Check Your Plugs & Leads!

[Turbo]

Normally when I buy used equipment I check it over electrically before use, but I was that eager to test my recently acquired R-tech 180 mig that I used it for a small job & it ran nearly perfectly.

I have quite a bit more welding to do soon so I gave the welder a more thorough going over, checking hoses, cables etc.

This is what I found inside the 16a plug!

It looks like something cobbled together by Mr Bean!
The outer rubber sheath was a very tight fit in the gland on the plug cover because they hadn't trimmed it out enough for the 2.5mm flex.
Because of that they couldn't get the flex in far enough to reach the cord grip so they added a single layer of heatshrink sleeve to 'protect' the cores & tightened the cord grip loosely onto that.
All the copper wires were stuffed into their holes without twisting the end, leaving the tangled mess you see, the earth wire pulled out when I removed the cover & the screws on the L & N wire were not fully tightened!

It now looks like this, not perfect but 100% safe!

I doubt that it came from R-Tech like this but it would be prudent to check your welder in case!

So my advice to anyone buying used electric appliances - CHECK YOUR PLUGS & LEADS!

 

[steviec_lj]

Wow..not the worst I’ve seen sadly.

First job when buying anything is to take the plug and/or socket off and check it out. Some stuff even gets a “PAT” before being used as I’ve got the kit to do it.

99% of my gear is on 16a or 32a connectors in all flavours of electricity, 2.5 doesn’t fit well in a 13a plug, and I’m running short of M6 fuses

 

[Jim Davey]

There is an electrical test specifically designed for welding plant, BS EN IEC 60974-4:2016. It is supposed to be carried out periodically, before a calibration/validation and after a repair of any part which may have an effect on the machines electrical safety (such as replacing a mains lead or plug)

Obviously the test can take a little while, particularly if the machine is difficult or time consuming to get inside.
But the peace of mind for the vendor, and the companies, tradesmen and home users that own/operate welding plant is well worth it.

 

[earthman]

You can't trust any electrical item or the previous person who fitted it,...when I moved into my current home, I discovered that the single tubed light in the garage didn't have an earth wire going to it. Yes the housing were metal, in theory it could be touched whilst moving a ladder around for example.

I have removed/replaced it with a couple of double tubed, waterproof units, more light for a start and better suited to that environment.

 

[qwakers]

how about this one then...

when i bought my house i intended to move into the upstairs and gut and rewire and totally refit downstairs, then swap and do upstairs. when i got my keys i pulled the front of the consumer unit... then immediatly flicked off the main switch and changed to gut all and move in later.

i found that the entire house had its sockets wired on a single radial main...... in 1mm2!

the wire had burned from the 32a mcb all the way to within a inch of the gas pipes running above.

yeah, just no. how that didnt catch fire i dont know, although, on second thoughts, it had!

 

[Munkul]

Jim, thanks for that image.

I was very unhappy with the "servicing" carried out on our machines last year - seemed we were paying £700 for 9 machines... the valiadation certs are worth a bit but the "servicing" seemed to consist of taking the sides off and hoovering roughly around the boards. I've asked them if their servicing is done to that IEC standard.

 

[Alan Reynolds]

At my Son's school I found a curly lead made by the teacher with a 13 amp plug at each end that the kids had been using to daisy chain the electrics of the desks using the sockets attached to the desks!!!!!! Worst thing, it had a PAT test label for that very day on each plug!!! The headmistress went mad when I showed her the possible fatal consequences.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

When my wife was in hospital with our first child I finished off a few jobs in the babies bedroom which involved moving a radiator. When floor was lifted I found the previous owner had just twisted the ring main wires together and then wrapped them in cellotape

 

[Jim Davey]

Jim, thanks for that image.

I was very unhappy with the "servicing" carried out on our machines last year - seemed we were paying £700 for 9 machines... the valiadation certs are worth a bit but the "servicing" seemed to consist of taking the sides off and hoovering roughly around the boards. I've asked them if their servicing is done to that IEC standard.

If you have to ask, it probably isn’t.

 

[WorkshopChris]

At my Son's school I found a curly lead made by the teacher with a 13 amp plug at each end that the kids had been using to daisy chain the electrics of the desks using the sockets attached to the desks!!!!!! Worst thing, it had a PAT test label for that very day on each plug!!! The headmistress went mad when I showed her the possible fatal consequences.

Often use to back feed with a generator, in a school whoever made and fitted that should face instant dismissal.

 

[Munkul]

If you have to ask, it probably isn’t.

That's exactly what I mean. As soon as I saw your post, I realised that's what I want for our machines, and also certain that we haven't been getting it. I've a feeling I'll be changing service provider

 

[Jim Davey]

The test helps to make sure defective kit such as this one pictured below gets removed from service and rectified or condemned. This particular machine had been half submerged in salt water, some of it was still in the bag that protects the mains switch.

 

[Jim Davey]

I’m sure Robotstar or BWS Services would have a few treasures to show too.

 

[brightspark]

sick of checking plugs and leads just pat tested 500 items another 80 to go

 

[Robotstar5]

I’m sure Robotstar or BWS Services would have a few treasures to show too.

"Can you put a PAT test sticker on this for my husband, his company insurance has asked for one"

 

[earthman]

Thinking of electrical safety rules/regs, is there any situation where you can use these clips on mains cable nowadays? When I moved 4 years ago the estate agent said that they were not acceptable when he saw them/cable runs in my garage, he said that all cables must be inside conduit now? Is that correct??

 

[Robotstar5]

Thinking of electrical safety rules/regs, is there any situation where you can use these clips on mains cable nowadays? When I moved 4 years ago the estate agent said that they were not acceptable when he saw them/cable runs in my garage, he said that all cables must be inside conduit now? Is that correct??

You can use fire rated metal clips - example

 

[earthman]

You can use fire rated metal clips - example

So the 'problem' were the plastic clips melting/setting on fire rather than the 'exposed' cable as such??

 

[Robotstar5]

So the 'problem' were the plastic clips melting/setting on fire rather than the 'exposed' cable as such??

The problem is plastic clips/trunking melting in a fire and the cables dropping so they can cause problems for the fire service when accessing (can snag BA sets etc.)

Edit: link added.

 

[earthman]

The problem is plastic clips/trunking melting in a fire and the cables dropping so they can cause problems for the fire service when accessing (can snag BA sets etc.)

Would I be right in thinking that the trunking must be metal too then??