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Does anyone have experience of intermittent faults that trip an RCD, that are caused by influences external to the house? I have an elderly couple who had a new consumer unit fitted about 2 years ago (not by me - needless to say no cert although it does appear to have been installed more or...

Hmm, Just browsing ebay and came across this gem. Surely we can just all plug these in and solve all our energy problems overnight.... :lol: If you aren't convinced, try reading the manual from the download link and you'll be ordering one right away!

Hi, Spent most of today fitting some new sockets in what will be a small kitchen and struggling to persuade at least some of the existing plaster to remain on the wall! :x Adding a new circuit to an existing MK fuseboard which provides power to existing sockets, lights and doorbell and...

Testing a newly installed Crabtree RCD today, and it passed all tests except the 5x at 0 Deg (12ms at 180DEG). It did trip at 0 Deg, but not within 40ms. (it is performing supplementary protection so test is required) Apart from a duff RCD, am I missing anything obvious that could also...

Whilst adding a small CU to a job today (to stop the garden lighting tripping the whole house) I ran into an issue with testing the rcd. The Ze of the house (TT installation - quite a lot of them round here) was rather high at 200 Ohm but since the main CU had a 30ma main incomer could be...

Anyone seen one of these before? Its in the kitchen of a house I'm quoting on. If you can't tell from the picture, its a standard fluorescent fitting which is then plugged into the bayonet light fitting. My initial thought was that it would no longer comply as I understood plug in...

I recently investigated a malfunctioning downlighter. Replacement bulb didn't work and meter only showed 7.5V across the terminals so I pulled the transformer down through the ceiling and found this on the connection from transformer to light fitting. Any of you experts spot the...

Just trying to sign off a nightmare job, and one or two little quibbles are still being raised by the owner. One is that on occasions the mcb trips when switching lights off at the switch. Since I have not been there they are not too clear but it would appear that at the same time a bulb...

something a few of you might be interested in... I was watching the original Part P tv advert on the NICEIC site earlier (yes I know, I was bored and should get out more :D ) when I ended up at the following link: http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1509043 which lets you...

Today's conundrum, Supply is TT, new 100ma time delayed RCD, then split via henley blocks to two CU in the kitchen, and one in the garage/office. The two kitchen CU have their main earth in the MET along with the cable to the earth rod. The cable to the garage DB has its earth terminated in...

another day, another query... Obviously Cooker control units are the norm, but is a 2.7kw cooker running from a 32A radial with cooker plugged into a double socket compliant? I've checked the regs but can't find anything that rules it out. Reg 476-03-04 says means of isolation must be...

Found this one today: The pic isn't great but the installer earthed the swa that runs down the garden to a greenhouse by taking about 1/4 of the armour, twisted and insulated, to the earth terminal. He also covered it in black insulation tape, probably to hide the evidence :roll: ...

I know how much you all like piccies, so here's the cable that was running a client's entire lighting circuit until a few weeks ago....:shock: The outer insulation was totally stiff so the slightest movement and it cracked completely through to bare core. Feel free anyone who wants to use...

Had to disconnect some garden lights recently and finally got round to taking the lights off the gate posts today, only to be showered with woodlice from inside the light, and the hole in the gatepost through which the white pvc solid core cable is run. The cable has a complete N-E short...

Tracking down and removing some nasty old wiring today under floorboards, and in a large junction box discovered several cores twisted together and secured with what I believe are called 'wire-nuts' in the States, or twist-on wire connectors. These were made of moulded ceramic, with internal...

Just wonder if anyone has any experience to offer... Will be replacing some American PIR lanterns shortly for a client. Previously, when I asked my local electrical supplier for pir lanterns he said he didn't stock them because he found they failed regularly and came back, though he was happy...

I know you all like pics so thought I would share this. Can I claim the prize for least accessible switch of the year? Currently trying to sort out a 50s bungalow thats been messed around with over the years and is in a right old state. I initially was puzzled by a circuit still...

Hi, Can anyone advise on how they would work out total demand including diversity in a situation with economy 7 storage heaters? Working out the maximum demand on the main circuits gives me about 63A, which works out ok (the main house fuse is a 60A - the main CU has 100A isolation...

Thought I'd run this one past you knowledgable lot... A client that I do website and database stuff for asked me a question about his wiring that I didn't know the answer to. He has extended an existing dimmer switch with a simple 2 core and earth to relocate the dimmer. All is wired...

In the process of rewiring my father's house, I needed to check the house fuse for the certificate. Having found the cover loose and falling off in my hand (honest guv) I found it was a 60A fuse in a ceramic holder. 3 questions follow from that. 1) in practise, how easy is it to get the...