Botched dental surgery installation pics

[Nickthedentist]

My boss has just had an "amalgam separator" installed at work - a motorised device for sifting out potentially toxic metals from our waste water before it goes into the drains.

The installation was carried out by a well-known dental equipment supplier, and the total cost was well over £1000.

I think the quality of the electrical work is an absolute f*****g joke

The "electrician" took power from a nearby piece of equipment by "piggybacking" bare blue and brown wires (stripped from 3-core 1.0mm round flex) into its 13A plug. These 2 wires then ran, unsupported, to an enclosed, 100VA step-down/isolating transformer. There was no strain relief where they entered the transformer enclosure, and the transformer's primary fuse was wired into the neutral wire rather than the live.

I told him that this was unsatisfactory, not least because the nurses will have to push their hands past these wires when cleaning the filters. He then said he didn't have any other wire, so I dug him out a secondhand length of 0.75mm 3182Y and suggested he fit that instead - he then spliced that onto the existing blue/brown wires with a "chocbloc" wrapped in insulating tape (also borrowed from the practice)

He demonstrated the equipment to me, and showed me where water would be expelled if the filter became blocked - right above the transfomer When I asked him about this, he said it was "waterproof" - even though it clearly says "IP20" on the side

There was no PAT (or other electrical) testing carried out.

My question is... What qualifications should this guy have had for this kind of work? And who should we consider reporting this to?

 

[andy]

depends on your countries regulations. you might wanna check them as most people here are from england and know english rules/regs

altho what he has done sounds like a right bodge and should be corrected. PAT may or may not be required, but it probably should have been done. get him back and tell him it needs done properly

 

[Nickthedentist]

depends on your countries regulations.

Sorry, Andy, I'm from Oxford in the UK. I just wanted to see what the Khazakstan flag looked like

 

[andy]

depends on your countries regulations.

Sorry, Andy, I'm from Oxford in the UK. I just wanted to see what the Khazakstan flag looked like

lol.
go back to the company and demand it be de-done. piggybacking from another equipment plug is plain stupidity. when you said 'stripped from 3core 1mm' do you mean there was just the 2 cores? this is dangerous. all cables must be either double insulated or earthed. this is neither. and im guessing the plug fuse was rated 13A? should have been 3A for 100va. choc block shouldnt really have been used. did he join this to cable oing into the plug?

if he think IP20 is waterproof then there is something wrong...

it should be PAT tested

since its not 'fixed' equipment, it doesnt need an electrical installation cert.

contact trading standards. take some pics aswell for future reference. did he claim to be a sparky or anything? complain to the company (altho if its just him and a few other i doubt much would happen)

 

[Nickthedentist]

Thanks Andy, pictures to follow, tomorrow if I've got time.

Yes, the wires were originally just individual blue and brown, single-insulated lengths. And they were routed right next to the metal hinges of the cupboard that the unit's installed in.

Your're right, the plug fuse was left at 13A (as required by the equipment that the plug belonged to). There was a correctly-rated fuse in the transformer enclosure, but this does not protect the supply cable, of course.

No, it's not just him. As I said, it was ordered from a big company. I think he's just a subcontractor. He made a huge fuss when we wrote "not checked" on the jobsheet by the signature, telling us that he wouldn't get paid etc. etc. I felt sorry for him, but that's not the point.

He made no claim to be a qualified electrician, but I was under the impression that you have to have some appropriate qualifications to do this kind of thing as a profession nowadays. And even an unqualified amateur could have done a FAR better job than this.

 

[andy]

not much qualification needed to put a plug on something....

complain to the company about the standard of work done. if you do a shit job then dont expect to get paid. if he was doin all the fittin himself, then chances are he isnt a sparky (but he still could be)

 

[Nickthedentist]

not much qualification needed to put a plug on something....

...even if you're charging for your services, even if the equipment's in a workplace to which members of the public have access?

 

[andy]

not much qualification needed to put a plug on something....

...even if you're charging for your services, even if the equipment's in a workplace to which members of the public have access?

competent, not qualified. altho i wouldnt class him as remotly competent as he has shown a lack of understanding of how to wire a flex into a plug

 

[Nickthedentist]

i wouldnt class him as remotly competent as he has shown a lack of understanding of how to wire a flex into a plug

Yep, I was more competant with wiring up plugs when I was at primary school

 

[Steve]

andy, im appalled by your use of bbcode to get round the swear filter!

 

[andy]

andy, im appalled by your use of bbcode to get round the swear filter!

shouldnt be a filter. everyone has already herd of ****, ****, **** etc etc before

just odd arsehole who think there offensive and spoils it for everyone

 

[Nickthedentist]

shouldnt be a filter. everyone has already herd of ****, s**t, p**s etc etc before

just odd a******e who think there offensive and spoils it for everyone

Yes, this forum's not really aimed at little kiddies

 

[andy]

shouldnt be a filter. everyone has already herd of ****, s**t, p**s etc etc before

just odd a******e who think there offensive and spoils it for everyone

Yes, this forum's not really aimed at little kiddies

i would hope we done have any 5 year olds coming here to find out how to wire a CU etc...

 

[Nickthedentist]

Here are some pics. Any comments?

(1) The only cable he had was 3 x 1.25mm round flex, which wouldn't fit through the grommet on the main suction motor. So he originally ran two bare (i.e. blue and brown) wires stripped from a length of this from the suction motor to the amalgam separator's transformer. When I complained and (in desparation) gave him a length of oval 2 x 0.75mm flex to use instead, he just joined it on using a PVC terminal block + insulating tape.

(2)The mains input to the transformer is backwards, i.e. fuse in neutral pole. And the cord grip doesn't grip.

(3)In the other surgery, he was too lazy to buy a new 13A plug, so just ran another lead into an existing one. Note the bare blue/brown wires, plus copious amounts of insulating tape.

(4)The tank overflow just dangles down into the cupboard, pointing directly at the transformer, which he claims is "waterproof".

(5)The transformers are clearly IP20 rated, i.e. NOT waterproof in the slightest.

What a ****!

 

[andy]

pics dont work

go here