Domestic repair by a contractor (1)

[SUNRAY]

The chain of events leading up to this was sometime last year a contractor was removing a leylandii and hacked through what he thought was a root, the spark and loss of ring final in the house indicated otherwise. His company called in an electrician to repair the damage.
There had been fairly regular undiagnosed trippings since. It would generally not reset straightaway but would by the time landlords electrician turned up, usually the following day, This time it tripped on Saturday and would not reset this morning when the tenant returned home from a weekend away. Landlords electrician not available, I was asked to attend as a 2nd set of hands and eyes.

IR tester showed 0Ω cheap MM showed ~40KΩ N-E on the ring B32 RCBO. Breaking down the 7/0.029" ring found the 3/0.029" (IIRC ~1.2mm²) spur was to blame... buried direct in the ground, in the garage at the end of the garden is a CU with two B16A and one B6A RCBO. Immediate fix was to disconnect the spur to restore immaculate readings and power to the ring. Landlord also asked if we could remove the cable to prevent it being reconnected. It is surprisingly easy to rip around 25m of cable out of the ground when buried only a 2-3 inches down.

We found the repair: Through crimps and black PVC tape. It went in the scrap bag, I've asked for a pic if he thinks about it.

 

[SUNRAY]

Double post merged, thanks for thanks for looking after us Mods.

 

[plugwash]

I wonder in cases like this, on the one hand the wiring was dodgy and needed removing. On the other hand, (assuming the wiring was not put in place by the current occupant) it seems like removing power to the garage is a reduction in amenity of the property.

Glad I'm not a tennant anymore.

 

[ericmark]

I remember running out of epoxy resin cable joints, this was Falklands, so not a case of going to local wholesale outlet, they were ordered from UK, but looking at a month or two before they arrived. So the boss said OK repair with Denso tape but log every repair, and when the joints arrive, we will redo the repairs.

This is what happened and now jumping ahead some 3 years after this event, new boss looking at power usage, 4 x 250 kVA generators, and using around 500 kVA, most of the load had been removed, so I told new boss what had happened, seemed likely one joint missed, but where?

Lucky that night it snowed, just a light covering, except for a circle of dry ground. And we found the joint. However, none of us had expected a Denso tape joint to last that long underground.

Very likely it was the leylandii event, but to prove it was that is hard. Also, it may have been a temporary repair, if you found a cable only buried 2–3 inches down, you would likely say this is not good it needs ripping out and burying deeper, I'll do a temporary repair, but we need to return and do this.

In my younger days, I have done just this, but after finding how often I did not return, I stopped doing temporary repairs, but can see how young electricians could do this expecting to return. Clearly no one fills in a minor works saying I have done a botch I need to return, this is why I feel lack of paperwork points to substandard work.

 

[morqthana]

I'm sure I read somewhere that there's nothing so permanent as a temporary job.

 

[SUNRAY]

I wonder in cases like this, on the one hand the wiring was dodgy and needed removing. On the other hand, (assuming the wiring was not put in place by the current occupant) it seems like removing power to the garage is a reduction in amenity of the property.

Glad I'm not a tennant anymore.

I don't think that's the intention, discussions were had about replacement direct from CU, but he wanted the problem out straightaway to avoid instant problems.

 

[SUNRAY]

I remember running out of epoxy resin cable joints, this was Falklands, so not a case of going to local wholesale outlet, they were ordered from UK, but looking at a month or two before they arrived. So the boss said OK repair with Denso tape but log every repair, and when the joints arrive, we will redo the repairs.

This is what happened and now jumping ahead some 3 years after this event, new boss looking at power usage, 4 x 250 kVA generators, and using around 500 kVA, most of the load had been removed, so I told new boss what had happened, seemed likely one joint missed, but where?

Lucky that night it snowed, just a light covering, except for a circle of dry ground. And we found the joint. However, none of us had expected a Denso tape joint to last that long underground.

Very likely it was the leylandii event, but to prove it was that is hard. Also, it may have been a temporary repair, if you found a cable only buried 2–3 inches down, you would likely say this is not good it needs ripping out and burying deeper, I'll do a temporary repair, but we need to return and do this.

In my younger days, I have done just this, but after finding how often I did not return, I stopped doing temporary repairs, but can see how young electricians could do this expecting to return. Clearly no one fills in a minor works saying I have done a botch I need to return, this is why I feel lack of paperwork points to substandard work.

By the sound of it the damaged cable and repair was no secret or thought to be temporary.

I get to do a lot of temporary work, sometimes just for a public event for a day, sometimes for building works etc. so yes sometimes taped joints but I wouldn't do a repair such as that in OP unless service critical and an appointment to return.

 

[SUNRAY]

Update, the company went in this morning to dig a trench and install a 10mm² SWA direct from the CU. Originally quoted for a 4mm² but discussion with landlord regarding future EV charger followed.

 

[securespark]

It's amazing how rubbish the repairs are by these cowboys.

And how temporary repairs seem to end up becoming permanent ones.

My Mum had an outside lighting circuit that kept popping a B6 Wylex. There was a joint similar to the one you described under her patio, so I replaced it with a wiska box fill of magic gel. Never another moment's grief.

 

[Ragnar_AT]

Frankly, in this case the repair wasn‘t that much worse than the original installation.

 

[chivers67]

Disagree the repair was much worse, the install may have been done by a DIY'er! The company that did the repair & sent by the Landlord clearly aren't a great outfit. Crimps and tape outside

 

[crystal ball]

I got called to a fault on a garage supply, cavity wall insulation crew had drilled through T&E buried under the render, they called "sparky" and he repaired it with choc blocks, tape and a dollop of silicone, ran new supply in SWA to fix

 

[SUNRAY]

Disagree the repair was much worse, the install may have been done by a DIY'er! The company that did the repair & sent by the Landlord clearly aren't a great outfit. Crimps and tape outside

That's a good point and from the age of the cable it could very well have been a previous owners DIY installation, albeit with fairly modern CUs.
As I understand it from the tenant; the repairer was called in by the tree feller (this one is quite switched on but they don't always know). I'm not sure if that make it better or worse but either way is was grade 1 s***e.