3d amendment metal consumer units a requirement

[the snooper]

Think it was the BT manual some years ago that stated ladders must be secured at the top when used on telephone poles, so how do you secure it without climbing up an unsecured ladder?

use a ladder to secure the ladder

 

[brightspark]

the sky fitters -wouldn't climb up -the height of my -gutters. I wanted the wire putting through the attic . I just got the ladders out drilled the holes through put the wire-through and clipped it up , there u go mate do u want-me to fit the dish as well or can u manage that

 

[Cobbler]

Think it was the BT manual some years ago that stated ladders must be secured at the top when used on telephone poles, so how do you secure it without climbing up an unsecured ladder?

Ladders had to be tied top & bottom, tie at the bottom, climb & tie at the top.

 

[oilyneil]

I'm a linesman,we still work live,in the rain,, up to 11kv now, but the rules are getting much stricter,risk assesments, exclusion zones etc.
I wouldn't be a jointer,hammering a hack knife along a live cable to open it up,if it faults all that arc power will only have one way out the hole and there is usualy a bloke in the way.
At least on the overheads the explosion has somewhere to go,,,
With regards to teams though, with us we dig the hole, put the pole up, string wires and run it all the way to the cutout, just a 2 man gang,we dont do metering now though as the customer has a choice on who the meter supplier is.

 

[Woody.v8]

I'm a linesman,we still work live,in the rain,, up to 11kv now, but the rules are getting much stricter,risk assesments, exclusion zones etc.
I wouldn't be a jointer,hammering a hack knife along a live cable to open it up,if it faults all that arc power will only have one way out the hole and there is usualy a bloke in the way.
At least on the overheads the explosion has somewhere to go,,,
With regards to teams though, with us we dig the hole, put the pole up, string wires and run it all the way to the cutout, just a 2 man gang,we dont do metering now though as the customer has a choice on who the meter supplier is.

Are you the linesman for the county ?

 

[Wedg1e]

I'm a linesman,we still work live,in the rain,, up to 11kv now, but the rules are getting much stricter,risk assesments, exclusion zones etc.
I wouldn't be a jointer,hammering a hack knife along a live cable to open it up,if it faults all that arc power will only have one way out the hole and there is usualy a bloke in the way.
At least on the overheads the explosion has somewhere to go,,,
With regards to teams though, with us we dig the hole, put the pole up, string wires and run it all the way to the cutout, just a 2 man gang,we dont do metering now though as the customer has a choice on who the meter supplier is.

I knew (via the 'net) a 'hot linesman' who made so much money in his early 20s that he bought a £33K TVR out of his piggybank.
Practically lived in a GRP cherrypicker as I recall.

 

[Wedg1e]

Are you the linesman for the county ?

He hasn't answered; must be still on the liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.......

 

[Wedg1e]

Think it was the BT manual some years ago that stated ladders must be secured at the top when used on telephone poles, so how do you secure it without climbing up an unsecured ladder?

If he was still alive you could ask Fred Dibnah, he managed to get up 300 foot chimneys with wooden ladders hanging off rusty nails...

 

[Wedg1e]

Would something like this be OK?
View attachment 77964

Looks tidy enough to me although I've never seen Weidmuller DIN rail terminals used in domestic mains!

 

[the snooper]

He hasn't answered; must be still on the liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.......

He,s Searchin' in the sun for another overload

 

[oilyneil]

Not alot of sun around last night,,just fault generator changeover switches,,
Most of our work is lv now,but you still get a tickle when its wet,,
The pay is nice,not in tvr territory, but keeps me warm and in workshop toys,,lol

 

[oilyneil]

We have the ladder rule as well, it was instigated after a BT linelady tragicly lost her life whilst up a pole,a lorry snagged a low wire and brought the pole down in the road with her still attached, high court case and alot of new rules came in very quickly after that.

 

[DrDeAtH]

yes there not much more in cost than plastic and theres enough knockouts in them for cable -entry --the only hole needed is a 30mm one for the mains tails compression gland the only bad design bit is the metal lid. u have to hold it up to get to the breakers . more than likely if it was other way round -someone would probably -leave it open exposing the breakers to fire

The gland is a wieldy beast as well, great when you have restricted access around the board....

 

[Wedg1e]

We have the ladder rule as well, it was instigated after a BT linelady tragicly lost her life whilst up a pole,a lorry snagged a low wire and brought the pole down in the road with her still attached, high court case and alot of new rules came in very quickly after that.

Under those circs you wouldn't think it'd matter whether the ladder was lashed or not, or if you had a harness on or not; even if you were Velcro'd to the pole you're still going down

 

[brightspark]

shouldn't-have climbed the -ladder if she was up the pole

 

[DAPPH]

Another one of your installs?

Has anyone considered you now have to hold an earthed metal lid open while you reset a breaker/RCD with (possible wet) hands?

