I don't see how, the figures for fires in the rest of the UK are lower than London and they are using the same units so it has to be an installation issue.
Or London has a higher population density, if you had the statistics to hand, then plotted them demographicly, you could draw all kinds of conclusions. You could draw conclusions for, whether or not the property was a rental, owner occupied, how much the rent cost. I would say, as an uneducated wild guess the above factors would play a part
Strange how we never had fires with the wooden Wylex type boards but all of a sudden loads of plastic ones are burning houses down, we didn't have 5 week wonders either back then, I wonder if there is any sort of connection thats getting overlooked.
Who said that they were lower per capita outside of London? It's just that the London Fire Brigade lobbied for it.
As I said, we shouldn't overlook the fact that the quality of components is not what it once was. 5 day wonders might be part of the reason, but it's certainly not true to suggest that they are the sole reason.
IMHO for what its worth the problem it the square cage terminals in main switches and MCB's . Take a look at the terminals in the Wylex mains Isolator 2 screws and half round cage. All the old C/U's had round cable holes and 2 screws far better termination all round
i should of known used to date a girl from east belfast (a lovely chick just didnt work out one of those went our own ways)
******* DIYers again. Someone is buying a house so ask me to have a quick look at the electrics, the woman selling is a fruit bat and there is no chance we could get in to do a full inspection, also its a big house and the buyers didn't want to spend a couple of hundred on a full inspection anyway so I just did a visual-that was hard enough. Old installation probably done in the early 80s, all plastic and the lights have an earth in them, it mostly looked untouched and original, even had steel conduit in the cellar. Mains units are the old Wylex with replacement plug in breakers. Then the clincher, "My husband was an electrician, he did all this" So you can guess whats coming next. They dont want it re-wired if its ok and safe but will do if it really needs it so I suggested changing the mains and going from there. Should have been a nice easy job today, 2 x 8 way RCBO mains units in a nice cool cellar. None of the 16 circuits were identified so I thought it wise to check them one at a time. 1st circuit, no ring continuity, 1 Mohm. 2nd circuit, no ring continuity, 0.5 Mohms. 3rd circuit its a ring but 0.00 Mohms, 4th circuit, no ring continuity, about 2 Mohms. Tried the other board, all singles in the conduit, 2 cables in the MCB one copper, one thinner aluminium, no ring, next two cables 135 ohms between them. Didn't even bother checking the lighting circuits, lids back on and packed up. I am now stuck with £300 worth of RCBO boards, yes we will probably get a re-wire out of it but why is it that every single house I go in the electrics have been absolutely decimated by the owners, what do they get out of it. I'm not talking about a dodgy light fitting or two, I'm talking about ripping floors up and then what looks like someone taking a chain saw to the cables and then joining them all back up whilst blindfolded, why would people who have kids and families expose them to dangerous shoddy work. Like I said its not just the odd house that I see, its 100% of them, from 200 year old cottages to houses only months old, every single house holder seems to butcher the electrics from the day they move in.
Some advanced electrical diy'ers are far to superior to some qualified sparks Some qualified sparks are far superior to diye'rs (note the non use of the term ''electrical diy'ers'') I rest my case..
I went to a large trade show yesrterday and spoke to a lot of manufacturers,they were concerned about the fire issue,all of them agreed poor installation practice was to blame. What I was supprised about was that very few people had heard of AFDD's which they are planning to bring in on the next regs?2018.
First saw AFDD in the USA about 20 yrs ago pain in the rear end to install they take up 2 gangs same as an RCD problem is they top feed with both L+N and the out goings at the bottom. They use to trip as soon as some one plugged into a socket if not switched off first, same happened on removal of the plug.
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