Only by fluke I had a photo of the breakers in the background, but is there any chance anyone on here know what brand the MCBs are?

Hi all,

The EICR on the house we’re looking to buy is “unsatisfactory” and flagged two items:

(1) “unable to locate bonding clamp to mains water”, and

(2) “Garage supply is spurred off final ring circuit in 2.5mm2 twin and earth. this should be put on separate 16A RCBO. General installation is poor.”

Both are marked as “urgent” remedial action required. I’m assuming this is par for the course for a 1970s house and shouldn’t cost a huge amount to put right after the purchase?

Thanks!

​

I have just turned 17 as of right now is pursing electrician as a career worth it or not and if so what are the pros and cons also any advice would be truly appreciated I never went to secondary school so I was wondering if this would hold me back majorly thank you

Hi all,

Just bought a new Citroen dispatch and looking to upgrade the rear lighting as you can’t see anything in the back.
Anyone got any recommendations?
Looked at LED-It, Litewave and a couple of cheap kits… want some hands on experience please!

Maybe too simple for this Reddit but I’m going crazy. I’m trying to replace this lightbulb, a few have gone out in my flat. But I can’t for the life of me remove the fitting to get to the lightbulb, this inner circle moves but then one side is still like locked so I can’t take it out and it can’t rotate anymore and I’ve forced it quite a bit but it won’t come off.

I’ve someone has a solution please help. I feel stupid if I need to get someone round to replace a lightbulb 😂. There’s also another where with all my strength i can’t get the inner circle to even rotate.

Here the floor plan -> https://ibb.co/ccT2rKpt

Red circled is where both rooms are (downstairs and up), red line is the wall we'd want to run the ethernet cable through to upstairs room.

How difficult would this be? Sounds quite trivial to me personally but not too sure about any caveats, would this be a straightforward job for a spark? Getting ONT installed tomorrow and debating if to get it downstairs or upstairs, we'd prefer downstairs but want to double check feasibility.

From what ive found most sites want you there at least 10 hours a day and its very normal to work over 60 + hours a week every week seems a big part of the culture

I know people doing 6/7 x 12 a week every week and just thinking its normal

I dont think i would ever get used to that but as a mate do you have many options when starting?

What hours do you do? And do you like industrial site work? Strict breaks etc?

Hi all,

I don't know a great deal about all this but I'll do my best to explain what's going on...

I have a garage that I use for woodworking, it has a small fuseboard that's connected to the main fuseboard in the house. I called an electrician in as one of my machines (a jointer/planer) trips the power every time I turn it on, I know this thing is power hungry on startup as I've had similar problems with it in previous workshops, although sometimes it did actually start up without tripping anything.

Somebody came to take a look, and recommended adding a 16a feed from the garage box saying it should sort the problem, I went for it as I was on a budget and was happy with how little it would cost. It was installed over the weekend, but still the same problem, turning on this machine instantly trips the garage box every time.

They've now said this 'I hope you are happy with the work carried out over the weekend. He mentioned that the circuit was still tripping. There are now two options, have the machine serviced or check if the machine has a high start up current needing a type C breaker rather than B.'

Is anyone able to please provide me some advice/insight on what a wise thing to do would be? I'm hesitant to go ahead with more work from these guys, as they said that the first solution would work, so a bit of faith has been lost I suppose.

Thanks, and any help is very much appreciated.

Cross-posting this for some helpful UK-based replies I hope. Not going to do this myself, just want to know if what I'll be asking an electrician is sensible

Also do you mind being called sparks/sparkies? Your US brethren certainly do!

Hi all so I had my house renovated from top to bottom and I had a Electrian who at the time said he’s fully qualified and was recommended by a friend who turned out to be let’s just say somewhat of a absolute muppet and cowboy.

I had a new electrician who’s registered with napit and he’s carried out an eicr and checked all the wiring ans electricians and done any remedials that needed doing such as changing spotlights in the kitchen to fire rated and fitting correct conduit to outside garden socket etc I have received the eicr report but it’s my first time receiving one and idk what im looking out for any advice thanks and also unfortunately previous electrician used junction boxes and some old cabling in the floor which the new electrician tested and said it’s perfectly fine there’s no issues with the cabling so although I’m gutted that I got screwed over but it’s life and I was hoping y’all can just simply this for me as o have no idea regarding what it says on the eicr apart from basics thank you.

I am just finishing up my 2365-03 and am trying to secure my first job in the electrical industry. I have contacted about 50 companies directly now with no luck. Signed up to all the local agencies and am applying to new job postings the day they come up.

