Portable appliance testing

[RF Lighting]

Not my favorite job but I have to do a bit now and again.

Here's a few of todays finds.

34 out of 80 appliances taken out of service or repaired on site

 

[Iggifer]

I was about to ask what was wrong with that then I spotted it.

Bet that job cleared you out of plugs & fuses

 

[SaladFingers]

Pat testing? Real electricians don't do pat testing. Well, after the three phase motor thread, it makes sense now

 

[gregers]

you need to wash your bloody hands
why didnt the twonk just rob the screw from the earth pin??.
and that brass fuse,SO WHATS WRONG WITH THAT THEN

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

In pics 2 & 3. What amperage is that rated at?

 

[Spark123]

Machine shop with welders?

 

[streetlighter]

I priced a PAT job last year 600+ items across three sites went in at 75p per item and they where happy all looked good.
Then gets a phonecall they have had a better price of 15p per item, that won't even cover the cost of the stickers !
My PAT tester spends most of its life on the shelf in the office just ain't no money in PAT no more

 

[RF Lighting]

I don't like doing it. This job was PAT, EICR and then the repair work and for a long serving customer of mine so I had to do it. I PAT 3 or 4 sites a year which barely pays for the calibration of my tester but it keeps customers happy which helps keep the work coming in.

Spark123 it was a metal fabricators! Did the welding tip, aluminium oxide covered hands and failure rate give it away per chance?

 

[streetlighter]

I've only got a Seaward PAT 50 it does the job ! I nearly bought the Megger PAT420 but I worked out how many test I would have to do to make it worthwhile and didn't bother.

 

[Lectrician]

We only do PAT testing for sites/customers we work closely with - We don't actively look for it.

Mine always falls when yours does RF - I have today started what will be around a full two weeks work, on and off.

Found this one - It is a Sky Italia (or the greek nova) imported box in a pub (cheap sky), comes with the two pin plug, and the guy who installed it has told the bar manager he can't swap the plug as it's imported and a different voltage He still managed to bodge into the socket though!

 

[streetlighter]

I will admit I've done that myself in the past ! Had many satellite boxes come with a 2-pin euro plug, power connections make an adaptor plug that fits these and converts them to a bs1363

 

[matt1e]

I will admit I've done that myself in the past ! Had many satellite boxes come with a 2-pin euro plug, power connections make an adaptor plug that fits these and converts them to a bs1363

Why didn't you just cut the flex and fit a UK Plug?

Matt

 

[plugwash]

I will put a europlug into a UK extension lead without worrying too much. The way I see it the protection from the plug fuse in the extension lead is comparable to the protection it would get if plugged intoa european radial circuit and the same as the protection it would get if plugged into a typical UK "visitor adaptor".

On the other hand I would NOT put a europlug into a UK wall socket.

 

[bhm1712]

I will put a europlug into a UK extension lead without worrying too much. The way I see it the protection from the plug fuse in the extension lead is comparable to the protection it would get if plugged intoa european radial circuit and the same as the protection it would get if plugged into a typical UK "visitor adaptor".

On the other hand I would NOT put a europlug into a UK wall socket.

No No No!!

The dangerous issue here is that the round pins do not fit correctly into the connectors of the socket! your not getting the same level of surface area connected to each other. Is it not easier and safer just to fit a uk plug?

 

[plugwash]

The dangerous issue here is that the round pins do not fit correctly into the connectors of the socket! your not getting the same level of surface area connected to each other

A europlug is only intended for devices that draw very small ammounts of current so I don't see the smaller contact area as a real problem (and if it was a problem it would also be a problem that would also happen with many of the socket types that europlugs are intended to work with).