Don't the lids hang downwards like a lot of the later plastic ones do and unlike a lot of th earlier plastic ones that had to be held up ?

 

[DAPPH]

what a lot of people do is fit and tighten the mains tails prat about with them a bit and that's it. if u re tighten them and move them- when doing so the cable settles in and u can get an extra half turn on the screwdriver .I love watching other electricians that are-on the same job as me that u don't know they get paranoid -if u watch them I don't mind-it as the jobs rite

How do you get over that situation when fitting face plates etc . on 2.5 T&E etc , you twist /move the cable as you offer it up to the back box & the terminal screw is supposed to be tight but not cutting through the conductor / conductors ? I've often wondered about that , for several times when I took a non working face plates off the conductor has arced up in the brass terminal or been sheared .


I gather that it was muted back in 1985 that there would be a return to multi strand copper in all domestic wiring cables with crimped on brass sleeves instead of single conductors, but it never got past those with vested interests apparently .

 

[DAPPH]

Yes, seen the same here. Hard hat, full body harness attached to ladder, ladder lashed off. Better than standing on top of a wheelie bin though
Wonder why they don't to take them down

I binned sky ages ago, full of junk..repeated junk.

You're not likely to be pushing back from the wall like you do when driling a hard wall so less risk of the ladder sliding side ways , I used to tie on when in BT and leave the eye the wall with the householders consent . That was 22 years ago , I got laughed at by my manager ,tiil I pointed out that the reason me and my ladder went through about £6,000 worth of antique leaded lights a few days earlier was that the ladder went to the side as I drilled the wall for the anchor point high up in the eaves .
I've always tied of the ladders low down in the wall since that happened . A few folk got shirty till I explained the reason for doing it ,then they were usually happy for me to go a head & also to leave the eye in place .

 

[DAPPH]

Think it was the BT manual some years ago that stated ladders must be secured at the top when used on telephone poles, so how do you secure it without climbing up an unsecured ladder?

Tie off the ladder about five rungs from the floor with each end of the tie off rope making sure that you enclose the stile and right round a rung so it cannot slip off the rung ( about 4 to 5 mtrs long is good ) .
On a pole or tree by using the tie of rope tied to each stile & same rung it's then doubled back round the pole twice so you end up with two ears/bows to tie off into a reef knot .
There is a simple loop method of making these stile & rung securing knots , it's hard to describe but so easy when you've seen it done .

On a wall you drill an anchor point hole at navel to chest height in the middle of the ladders width and use the ladder tie off in a similar manner to th above . if it is tight enough it will rarely slip back or move side ways as you ascend or descend the ladder . You don't climb up or down with stuff in your hands either , you slip it into a canvas carry bag ( BAS ) that is hauled up or lowered down on a rope whilst you are at the top of the ladder , it being tied off or hung on a hook if it's going to be worked on at the top of the ladder .. In some cases a heavy bass can be gripped securely in a clam cleat with the rope hanging free . You climb down pull the rope free of the clam and lower the Bas down whilst your on the ground , I preferred to always lower the bass first before descending the ladder as it can't fall on your head if it's already on the ground .

When I had my own alarm company I used to use a paperboys newspaper bag carrying and designed a simple slide through the top rung device that I could hang the bag from whilst i worked up the ladder ..Yes I did have goggle s & safety hat on as well when ever I started to prepare for ladder work for one day , as I was putting a 10 mm hole in a side wall using a 400 mm long SDS three slates slid off the roof when I put the drill on hammer . Thankfully only one hit my backside side , flat on . David was a bit jelly legged for a few minutes after wards ,I can tell you , my botty very much pretending to be a butterfly.

Another time tying on has saved my life was one windy Wednesday , in early March in the mid 80's when it was very gusty . I happened to have to work at the corner of a house in a venturi caused by the buildings layout . I was also tied on to the ladder at the bottom & had just finished tying off the rope at the top rung anchor when massive gust of wind lifted me right off the ladder , leaving me hanging free scrabbling about to get back on about 25 feet up above a concrete block rockery .

The anchors I often used were a simple cadmium plated threaded fully formed eye bolt that is run up tight in a threaded sleeve anchor , occasionally I 've used some of the bigger rubber Rawl Pug Anchors ( PIA to do but they give a stress reduction in the hole in the wall ) and had to fill the hole up when I'd taken the eye & rubber anchor out .

 

[Farside]

what a lot of people do is fit and tighten the mains tails prat about with them a bit and that's it. if u re tighten them and move them- when doing so the cable settles in and u can get an extra half turn on the screwdriver .I love watching other electricians that are-on the same job as me that u don't know they get paranoid -if u watch them I don't mind-it as the jobs rite

Yep. Exactly that happened to my workshop fluory lighting neutral in the breaker box a couple of weeks ago. I've done hundreds of joints over the years and not one house burned down - yet mine could have.