And they call themselves electricians...

[johnny2007]

Helping a friend redecorating his gaff, former council property built 1986 and occupied by my friend from new.
Original light fitting on upstairs landing kept on burning bulbs from day 1.
Disturbing this fitting to mask it made the rcd trip.
So yesterday my friend asked me to have a look and secure the base of the fitting which was held only by one screw.
Being a metal light fitting I switched the circuit off at the consumer unit and found what you see in the pictures (sorry, not the best but you get the idea)
Bare live wires touching other wires and the fitting and worse of all, connections made with metal connectors dipped into hot glue
Of course only an inch of the wire peeks through the massive hole in the ceiling (for easy installation???)
Was this ok in the '80s???
Above that there's the unused loft,
accessible by the hatch just there.
Shocking!

 

[HERTS P&D]

That's unbelievable!!

Andy

 

[aptsys]

Looks like terminal blocks that have melted rather than hot glue

 

[crystal ball]

Quite unusual to see that type of fitting in a council house from new, plain pendant was always the norm, are you sure it had not been swapped at some time?

 

[Diver Fred]

Must be an '80's thing - A property I've had the first floor lights wiring was like guitar strings between the ceiling fittings! when I replaced the bathroom light I had to extend the cables in the loft to actually gain enough to wire the new light in place.

 

[johnny2007]

Looks like terminal blocks that have melted rather than hot glue

I didn't think of that, you're probably right.

Quite unusual to see that type of fitting in a council house from new, plain pendant was always the norm, are you sure it had not been swapped at some time?

No, that fitting was there from the start.
Must be one of those jobs that they fitted whatever they could get their hands on.
Downstairs stairwell light has a standard ceiling rose with plain pendant, although now yellow in colour, still working.
An electrician is going there today again to check all switches, lights and sockets.
This is what he did yesterday...

 

[333rocky333]

More likely caused by the wrong lamps fitted, that style fitting was ideally rated at maximum 2 x 40w lamps

 

[securespark]

An old dear I kept getting call-outs back to insisted on fitting a 200W GLS lamp in a 100W lamp holder, despite me explaining. I gave up and fitted a 6 foot flu in the end.

She was thrilled!

 

[SUNRAY]

An old dear I kept getting call-outs back to insisted on fitting a 200W GLS lamp in a 100W lamp holder, despite me explaining. I gave up and fitted a 6 foot flu in the end.

She was thrilled!

When i was little an aunty always had a 200W GLS in a glass shade with no ventilation above the bulb one day the bulb and shade shattered, depositing boiling hot shards of glass on the plastic clothed table, not only did it melt the table cloth, it also burnt the polished wodden table.
It happened when there was no one in the room and my uncle walked into the room, in the dark, with no shoes on

 

[securespark]

Yikes!

 

[SUNRAY]

Yikes!

He said something similar... I'm sure he must have done.

 

[securespark]

 

[SUNRAY]

I was at work one day and a 4ft flou tube explosed about six feet from me, it was way back around the time of all the bomb attacks and we were on full alert for such things

 

[securespark]

Wow ..were you wearing explosion-proof grundies?

 

[SUNRAY]

Wow ..were you wearing explosion-proof grundies?

I think there may have been an explosion there too

That was the only fluo tube I've known go but stage lights often used to shatter, not so much in more recent times though.