Re: right unit wrong fitting

Nothing annoys me more than a bodged job so easily done properly. I am no perfectionist but I do like things done correctly or not at all.

In that photo above he had believe it or not cut down a tree trunk from top to bottom on the left hand side and used to 2 flat surfaces as a work bench . it took me ages with a chain saw to cut it all away including the "effort" he used as a support

Re: right unit wrong fitting

It was not bodged, not electrically. Well, other than missing the screws.

Re: right unit wrong fitting

Apologies realspeed. Was unaware that you had experience with ekectrickery installations.

Re: right unit wrong fitting

So in other words, it was a TT installation where the consumer had not provided an earth terminal connected to a suitable earthing rod. Or have I missed something?

Re: right unit wrong fitting

no props. did 5 yr apprenticeship back in the 60's but rules material and regs have changed so much.
I didn't carry on due to the cold and danger(yes, no health and safety back then, seen some terrible accidents).

What put me off as a young lad was threading/bending 3/4 and 1" metal conduits out in the snow, freezing cold at Noel Bowarters daughters farm for a dutch barn they had built .I was only 16 at the time.

Re: right unit wrong fitting

Did they use heavy(ish) gauge trunking back then.

Have come across this stuff at times and wondered if it was a throwback to gas pipe days.

Re: right unit wrong fitting

oh yes usually it had 3 channels . one for electrics - one for telephone and the other for data cables. Cutting around wall columns making angle cuts and welding together to make right angle bends was the norm. Later on premade bend ones became available. What always stumped me was parallel swan neck bends in metal conduit, never could get it right

Always remember having to take a bundle of 1" conduit 12 in a bundle to the top of what was Kodaks of Ryslip back then .
I was made to get into a tower crane bucket with them to be lifted to the top of a 3/4 story building. What scared the shit out of me was when the crane driver thought it funny to make the bucket swing with me in it
Back then us young apprentices had a really tough time.

Re: right unit wrong fitting

Scary.

Did a plumbing course and learnt how to bend copper pipe with a hand held, er, bender and steel pipes with a machine.

Lord knows how you dealt with the thicker gauge trunking on site!!

Re: right unit wrong fitting

I had to do it with a hand bender not by machine. Trunking was a case of measure cut and weld. As an apprentice back then not only at the beck and call you were learning under but any other trades on site that needed a hand.
I did day release for tech college and 2 days night school as well. They were tough, long days leaving home early morning to get the works dormobile but back by train (often from one side of London to Surrey) straight to night school until 10pm.
Tough working conditions during the day and late home at night.
Try getting the youth of today doing that and you would be told where to go.

Re: right unit wrong fitting

I think that there's still a perception that some trades are monkey work which any old diy'er can do.

Even my paltry course in plumbing opened my eyes. There's stuff that pro trades just "know" through training and time served experience.

Ploughing through the specs on most building work also indicates that there's a whole load more to it than meets the eye. A friend of mine was having a loft conversion done recently which required steels. The calcs alone would be enough to make one's eyes swivel.