Is there such a thing as a "DIY electrical job"?

[Cadgey123]

How many accessories have you seen put on with butchered terminals and slack connections because the DIYer was using a 2.5mm2 Test screwdriver. Simples save it for the Electrician if you can’t do it

 

[Adam W]

There is such as thing as a DIY electrical job, but there's also such a thing as a DIY disaster. A quick googlesearch will reveal numerous pictures of situations where someone has had a go at doing something them self when they really shouldn't have. Some are amusing, some are just dangerous.

Often worse than dealing with the mess left by a 'cowboy builder' is the mess left by a well-meaning person who doesn't understand their limits but feels they should be having a go anyway.

If you get your carpentry wrong you could end up with a wonky shelf or you could saw your leg off, get your decorating wrong and you could have streaky walls, with your car you can end up with poor fuel economy or defective brakes, with plumbing you could end up with a dripping tap or contaminated drinking water, with electrics you could end up with a burned down house or electrocuted.

As professional electricians we often have to deal with people who think they 'know electrics' when it's clear that they don't and shouldn't be having a go.

 

[Pete999]

There is such as thing as a DIY electrical job, but there's also such a thing as a DIY disaster. A quick googlesearch will reveal numerous pictures of situations where someone has had a go at doing something them self when they really shouldn't have. Some are amusing, some are just dangerous.

Often worse than dealing with the mess left by a 'cowboy builder' is the mess left by a well-meaning person who doesn't understand their limits but feels they should be having a go anyway.

If you get your carpentry wrong you could end up with a wonky shelf or you could saw your leg off, get your decorating wrong and you could have streaky walls, with your car you can end up with poor fuel economy or defective brakes, with plumbing you could end up with a dripping tap or contaminated drinking water, with electrics you could end up with a burned down house or electrocuted.

As professional electricians we often have to deal with people who think they 'know electrics' when it's clear that they don't and shouldn't be having a go.

Agree with all you said except the iffy car brake, done by a DIY mechanic,sorry.

 

[telectrix]

why the disagree, pete? i done all my brake pad/shoe/caliper/cylinder replacements for donkeys. never had a brake failure yet. only thing now is the strain in knees, is it worth it to save £50?

 

[Pete999]

why the disagree, pete?

Well a bodged brake job is dangerouse as I explained in my last post agree with the painting ,woodwork etc, just disagreed wth the brake issu, nothing personal, and hope the OP isn't too hacked off, I have quantified my disagreement, unlike some on here, not you Tel.

 

[littlespark]

"never had a brake failure yet"
That's like a DIY would be spark saying "I've never had a shock/ burned the house down"
Get your brakes done by a professional.

 

[telectrix]

agree pete. brakes are an important safety issue. all boils down to "competence". if you can't do it safely, consult an expert.

 

[Adam W]

Agree with all you said except the iffy car brake, done by a DIY mechanic,sorry.

It looks to me like you disagreed.
What do you disagree with? That you can't mess up doing your brakes?
The point was in most cases (probably not decorating) you can get it a bit wrong or it can go seriously wrong. Electrics can go very wrong but it's something a lot of people seem happy to have a stab at.

 

[telectrix]

"never had a brake failure yet"
That's like a DIY would be spark saying "I've never had a shock/ burned the house down"
Get your brakes done by a professional.

if i was not competent to do it right, i would. i was fixing cars and motorbikes, rebuilding engines, welding in patches, repairing bodywork, at el, probably before you were born. anything i could not do, i either learnt or passed it over.

 

[Andy78]

If you get your carpentry wrong you could end up with a wonky shelf or you could saw your leg off, get your decorating wrong and you could have streaky walls, with your car you can end up with poor fuel economy or defective brakes, with plumbing you could end up with a dripping tap or contaminated drinking water, with electrics you could end up with a burned down house or electrocuted.

You can even end up with quite a serious electrical fault by simply putting shelves up. Been to a few of those before.

 

[Adam W]

You can even end up with quite a serious electrical fault by simply putting shelves up. Been to a few of those before.

Exactly - in that instance the person putting up the shelves was out of their depth and should have either learned how to do it, left it to someone competent or not bothered.

 

[Adam W]

if i was not competent to do it right, i would. i was fixing cars and motorbikes, rebuilding engines, welding in patches, repairing bodywork, at el, probably before you were born. anything i could not do, i either learnt or passed it over.

There aren't many things which a competent person can't DIY (apart from certain kinds of surgery), but at the same time an incompetent person can make a hash of the simplest of jobs and should leave them to someone else.
There are very few tasks which anyone should guarantee can be DIYed, and in that respect there is no such thing as a DIY electrical job.

 

[littlespark]

What if the DIY'er in question is actually an electrician? Does that count?

 

[Midwest]

why the disagree, pete? i done all my brake pad/shoe/caliper/cylinder replacements for donkeys. never had a brake failure yet. only thing now is the strain in knees, is it worth it to save £50?

You've just been trying to bump her indoors off for years, and never been successful. Call yourself an engineer

 

[static zap]

Wiring a plug top with the wiring chart - still attached to the pin side ?

 

[gnuuser]

of course there is its called hanging up Christmas lights!
while everything else an electrician does may look easy to do, there is a lot more to learn than just matching up colors of the conductors!

 

[pirate]

Put new batteries in my torch yesterday...got it wrong, first time