realised before, but that is very true

 

[Darkwood]

Wow - this thread is still getting plenty content, at this rate it will be the first thread to hit 1million views soon.
Not bad for a Electrical trade forum I must say so myself

 

[Pete999]

I have never realised before, but that is very true

 

[LewisM]

Fans going to be fun to change

 

[brianmoooore]

Fans going to be fun to change


View attachment 113880

Not too bad, as long as you can release the two clamp bands holding the motor/fan assembly in place, and you are replacing with the same model.
Motor and fan just slides out, leaving the frame and pipes undisturbed.

 

[timhoward]

I turned up to change an outside light. This was the supply cable as I found it and the photograph to explain to customer why it needed to be a bigger job. Needless to say I took it out of service and ran a new cable.
When the place was rewired I think no one fancied tackling the slate roof to replace it.

Twin (without earth) and tinned copper conductors, so it's probably sat here in its buckle clips since the early 60's