Brand choice

Hi,

Thanks for your answers.

I had hoped for a few more and differing views.

Just like we all have our own little quirks of the ways things should be done - example, doubling or twisting conductors, stripping T & E using the cpc as a draw wire etc etcthe I think we all have our preferences for brands based sometimes on folklore and a dash of our personal experience.

Of course our differing ages and therefore experiences may play a part in that.

I guess we all have our favourites and indeed misconceptions too.

I guess our peers our areas of location and the age we were brought up in plays a part.


My take is (a lot of you will have heard this before).


My working life started in 1971 (I`m 65 - yes we did even have mains electric back then! LOL).

So here is my list of  " misconceptions" :-


Regarding bog standard housewiring mainly and in our local area.

(note- around here grey T&E was thought of as "proper" and white T&E as "DIY" around here).


MK and Crabtree sockets etc were thought of as the best with MK in front because of the looks.

MK was a slim front with sharper corners whilst Crabtree was a bit chunky.

Personally I prefered Crabtree, their switched sockets were DP switching wheras MK was only SP.

Hats off to MK though with there socket shutter arrangement having an extra safety feature ref plug insertion.

I think that MK were, for years, living on their own name.

Volex was thought of as cheap rubbish and poorly made (in fact their loop in ceiling rose was just a 4 terminal choc block in a housing).

During the 80s I was introduced to Contactum and at first viewed the with suspicion but eventually, after trying a few, I found them quite acceptable (a bit chunky like crabtree but less so) . DP switching on sockets. I found them very reliable.

During the 90s I worked part time for a small wholesaler who sold to both trade & public (with a similar wholesaler nearby with similar items and ethos).

They both sold approx 90% Contactum and 10% MK due to price difference.

Any faulty returns were almost always MK not Contactum.

So I became a convert to Contactum . They suffered a management buy out a few years back and I`m unsure if the quality these days are the same although I still use them for most jobs.

MK brought in their "New Logic" range which looks sexy and indeed has DP switching sockets at last.

Although they still have some quality issues.

Pull switches, whilst MK and Contactum are OK I prefer the Click ones (a positive click which is quite loud when operating it though).

Downside of those is , when I install them I pull on/off 20 times each and find about one in twenty fails - the mechanism locks up! Those that pass my test seem to go on for years though.

Consumer units - well I was brought up on Wylex being numero uno , round terminals, two screws per way, each screw having a little dome on the pointy end helping to anchor the tail or circuit wiring in place. I an "upgrade" their circuit N terminals were changed to only one screw yet their L fuseway terminals remained two screws ? I could not see any logic in that.

I converted to Contactum consumer units and found them OK.

Recent years I have used quite a few BG consumer units and more recently found their new compact RCBOs good for space. Although I have found a few faulty RCBOs once they`ve been in service a few months.

Nowadays most consumer units of most makes I have seen have incomming terminals as two flat plates holding the tails and only one screw each - I hate those cage clamps!

Switched fused connection units, the MK ones I never liked the old outgoing terminals being a captured cup washer designed I think purely for flex. And they had different versions of outlet plat,  depending on whether you needed a hole for the flex or not, on the front of the plate. Contactum had a removeable piece for the flex hole and was at the bottom edge of the front plate which I like.

By the way, this is not an advert for Contactum but just my own choices/misconceptions.

Fluorescent fittings - I found Fitzgerald to be reasonably priced and reasonable quality.

Downlighters - I`ve never been a fan of downlighters housed in the ceiling - Yes they do look very pretty in comparison to pendants/bulkheads and some of the fancy stuff. It comes mainly from the way I`ve seen them installed , too near to joists/cables/pipework and the heat thingy with filament lamps (be it mains and 12V, even the ali reflectors), fluorescent not usually as bad and todays LED definately run cooler so I`m a bit of a Dinosaur, I admit, on downlights. Probably Aurora & JCC I view as the better ones but I especially seek other views on on downlighters.


Right that`s my prejudices and missconceptions out of the way.

I`d like to hear from others, not only those who have similar views but those who disagree with me too.

Life is a learning curve and I need more opinions.


