What is so wrong with this picture!!

[dynomo]

wonder what could be so wrong with this one then???

 

[williaminsurrey]

Was called out earlier today, a lady pointed out that she was seeing a blue flash of light when she'd turn the appliance off at the switch, the appliance being a clothes iron in this case. At first, I thought this could be a case of changing the existing socket to a higher quality one to note for any differences...upon opening the face plate, the following was revealed!

I'm a novice here, but just curious ..... what caused the 'blue flash of light' Is this caused by the lack of earth? If so, would all sockets lacking earth flash similarly?

The 1.5 mm T&E supplying the socket is obviously wrong, but presumably enough (about 18A) to supply the iron.

Were there also loose connections at the L & N terminals?

Just wondering where the blue flash came from.

 

[dynomo]

on most occasions it boils down to quality of the 13A socket, on careful inspection of the suspected faulty socket, there wasn't even a sign of the actual manufacturer. With time the switch mechanism on any socket can give way due to wear and tear so it is advisable to go for a popular and reliable make from the start, i.e. wylex, MK or Crabtree..
The setup at this ladies house was definitely unsafe. The first spur was feeding a hifi, computer and a hair straightener...from this there was a direct connection to a single socket to power the iron, then there was an additional spur which fed a double socket to power a telephone set and one spare slot to operate the hoover when in need. (All in 1.5mm!) I know it has been argued in the past that 1.5mm can be used after connection to a 13A FCU but there was no FCU present.

So to sum this up, I believe a combination of factors probably constituted to the problem of a strange blue flash upon switching off. It could have been cable size, the load on the overall circuit or simply a nackered socket.

 

[dynomo]

how about showering under one of these!!

 

[tim west]

OK... another one for you. Customer complained of an unpleasant smell when showering.

Customer didn't shower often enough?

 

[tim west]

What's wrong with this picture?

Looks awfully overexposed and washed out to me, lighting could be better

 

[dynomo]

Damm i was hoping nobody would pick up on the quality of the pic!!!

 

[tim west]

Well you did ask

 

[mikej2005]

It's 6mm. The shower is 9.5kw. It might have been that the neutral wasn't tightened up properly, but I recon it was only a matter of time having used the 6mm.

I don't think that 6mm2 is unusual for a 9.5kW shower if it's been there a while.

I installed a 9.5kW electric shower in my last house, around 8-9 years ago and the reason I chose that model is that manufacturer recommendations were to use 6mm2 cable and that's what I already had in place from a previous shower.

According to them, 10mm2 was only necessary for the 10.8kW model.

Looks like the recommendations have changed over the years ?