Electrician Expert Statement - Recessed light Transformers

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28 Oct 2014
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London
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United Kingdom
Situation:
• As part of renovation, I did complete rewire and new fittings (Completed june 2013).
• In February 2014 I had a spotlights transformer fail. The independent electrician said that was because a cheaper transformer had been used and I would most likely start to see other transformers fail.
• As a result, and because I had experienced other electrical issues I withheld £400. The contractor lodged claim in small claims court.
• Since then I have had 3 other transformers fail.
• On 28 October I went to court. The Judge adjourned giving me 2 weeks as I didn't lodged a witness statement, and judge said she required a Expert Statement.
• When I asked the independent electrician if he would provide a Expert Statement. He got scared. I think is because he was foreign and his qualifications were questionable.
• I didn't pay was because of what he said, other problems I experienced, and as I have seen issues of poor transformers in a newly wired flat I rented.

I need a Expert statement outlining experience/qualifications, and that they have noticed that cheaper transformers despite meeting standards tend to fail more easily than a slightly more expensive version.

Please help.
 
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Transformer used was Avenue 60VA Dimmable Transformer. Each recessed spotlight (20 in the house - 6 kitchen, 6 in living room, 4 hallway, 4 bathroom) has its own transformer. The ones that failed aren't controlled by a dimmer switch.

I have been told that transformers are like light bulbs, they burn out with use. From my experience like light bulbs if you pay for better quality one it has longer life expectancy.

I have experienced this twice, the first time in rented flat when rewire was done and owner bought cheapest transformers he could find. Electrician then said is you spend little bit more it could have been avoided. And now again.

Really hoping that there are electricians on this forum that have observed this when going about their work. Please help, really worried about going back to court without a statement from an electrician.
 
As you are contesting an "electronic transformer" which is an electronic switched mode power supply ( SMPS ) you need an electronics engineer to examine the devices and give an informed opinion about the quality of design, quality of assembly and quality of components used.

Properly designed and built an SMPS will have a very long life span, for example the SMPS units on the Voyager space probes have been working for over 36 years in the hostile environment of space travel. ( a lot of effort was put into making those reliable )

As said in other thread(s) there are many factors which affect the life span of an SMPS designed to be manufactured and sold to the general public at a price that the average member of the public will accept while still generating a profit for the manufacturer, wholesaler and the retailer and in many cases the installer.
 
You're contesting £400.
An expert witness statement could cost you that several times over.
Think how much a solicitor charges per minute.
An expert witness will need to be equally highly qualified to carry any weight.
Perhaps you expected a cheap job to the highest possible specification.
 
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It is a matter of principal. I paid a lot of money for a professional job. The light fittings and transformers were a provisional item in the contract, so should have been agreed.

It is small claims court, so the statemnet doesn't have to conform with more expensive reports. It just has to be from someone qualified who based on his experience will give a qualified opinion.
 
Situation:
• As part of renovation, I did complete rewire and new fittings (Completed june 2013).
• In February 2014 I had a spotlights transformer fail. The independent electrician said that was because a cheaper transformer had been used and I would most likely start to see other transformers fail.
• As a result, and because I had experienced other electrical issues I withheld £400. The contractor lodged claim in small claims court.
• Since then I have had 3 other transformers fail.
• On 28 October I went to court. The Judge adjourned giving me 2 weeks as I didn't lodged a witness statement, and judge said she required a Expert Statement.
• When I asked the independent electrician if he would provide a Expert Statement. He got scared. I think is because he was foreign and his qualifications were questionable.
• I didn't pay was because of what he said, other problems I experienced, and as I have seen issues of poor transformers in a newly wired flat I rented.

I need a Expert statement outlining experience/qualifications, and that they have noticed that cheaper transformers despite meeting standards tend to fail more easily than a slightly more expensive version.
You didn't tell us any of this here, did you?

What did you hope to gain by leaving out some very important context?

Why have you started another thread?


Please help.
How?

You need a proper, formal expert opinion for the court, not a collection of opinions from an internet forum. The court will take no notice of anything anybody says here, and you are already on the back foot because you had no legal right to withhold payment to the electrician.

Just go and find an electrician prepared to give you an expert opinion to use and whose qualifications the court will accept. This forum is not a substitute for that.

It's no substitute for proper legal advice either, so feel free to disregard this:

IMO you have no chance of success.
 
I am not trying to use this forum as a substitute.
- My initial posting (thread) a couple of days ago was to confirm what I had been told by the electrician that cheap transformers will fail far quicker, before he came last night where I asked him to put what he was saying on an e-mail.

- This posting is to see if there are any electricians that use this forum, that can confirm they have experienced similar issues over there years of experience. I could then hopefully contact them directly and ask them to e-mail me a statement, which i would be quite happy paying for.

In terms of the electrician who pushed me to withhold the money and came around last night to replace another failed transformer.
-I believe was Bulgarian
- when replacing the first transformer in Feb he said it failed due to it being cheap
- it was this basis and the fact that I had other issues with the contractors electrician that I withheld the £400
- when he came around last night he stuck by what he said, but he refused to put it in writting. Saying he didn't know who the other party was and may impact his work, didn't want to go to court.

Maybe I was a bit harsh saying that was because he was foriegn, and I guess I can understand where he is coming from.

Anyway was hoping on this forum there is an electrician with experience that would be prepared to write something.
 
complete rewire and new fittings (Completed june 2013)...... • In February 2014 I had a spotlights transformer fail...... I withheld £400.

How did you manage to withhold £400 if they didn't fail until 8 months after the job was completed? I think there must be more to this story. Did the original electrician not offer to replace the transformers under warranty?
 
In the JCT standard building contract is a 6 month retention period for defective work, and items that come up during the work settling. This problem came up at the end of that period.
 
difference for the 6 month to 8 months is it took them a while to carry out other required work.
 
Did the brand of transformers the electrician installed differ from the brand which you specified?
 

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