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Confessions of an Electrician...

Lisa Miles

So while we’ve not been able to log into the community (you can do so now if you didn’t already know) I’ve been keeping myself out of mischief Blush by going through some of the discussion topics on the old Wiring Regs forum and came across this one: Walking off site where some of you were sharing stories about your experiences with client's pets while on the job. 


So I thought it would be a bit of fun to ask you to share some of your funny/bizarre or just weird stories (keeping it relatively clean and protecting the privacy of others please!) from any jobs you’ve been on or done.


… And I’ll send some swag to the author of the story that gets voted the ‘Most helpful/liked’ from the community so don't forget to hit that 'Good Answer' link on any that make you chuckle! (Log in required)



  • Unless current passes through the  water, or like the South American shower  here    (calling it a suicide shower is not fair, they are very safe, just do not look it) , the element puts mains voltage in contact with the water , no issue - and no UK immersion heater ever does that - there would be a very interesting question of an accidental NE bond with that sort of device.

    I'd not consider single pole switching for a water heater to be an issue worth confessing to personally.

  • Lisa Miles:




    Denis McMahon:
    Two way switched immersion heater


     



    Hi Denis, I think you meant to post this as a separate topic and not as a reply in the Confessions of an Electrician thread?

     




     

    I did think, Lisa, that this was an appropriate place. It is a story about an unusual installation and an electrician who questioned whether it complied with Regulations. However, if you are not happy with it here, then by all means switch this story line to another thread. I note there have already been two well-reasoned replies.

  • Denis McMahon:




    Lisa Miles:




    Denis McMahon:
    Two way switched immersion heater


     



    Hi Denis, I think you meant to post this as a separate topic and not as a reply in the Confessions of an Electrician thread?

     




     

    I did think, Lisa, that this was an appropriate place. It is a story about an unusual installation and an electrician who questioned whether it complied with Regulations. However, if you are not happy with it here, then by all means switch this story line to another thread. I note there have already been two well-reasoned replies.

     




    I agree with Lisa... sorry.


  • Denis McMahon:


    I did think, Lisa, that this was an appropriate place. It is a story about an unusual installation and an electrician who questioned whether it complied with Regulations. However, if you are not happy with it here, then by all means switch this story line to another thread. I note there have already been two well-reasoned replies.



    Hi Denis


    Okay, it's just that it reads like an entirely separate question that you're asking the community to respond to with the consequence that it will now take the original thread 'off-topic'. 


    I'll have to leave it where it is as the limitations of this software do not enable me to extract individual replies to an existing thread and elevate them to Topic status.  ?


  • Personally I have no 'racy underwear' type stories to admit, having worked mostly in the world of Universities and then the nearer industrial world of the R and D facility, where such things are rarer,  so my anecdotes tend to be technical - and in that sense to me Denis's technical post of fitting something that may become a "gotcha" moment for the next man in seemed in the right place.


    Here is another one, as seen from the other side.

    Beware of any unlabelled breaker facing the wrong way in the panel, so it is normally off. Especially if the other end goes outside,

    and underground

    And comes up to another  similar 3ph. breaker, also looking like an outbound circuit,

    in another board

    in another hanger, 

    marked something like 'em pwr feed bldg 172'.

    Of course when you put both on,  supplies are then in parallel, which is simply bad,  but when the phase sequence has been rotated between  the two buildings to improve the phase balance the next event is impressive and the badness score rises from 'simply' to 'really'.  "Goodness me some one was  a jolly careless fellow who put that in" or words to that effect come to mind. No record of who or how any such cable may have got there of course...
  • Hmmmm Mapj1, that`s a point or three up from "I blew a hole in my side-cutters!" LOL


    PS - I can see an either way ref topic place
  • Well I reckon that Denis was getting something off his chest, which sounds like a confession to me. ?

  • Alasdair Anderson:

    What about regulation 554.3.3, though to be fair I don't know how long that has been in place, so it may not have been there in 1980. Also this is applicable to "Water heaters having immersed and uninsulated heating elements" so if the heating elements are insulated only 554.2.1 applies.

    Alasdair




     

    Thanks, Alasdair. We are talking about insulated elements here. For the benefit of those of us that do not have ready access to the Wiring Regulations, could you quote the text of 554.2.1 please? As you say, this may not have been there in the Regulations current at 1980.

  • mapj1:

    Unless current passes through the  water, or like the South American shower  here    (calling it a suicide shower is not fair, they are very safe, just do not look it) , the element puts mains voltage in contact with the water , no issue - and no UK immersion heater ever does that - there would be a very interesting question of an accidental NE bond with that sort of device.

    I'd not consider single pole switching for a water heater to be an issue worth confessing to personally.




     

    Thanks, Mike. No way would I use or recommend one of these.

  • Denis McMahon:


    Thanks, Alasdair.......could you quote the text of 554.2.1 please?


    Denis,

    All it says is:
    554.2.1 Every heater for liquid or other substance shall incorporate or be provided with an automatic device to prevent a dangerous rise in temperature.

    As you can see there is nothing about electrical protection or isolation.

    Alasdair

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