Neutral - Earth voltage

[JohnW2]

Later that night, I measured the voltage at the new socket. I got between 141-142V L-N & L-E and zero N-E. I took 3 or 4 readings and each time got the above readings. I repeated it 10 minutes later and got 143 V and again, zero N-E. ... I've used the socket a few times since then (wouldn't use it until I'd tested) without incident so I'm confident everything is OK.

Are those figures all typos (i.e 100V less than they ought to be)? If not, I'm confused - since 141V - 143V is somewhat on the low side .

... and I'm sorry to hear about your experiences with the electrician, but glad that you more-or-less won in the end! He sounds like a close relative of some tradesmen I have encountered in my time

Kind Regards, John

 

[Bob556]

Yes, you're right JohnW2, a typo, actual voltage was 100V higher. I've corrected my earlier post so that no-one else gets confused.

As for the electrician... well you get them in all walks of life.

The annoying thing is that I could have done the work myself (and ended up doing the hardest bit) but I was busy at work and didn't want to be struggling with my hand so chose to get a 'professional' in. I ended up juggling work to make time to fix it (didn't want to leave it any longer with a fault) and struggling with the tiny screws and my gammy hand. Still, all done now, I've never come across a N-E voltage before so I learned something (trying to find a positive out of it all lol)

Oh, another thing I learned? Not to trust recommendations from the person who recommended him. In fact, not to trust recommendations from anyone I don't know at least as well as my wife, it never works out. So, that's 2 learning outcomes, nearly made it all worthwhile lol.

 

[JohnW2]

Yes, you're right JohnW2, a typo, actual voltage was 100V higher. I've corrected my earlier post so that no-one else gets confused.

Thanks for confirming!

As for the electrician... well you get them in all walks of life.

Very true - and I seem to have encountered at least my fair share in the past.

The annoying thing is that I could have done the work myself (and ended up doing the hardest bit) but I was busy at work and didn't want to be struggling with my hand so chose to get a 'professional' in. I ended up juggling work to make time to fix it (didn't want to leave it any longer with a fault) and struggling with the tiny screws and my gammy hand. Still, all done now, I've never come across a N-E voltage before so I learned something (trying to find a positive out of it all lol)

Yes, it must have been very frustrating

Oh, another thing I learned? Not to trust recommendations from the person who recommended him. In fact, not to trust recommendations from anyone I don't know at least as well as my wife, it never works out. So, that's 2 learning outcomes, nearly made it all worthwhile lol.

It's a big problem. When people ask in places like this about how to 'choose' an electrician (or any other type of tradesman), they are usually told that the best method is 'personal recommendation'. The problem with that is that the vast majority of the general public do not have the knowledge to make any real assessment of the technical competence, quality (even safety) of work etc.- so their recommendation has to relate primarily to such things and 'pleasantness', tidiness/cleanliness, punctuality etc. Mind you, in your case, he might well have failed on most such counts!

However, if personal recommendations cannot really tell one anything much about technical competence etc, then what on earth other ways of choosing are there?

I suppose a little of a 'saving grace' is the fact that the majority of tradesmen (which includes women ) are pleasant, decent and competent (as well as tidy/punctual etc.), so if one just trusts to luck, one is quite likely (but not guaranteed) to fall on one's feet!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ebee]

Yes to all the above. Plus, just be aware that recommendations are often based somewhat heavily on price and less on other aspects. Yes we all compare prices of things in everyday life. Example I asked about a recommendation for a particular type of holiday insurance, a few answers came back about "XXX seems quite good" but when I enquired why I discovered they were based on price of the insurance rather than the actual results of any claims or customer service.
In short, people were happy to pay in the lowest area for the insurance for years and years but if they have to make a claim they might wish they had picked another company.
With Electricians (like so many other things in life) people often base price as the major factor and therefore encourage "A race to the bottom" rather than doing a decent job. Some of those lower prices might actually be a decent job but then others are not.

 

[JohnW2]

Yes to all the above. Plus, just be aware that recommendations are often based somewhat heavily on price and less on other aspects. Yes we all compare prices of things in everyday life. .... With Electricians (like so many other things in life) people often base price as the major factor and therefore encourage "A race to the bottom" rather than doing a decent job. Some of those lower prices might actually be a decent job but then others are not.

Very true. Probably because I subconsciously thought it was 'obvious', I didn't mention price but, as you say, that is probably one of the main bases of 'lay recommendations' - and, as you say/imply, there definitely are some prices which are 'too low' (as we know, "too good to be true" nearly always is just that!).

Of course, there are many trades/professions for which what really matters is what ones eyes can tell one about the end result - decorating, gardening, dressmaking, cleaning, carpet fitting etc. etc. and in such cases, 'lay recommendations' are probably fine. However, things like electrics, car maintenance etc. are far from being in that category - with, as I said, no particularly obvious way of getting around that problem.

Kind Regards, John