I neighbour had a new kitchen and rewire in their flat. They came to me and said they occasionally feel a shock from metal faced hob switch in the kitchen. I had a look. The oven has its own switch as does the hob. Both are on their own mcb at the CU. The CU is new, an MK with RCD. All was fine at the CU. Some of the terminals had worked loose. The earth of the cable from the CU to the hob was NOT connected. I connected the earth wire and tightened the terminals. All is well. The question. Why would they receive a shock? I assume the RCD never tripped because the earth was not connected.
Hi Walt It could be a static electrical charge, a bit like when you get a shock from touching a car door. We get it a lot in work where people are working near machines and claim they have had a shock off the machine conveyor and there is no supply to the conveyor at all. If your neighbour is wearing nylon clothing it can make it worse. Kind regards BS
It wouldn't have been static in this case, just normal earth leakage which is present on a lot of electrical equipment especially where elements are present.
The place has that plasticy wooden affect flooring. The shocks have gone and were only from the switch with the missing earth.
I suspect Sen has it. The leakage - which will occur to some extent in almost every piece of equipment - would normally be grounded away to earth. Some will be direct leakage - leccy akshully crossing through damp insulation in an oven element, for example - whereas other forms could be induced across physical gaps. Such 'normal' leakage will be harmless. Very remiss of their sparky, tho'... Static leccy will give you a 'snap' and not a continuous tingle.
First off did they inform Building control that they were changing the wiring in the kitchen ? If so they should have had a certificate from the electrician to state everything was fine. Judging by the lose wires and connectors working lose. I guess not and there is no telling which other faults lay undiscovered. They should find an electrician whom will certify the new wiring. At the moment they are putting themselves (and other flats) at considerable risk of fire and If the hob has been connected to the 45amp circuit and they had a shock, you can guess what would happen. Additionally if they have any incident in the kitchen the insurance company will well be in their rights to cancel the policy and not meet any claim. Finally selling the flat they will need one It is about £50 -£100 to get it signed off propertly
One point everyone seems to have missed,, Why is Walt doing electrics for his neighbour? I'd like to know if he's qualified to undertake electrical work. If not, can he prove competence?
I tightened all terminals, which were tight, on the CU. And on the hob and oven 45A switches. Only the hob switch had problems. I said to them get the whole lot tested. The oven is a Bosch Excel which only consumes 0.79 kWh and only needs a 2.5mm cable, yet a 4mm cable, in and out, was squeezed into the single box. All too tight in there. I replaced the existing drywall box with a much deeper one and cut out the back to give even more space. This puts less stress on the terminals as well. They switch on the oven and hob from the wall switches each time they use the appliances. Switching on and off these heavy 45A switches may cause the terminals to loosen off over time. They are "isolators" not every day running switches. There is no need for them to be there as each appliance has its own mcb in the accessible CU.
So ,,, your now an electrical expert !!!!!!! Hmmmmmmmmm can you prove "competence" ?? (and please don't tell me you've proved it because you turned the leccy back on and it worked)
Competence is proven by the result and how you go about it. Now you know. How do you prove you are competent when hanging a door?
So,,, Hmmm, if I install a boiler in my own home (or any other home) and it works, there's no gas leaks, CO within tolerances etc and everything works according to the MI's then I must be competent.
I assume your measuring the co, ratio and co2 levels with a calibrated analyser with a current certificate Walt, as to how to gauge wether a chippie is competent to hang a door, if it stays shut/ stays open and fits the hole then it's job done.
So he is competent. Also the way you work in a safe manner matters. If emndanger life in your work you will be incompetent.
Right or wrong, if your qualified and mess up the fine or penalty is lesser than if your a DIYER who is trying to help a neighbour out, I'm fairly sure H.S.E has better lawyers than you or I will ever afford.
I would agree. Someone with a certificate working for money and messes up will get the full book thrown at them, and rightfully so. Part P and GasSafe came about because of poor and unsafe work by cowboy "professionals" not DIYers. DIYers are not seen as a concern for HSE, their focus is cowboys. The word "competent" applies to most fields, even law. Lawyers get professional misconduct cases against them and their "competency" is put into question. Competency does not mean having a certificate, it what you do, the result, and going about what you do in a safe manner.
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