Gazza's blog

why do my lights keep blowing?

This is what a customer asked before we found the fault under a floor in their bathroom.

Fault finding, as us electricians know, is not always the easiest of tasks. We found this fault under a floor in a bathroom, infact under the bath, it was not the easiest of places to get too! As you can see the cables were damaged and burnt causing the mcb (miniture circuit breaker) to trip.

THEN WHY NOT GIVE ME A TRY?

 Compilation of all 17th Edition Certification.
 General typing and secretarial services.
 Book-keeping and invoicing.
 CIS compliance paperwork.
 Administration.
 Marketing.
 Business Development.

 14 years experience in the electrical industry at
managerial and director level.

 Will work on an ad-hoc basis as and when you need
me, or provide you with a regular time commitment
to suit the needs of your business.

 Happy to work remotely from my office, or from your
premises if you prefer.

I have just finished an estimate for a rewire local to me that I went to look at yesterday. The customer had another electrician in to supply a certificate on this property! As you can see they did the right thing and did not test the property and did a report as to why the house could not be tested, as after inspection it is obvious why!

As you can see from the picture I took this house is in need of a rewire. The whole house is wired in the old type rubber cables except for a couple of circuits that had been added a while ago.

One of our jobs this week was a little out of our normal area and when we got to the job there were extras! Of course much the norm for most of us I guess! Unfortunately we did not have the parts on the van. Luckily there was a business park just down the road so we shot down there and found there was an electrical wholesaler called Wilts electrical.

After our visit we have decided to open an account with them and start using them. I was very much impressed with this company. To be honest we met them at the elex show last year and like most they went to the back of my mind, not any more!

It has been a long week for my business partner Larry from Bluechip Electrics & alarms, Electrician in Gillingham. He started the 17th edition update course last Thursday on a four day course and exam. Although Larry is what I would call “ in his experienced years! “ he sailed through, Congratulations Larry!

If you want to find out more about becoming an electrician in the uk or more information on the 17th edition exam and training courses please visit our training courses section here

This week I have been really busy, everything from a consumer unit change to a 1st fix in a bathroom. I do sometimes wonder why people call us electricians in to do a job then try to tell me that a mirror non IP rated with lights in it can be fitted in zone one just above the bath! Because the shop that sold it to them said it could! When I told them that it could not I can't remember how many times they asked me “ am I sure? “. When I said to them I will not be starting the works nor giving a certificate for it, they then decided to change where they wanted it.

Today (2nd December 2009) Larry and I both had the day off the tools and spent the day at our nearest Elex 2009 electrician’s trade show / exhibition.

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This week we went to a job where the customer wanted a new consumer unit and a new garage supply as the original garage supply had been wired in 2.5mm twin and earth internal cable, clipped to the outside brickwork of the house!

Quick, simple, easy job? Maybe, maybe not. See the picture I took.

Without boring you with the in’s and out’s of how we found this fault or how long it took ( 4 hours ) ! We found this piece of ring main cable that was badly burnt and damaged in a wall. It had obviously been drilled into.