today quickly checking over a friends electrics...

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boltonsparky

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No R1+R2 at any of the light fittings apart from the front lounge and kitchen extension at the back with 2 lights in-between.

this was found behind the lounge light (first from CU)

IMG_0193-1.jpg


The 2 CPCs in the connector block visible are the cables from the CU and down to the switch and also the wire to the light.

Not visible are 2 other cables feeding the rest of the lights with the CPC's terminated in a separate connector??

And yes that's the neutral connection in the exposed connector!

This would explain no R1+R2 reading at any other lights but why was there one at the kitchen extension light that is in the middle of the circuit?

The reading of 2.75ohms for R1+R2 at the kitchen fitting and switch seemed high for such a short run of cable.

Further investigation and pulling up of a floor board in the back bedroom discovers this...

IMG_0194.jpg


Yes that's a 6mm earth cable (bearing in mind they only pulled in a 4mm for the water (actually they double clamped 2 10mm copper heating pipes??) and gas bonds.

That 6mm cable led to this 1 meter away....

IMG_0195.jpg


pic exactly as found, strands out and burnt with a blow torch.

The 22mm pipe (I'm no plumber) looked like the gas pipe feeding the boiler. Notice also clamped to the flux on the pipe too.

The only conclusion I can come to is that there was no earth reading at any of the lights apart from the lounge due to the fault mentioned above so when they wired up the kitchen extension they instead of finding the cause of the open circuit CPC just found their own earth... the gas pipe!

Found an broken CPC in the next light that was the cause of the rest of the lights having no R1+R2 reading.

Next found this in the airing cupboard, they've used the old immersion heater feed (combi boiler now fitted) to supply a socket in the loft, 2.5mm cable, B16 breaker, cable run up to the loft next to the heating pipes,

IMG_0196.jpg


Difficult to see in the pic but the cable is bonded solid to the pipes, couldn't tug it off them at all, it hasn't yet gone through the inner cores insulation as it meggered ok and the RCD main switch hadn't been tripping but it was only a matter of time.

There were other faults I hadn't photographed mainly at light fittings that had obviously been installed by a DIYer.

The mind boggles.

 
thats good,

you havent seen anything like some of the stuff the [majority] of the short course guys are doing then boltonspark,

some of it is truly woeful,

your work is obviously that of a handyman, these guys are doing similar, if not worse, but the scary thing is they are out there masquerading as bona-fide electricians, when clearly in any way of the law they are acting illegally,

both in their representation of themselves, and their compliance with any regulations or statutory documents.

 

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