This could have been a tragedy!

[westie101]

Called about an hour ago to assist the Fire Service. Found a bungalow owned by a OAP, two appliances and a Fire Officer in attendance.

They had reported a arching/crackling noise from the CU. British Gas operative had attended today, removed the fuses and replaced them, hummed and harred and told the customers son it is OK and someone would be back on Monday to assess changing the CU.

Basically the tails were a piece of 16mm T&E (or it's imperial equivalent) that had burned back from the CU to within about 8in of the meter - this meant that about 18in had, for want of a better word, vaporised.

Now if we get such a call to our call centre we immediately tell the customer to switch all the power off, thus reducing the load which makes most situations safe until we attend. I suspect this was a poor contact on the CU terminals that overheated with the load as it got dark tonight.

A niggly thought in my head suggests that the guy who attended was probably not a qualified electrician!!

 

[Taylortwocities]

Probably Gas-Safe though! Possibly also an AA repair man..

 

[17thman]

That is disgusting indictment and testimonial to the service that british gas offer to electrical problems. Their vans are stuffed with accessories and equipment that is not really needed and just replace the existing items like throwing seeds to chickens. I know that their call out charges and expenses are covered by the premiums but the premiums are obviously too much considering their behavour and the fact that if they have large losses from this sort of thing it is incorporated, without doubt, into our energy bills

 

[Guitarguy]

Don't like british gas, all their engineers keep doing is breaking our cutouts!!

 

[17thman]

without preducice


50 or 60 wylex mcb's on the van. 20 to 30 crabtree similar and also similar amounts of volex, hager etc

plus uncounted rcbos

say they replace them and then cannot wait to get home on to ebay, i know this for a fact.

 

[Wontdothatagain]

In the last month i have come across 3 site where the C/U has been changed by BG engineers,

2 were on 16mm tails with 100A service fuse's

1 Had no Earth

All had the seals missing from the cutout

1 had no identerfication on any of the MCB's

On 1 the tails were loose in the main switch to the extent it was so badly damaged that i refused to re-energise the installation until they got an electrician to site

 

[sparkybird]

BG had advised a home owner that their fuse board needed upgrading to RCD unit as there was no earth to the property.

I was asked to visit and provide second opinion by home owner. Me thinking that BG were perhaps trying it on to get some work. BUT indeed there was no earth to the property - a mansion block that had 10 flats - none of which were earthed!

Stuck in my quote - not heard back since... perhaps they went with BG as it would have been cheaper....