it was a bargain off ebay so i couldnt let it go lol, them 100 amp changeover switches usually cost hundreds. Plus i had to add my mod, lights, mains on alarm with silence switch u kno how it goes lol!

@little luke 266692 wrote:

I hope you have the required certification to be installing such electrical equipment in your own home.

I’m a fully qualified electrical engineer, authorised to work on any installations and distribution systems upto 132,000 volts. Yes i issue certs too.

lol yeah i know what u mean, i did full apprenticeship with the electricity board when i left school, qualified as electrical fitter (craftsman), then onto an electrical engineer – then 2 years later got laid off lol!

I seen some well dodgy stuff in my time even dodgy work carried out by NIC registered contractors which makes me laugh, work isnt as thorough as it used to be. Some of the ppl doin electrical installation courses nowadays get the answers to the exams given to them just to make the college have a high pass rate which is scary! 😮

its when u see sparkies pass an installation, issue a cert and in no way should they have even attempted the installation let alone certify it.

Simplest way of telling if some1 knows what they are doing, if there is room in the terminal, then conductors should always be doubled over in the back of socket outlets etc…. can cause probs over time if people dont bother with this. Very basic thing to remember at college.

Another one, dont use those little insulated crimp connectors on solid conductors (like 2.5mm T&E) as they wear loose after time.

Yet i often see much more dodgier stuff than this it makes me cringe… 1.5mm 3core and earth 2 on live, other and earth on neut feeding a 7kW leccy shower. and this was done by an NICEIC registered spark… spoke to NIC telling them and they were like ‘well he is registered so it must have been done properly’ Soon changed when i had to tell them what letters i had after my name lol!

theres loads more to this but i wont keep on ranting lol!

@Raj 267042 wrote:

Worst electrical install I ever saw was at a venue where they had hijacked the mains from another building and there was no fuseboard in the circuits anywhere :you_crazy amazing

lol yeah or the classic one where some silly twat decides to wire individual circuits straight onto the comb (busbar) on a cu rather than through a fuse/mcb

@MrAHC 267070 wrote:

while were on the subgect what do i need to build to get a circit breaker fuse box type thing to go between my generator and sockets? i also want surge protection other than whats on the extention leads & something to regulate the current abit more.

What sorta genny is it, single/3phase and is it diesel?

Sure thing, Yeah i always advise people to use diesel generators as petrol gennies are always surging. Problem is that the engines do not run as steady and cause fluctuations in the alternator which are still sine wave, and as such any surge protector will not stop these type of surges.

Petrol gennies are only really meant for non-sensitive power tools and such like. A second hand lister diesel is what you need they can be as cheap as £300 and can run on used cooking oil 🙂 Much safer/less of a fire risk too.

As for using an outlet with circuit breakers theres loads of different options available. Depends really how much you want to spend theres simple in-line rcd’s or you can make your own board up out of a small consumer unit – just have two RCBO’s one going to each double socket, with an incomong lead that plugs into the genny. RCBO is best option as each one provides overcurrent/earth protection independantly, an inline rcd will be ok but will cut everything off.

Important….. Always make sure the genny is properly earthed with an earth rod and… to be 100% safe the earth and neutral must be joined inside the genny. This will mimic your normal mains supply and will ensure any RCD works as it should. Some sparkies may disagree or be unsure but the science is there to prove it!