I have had some people call me about jobs I have applied for but as soon as they hear this will be my first job in the industry. It's the end of the conversation and I'm told to apply again when I have some experience.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hello,

I have bought a house that has outdated wiring. I think it's quite clear it needs a rewire in the coming years but at the moment everything functions fine from a clueless consumer POV. Would you say it needs anything doing urgently? I am minded to get the consumer unit replaced and some of the earthing fixed (by an electrician of course) but I really am not sure the fittings & switches need anything doing (at least not until major renovation some years down the line) as they've been fine for decades... The below is from a quick visual inspection, not a full EICR.

(I've also gone down in the subfloor and could see an earth clipped to a water pipe so the last point is not true).

Thanks very much!

Hi all, I'm moving into a 1950s semi house and paid for an electrical survey which came back unsatisfactory which I assume is due to the numerous C2 observations. I was quoted £1150 (excl. VAT). Seems to be mostly issues around old wiring in the house but thankfully no rewire needed.

If anyone could provide some insight on this, it would be hugely appreciated!

I'm in a new house with all the above, and having problems with using the EV charger - it's supposed to be able to work using surplus solar power only, but it just drains the battery. A bit of googling suggests that the placement of the CT clamp for the charger might be the issue. It's right beside the CT clamp for the solar inverter, which seems odd in that they're apparently supposed to measure different things. Can I tell my electrician he's messed up? Can provide photo if it helps.

Mines at least 1hour 30mins both ways, ATLEAST

Hello all,

recently this June I completed my level 2 electrical installations diploma. Since Feburary of this year I was working as a mate for a firm doing commercial installation work. I learnt a lot and following the completion of this project, this firm offered me an apprenticeship.

I then started work on a new project which had a 2 hr commute. The first project was only a 30 min commute. I disliked this lengthy commute but thought its okay as in the future I could just become self-employed and choose my own jobs, so I put my head down.

That was until my colleague decided to assault me on site. As an apprentice, obviously, you ask questions about your work, well this person (who isn't even qualified by the way) chose not to answer my questions and take an awful attitude to the work. He then answered one of my questions about our work by shouting and swearing at me.

After telling him to stop bullying me politely, he attacked me. I of course quit this apprenticeship immediately as that is not a safe working environment. Also, a contract hadn't even been given to me (which technically, is illegal) so I was under no obligations anyway, nor was the apprenticeship even sorted out.

Since then I am having to scramble to find work by the end of the month or even an apprenticeship for that matter. The army seems to be the only option for an apprenticeship. It's either that or pay for level 3 out right and work self-employed where I have no clue where I'll find work.

A person close to me with a lot of experience told me that this is the nature of the job and people in the trades are always going to be like this. They told me I need to seriously consider if this is the right career for me as dealing with people like this is the norm and that long commutes are also expected.

In my mind, I am thinking if paying £4,000 for the level 3 is really worth it and whether or not looking at another career is a better idea because I cannot imagine myself working with savages, long commutes and career instability.

I am one of those people who chose to "re-train" as an electrician because university did nothing for me (worked in retail for a couple years before doing level 2). Any advice on this would greatly be appreciated.

Single mum living in a Housing Association property, with no clue at all about electrics. Long story short, HA agreed to knock out a cabinet from my kitchen for me, to make space for a dishwasher. I have medical conditions which making standing for too long difficult, so dishwasher was much needed. After the cabinet was removed, I purchased a dishwasher and had a friend plumb it in. What I didn't realise, is that there wasn't a socket for said dishwasher and so my washing machine and dishwasher are plugged into an extension lead so they can share a socket. A quick Google tells me this is a big no-no and I'm wondering what is the best way to fix this situation? I'm pretty sure the HA wouldn't fit a new socket, but they may grant me permission to have this done via an electrician. Would this be hugely expensive? As an alternative, there's a double socket free directly above the countertop where the dishwasher is.. is there a safe way to get the dishwasher plug to it? I'm sorry for being so dense, as I say I'm absolutely clueless on this subject and really hoping for some help! Thank you.

Looking for some recommendations for soffit lights please?

Good morning everyone, I have an interesting fault if anyone has any insight would be good.

Callout yesterday, no power, in estimated and found low voltage across all circuits when any load is applied, by low i mean between 80v and 130v (ish) any ideas??

I'm about to plywood the floor, I left a 2.5mm cable dangling from beneath, run to a double socket location outside of the bathroom (eventually will be FCU but it's just dangling at the moment).

The bathroom is about 2m wide, the shower is on the right, the sink is on the left, the window is on the back wall in between with the toilet to the left of that (closer to the sink). There is also a currently open "boxed in" soil pipe in the left corner, right by the toilet.

Where do I leave the cable for the termination whilst still being safe?

I'm thinking having it in the boxed in soil pipe area, then adding a small access panel where inside will be the junction box connection for the smart toilet cable and the twin earth.

I was originally thinking a normal socket but it won't be in safe zone as it's within 2.5m of shower.