Today I acquired...........

[Dr.Al]

On the PAT training course they show you how to remove, prepare the cable and fit a 3 pin plug.

When asked about 115v yellow, 240v blue and 3 phase red plugs you are told you need to be a certified electrical technician..
????????

Then you are advised that if you deem your some insufficiently trained you do nor have to replace a plug.

Times we live in are interesting.

In one of my previous jobs I regularly fitted 415 V 3-phase red plugs to the products for which I had designed the electronics (as well as doing all the low-voltage directive assessment etc). I also did product testing up to 900 V three phase and fast transient burst testing up to 8 kV. However, I wasn't (officially, ahem) allowed to wire up standard 3 pin plugs.

 

[Munkul]

I saw a tray of them in the physics classroom at school with a pop rivet through the end of the earth pin so you couldn't plug them in.

If only every school taught this... sadly the common sense approach seems to be leaving us

My word. I've seen the results of some"certifed" electricians, impressed I was not. It's not rocket science, it just needs someone who isn't brain-dead.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Madness.
The site I am on.
They have to get the contract staff in to change lamps.
The site in house electricians do not have the bit of paper to say they can.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Madness.
The site I am on.
They have to get the contract staff in to change lamps.
The site in house electricians do not have the bit of paper to say they can.

But they can change a light fitting

 

[Munkul]

Madness.
The site I am on.
They have to get the contract staff in to change lamps.
The site in house electricians do not have the bit of paper to say they can.

by contrast, I visited a site a few years ago with an incredibly well-ran engineering dept.

Their electricians weren't allowed to change lightbulbs.

..Because their labour was too valuable to waste doing menial jobs like that. They had contractors come in regularly instead

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

by contrast, I visited a site a few years ago with an incredibly well-ran engineering dept.

Their electricians weren't allowed to change lightbulbs.

..Because their labour was too valuable to waste doing menial jobs like that. They had contractors come in regularly instead

I know where you are coming from.

This site will now un plug the light from the rail. Fit a new one. So production can continue and the contract H&S staff can not stop work.
As it is to dark to see.

The lamp tramp team will only attend when there is 15% lamps out or the site raise a call out job..

 

[Kram]

Pressure tester. Only ordered saturday evening already here by Hermes.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Pipe-Line-Leakage-Tester-Copper-Pressure-Test-Pump-Heating-System-5-L-UK/283751129885/

 

[bricol]

If only every school taught this... sadly the common sense approach seems to be leaving us

My word. I've seen the results of some"certifed" electricians, impressed I was not. It's not rocket science, it just needs someone who isn't brain-dead.

Why should schools teach it? My dad showed me, as did my mum.

But when was the last time you fitted a plug to a new appliance? They come with moulded on plugs as people didn't know how to do it correctly - they could maybe get all the right wires in the right places, but didn't tighten the cable grip in the right place having over-stripped the outer, leading to failures.

If you saw the Watchdog program a year or two ago when they were looking at fuses - and no-one seemed to have much of an idea there either.

 

[Maker]

But when was the last time you fitted a plug to a new appliance?

It's a good point, most people I know don't know how to fit a plug but it's not like it's holding them back.

 

[zx9]

But when was the last time you fitted a plug to a new appliance?

Amazon seem to be able to get away with supplying EU two pin cords and don't always include the clip on EU to UK three pin adapters.

It's a good point, most people I know don't know how to fit a plug but it's not like it's holding them back.

Could prevent some WEEE and help them to save the planet.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

If only every school taught this... sadly the common sense approach seems to be leaving us

It's all about liability in the 'sueing/compensation' culture.

Imagine Junior goes home from lessons, farts about with electrics, kills himself or a family member or razes the family home to the ground. The parents' first move would be to instruct their Solicitor to sue the school for mega damages - and all because Junior wasn't paying attention in lessons.....

 

[Munkul]

Why should schools teach it? My dad showed me, as did my mum.

But when was the last time you fitted a plug to a new appliance? They come with moulded on plugs as people didn't know how to do it correctly - they could maybe get all the right wires in the right places, but didn't tighten the cable grip in the right place having over-stripped the outer, leading to failures.

If you saw the Watchdog program a year or two ago when they were looking at fuses - and no-one seemed to have much of an idea there either.

My dad showed me too... but it seems that there's already a generation or two out there without any idea of how to wire a plug, so it would make sense that learning in a a controlled environment would be better.
I mean, really people should be taught at school how the earthing system and RCD protection works. It took me long enough to really get it, and that was with a year of electrical shop fridays in college!! Simply because we were taught "it's this colour and it keeps you safe". Well these days, RCDs and earthing work in tandem, far safer than earthing alone.

I disagree with the liability, too. We were taught how to operate a 300 degrees C gas oven at school. Plenty ways to kill yourself that way as well.

I'd argue that it's by and large safer than ever to make electrical mistakes, in general - if I made a dead shorted plug and switched it on in any modern house, it would just trip the breaker or RCD. Only way it would kill me directly is if I moistened my hands and held blue wire in one hand, brown wire in t'other... I'm oversimplifying, but you get my point?

People just want to avoid the problem rather than solving it IMO...

and idiots don't help the cause, unfortunately a "certified" electrician wired in some 3 phase motors for a project recently. We came to switch them on, and tripped the overloads on all 3 motors. Turned out he'd connected the wires to the wrong 3 terminals, which were connected together in Star configuration. Blatently obvious... but you can't fix stupid

 

[Dr.Al]

A trio of hand wheels:

(for my portable workbench build)

 

[Robert Weaver]

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Going to be a long week waiting for this to arrive.

Moving some gear it will replace along to make some room and pay for it.

 

[Olderisbetter]

Picked up today a Dewalt tough system tote box ans a very small Stabila level for those awkward spaces

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Picked up today a Dewalt tough system tote box ans a very small Stabila level for those awkward spaces
View attachment 279431View attachment 279432

Have a couple of the full depth totes. Very useful.

 

[Olderisbetter]

Have a couple of the full depth totes. Very useful.

I like to load up what i need and then put stuff back after so.it serves as a man bag lol my mate has 4 all full of bits off jobs

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I like to load up what i need and then put stuff back after so.it serves as a man bag lol my mate has 4 all full of bits off jobs

I plead the 5th

 

[paulmitchell1984]

Wish people would throw Henry away near me id love one for the garage

Not acquired anything recently