Thanks

Hi,

Thanks for your answers.

I had hoped for a few more and differing views.

Just like we all have our own little quirks of the ways things should be done - example, doubling or twisting conductors, stripping T & E using the cpc as a draw wire etc etcthe I think we all have our preferences for brands based sometimes on folklore and a dash of our personal experience.

Of course our differing ages and therefore experiences may play a part in that.

I guess we all have our favourites and indeed misconceptions too.

I guess our peers our areas of location and the age we were brought up in plays a part.


My take is (a lot of you will have heard this before).


My working life started in 1971 (I`m 65 - yes we did even have mains electric back then! LOL).

So here is my list of  " misconceptions" :-


Regarding bog standard housewiring mainly and in our local area.

(note- around here grey T&E was thought of as "proper" and white T&E as "DIY" around here).


MK and Crabtree sockets etc were thought of as the best with MK in front because of the looks.

MK was a slim front with sharper corners whilst Crabtree was a bit chunky.

Personally I prefered Crabtree, their switched sockets were DP switching wheras MK was only SP.

Hats off to MK though with there socket shutter arrangement having an extra safety feature ref plug insertion.

I think that MK were, for years, living on their own name.

Volex was thought of as cheap rubbish and poorly made (in fact their loop in ceiling rose was just a 4 terminal choc block in a housing).

During the 80s I was introduced to Contactum and at first viewed the with suspicion but eventually, after trying a few, I found them quite acceptable (a bit chunky like crabtree but less so) . DP switching on sockets. I found them very reliable.

During the 90s I worked part time for a small wholesaler who sold to both trade & public (with a similar wholesaler nearby with similar items and ethos).

They both sold approx 90% Contactum and 10% MK due to price difference.

Any faulty returns were almost always MK not Contactum.

So I became a convert to Contactum . They suffered a management buy out a few years back and I`m unsure if the quality these days are the same although I still use them for most jobs.

MK brought in their "New Logic" range which looks sexy and indeed has DP switching sockets at last.

Although they still have some quality issues.

Pull switches, whilst MK and Contactum are OK I prefer the Click ones (a positive click which is quite loud when operating it though).

Downside of those is , when I install them I pull on/off 20 times each and find about one in twenty fails - the mechanism locks up! Those that pass my test seem to go on for years though.

Consumer units - well I was brought up on Wylex being numero uno , round terminals, two screws per way, each screw having a little dome on the pointy end helping to anchor the tail or circuit wiring in place. I an "upgrade" their circuit N terminals were changed to only one screw yet their L fuseway terminals remained two screws ? I could not see any logic in that.

I converted to Contactum consumer units and found them OK.

Recent years I have used quite a few BG consumer units and more recently found their new compact RCBOs good for space. Although I have found a few faulty RCBOs once they`ve been in service a few months.

Nowadays most consumer units of most makes I have seen have incomming terminals as two flat plates holding the tails and only one screw each - I hate those cage clamps!

Switched fused connection units, the MK ones I never liked the old outgoing terminals being a captured cup washer designed I think purely for flex. And they had different versions of outlet plat,  depending on whether you needed a hole for the flex or not, on the front of the plate. Contactum had a removeable piece for the flex hole and was at the bottom edge of the front plate which I like.

By the way, this is not an advert for Contactum but just my own choices/misconceptions.

Fluorescent fittings - I found Fitzgerald to be reasonably priced and reasonable quality.

Downlighters - I`ve never been a fan of downlighters housed in the ceiling - Yes they do look very pretty in comparison to pendants/bulkheads and some of the fancy stuff. It comes mainly from the way I`ve seen them installed , too near to joists/cables/pipework and the heat thingy with filament lamps (be it mains and 12V, even the ali reflectors), fluorescent not usually as bad and todays LED definately run cooler so I`m a bit of a Dinosaur, I admit, on downlights. Probably Aurora & JCC I view as the better ones but I especially seek other views on on downlighters.


Right that`s my prejudices and missconceptions out of the way.

I`d like to hear from others, not only those who have similar views but those who disagree with me too.

Life is a learning curve and I need more opinions.


Thanks