New boiler in January; Vaillant condensing jobbie but not a combi.
Unfortunately it's a bit sensitive to this/that and its thrown a fault code for excessive temperature range - got a bit hot. Installer coming tomorrow to diagnose fault; probably a three port valve gone feral but could be the pump or sludge - we'll see.
No heating but its' no longer that cold. Tried to use the immersion for hot water but with no joy. Failed to tackle problem systematically with a multimeter and assumed 25yo timer was titzup. Turned out to be the isolator.
New one purchased but still no joy. Examination disclosed live feed had detached. Down to garage and pull relevant CB.
Attepting to reconnect it gave me a kick.
Turned out the CB hadn't clicked to off and was still feeding 240 volts.
Ouch!!!
Always check twice!!
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 19 Apr 26 at 16:31
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www.screwfix.com/p/lap-vtwrcd-contact-voltage-tester-400v-ac/159ym
Cheap, effective, and simple. Don't use a multimeter, it's too easy to touch a probe accidentally.
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I use one of these.....
tinyurl.com/yepm3y64
...mine must be over 40yrs old. Also, wear rubber soles and don't touch anything with your other hand. I remember being thrown to the floor as a teenager when lifting the metal arm of a 1960s HMV Portable radiogram 2011 (still available on ebay!) with one hand....and with the other hand on a warm metal radiator. It was apparently a 'live chassis' model!!
Electricians of yore would just brush a contact with their callused dry finger to see if there was a tingle....perhaps they still do? Domestic 240volts rarely kills anyone, in stark contrast to motor cars!
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>
>> Electricians of yore would just brush a contact with their callused dry finger to
>> see if there was a tingle.
My ole man was a corporation plumber. He would wipe a lead/copper joint with his thumb to tidy the molten lead up. He taught me how to make the joint but on the few times I've needed to do it I've always used a scrap of card !
Ted
>>
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>... and don't touch anything with your other hand.
>Electricians of yore would just brush a contact with their callused dry finger to see if there was a tingle....perhaps they still do?
I was taught
Brush the suspect cable with the back of your hand. If you get a jolt then muscles will contract and your hand will close pulling said hand away.
A couple of of other gems
To note that electrician, when up a step ladder, keep one hand in their trouser pocket to avoid completing a circuit to earth.
If not obeying this suggestion and they get a jolt then kick the step ladder over to break the circuit.
Elf n Safety has changed since then.
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>> Also, wear rubber soles and don't touch anything with
>> your other hand.
Though afterwards I was lucky to be upstairs, wearing plastic soled shoes and, critically, not touching the cistern or it's pipework.
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I mind back in early 90s, in my first flat, changing a light fitting in the living room. Switched off at wall, up a ladder and I find myself with an extra wire.
Not sure what it is so phone my electrician mate on my cordless house phone with the big long metal telescopic aerial that these had while I am on top of the ladder holding the lighting rose in my other hand.
To be told thats a looped live wire that runs through the whole house and will still be live even when the light switch is off at the wall.
I have never got off a ladder so quickly and ever since then, no matter what I am doing electrically in the house, the mains is always switched off.
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>> To be told thats a looped live wire that runs through the whole house and
>> will still be live even when the light switch is off at the wall.
I was similarly ignorant until reading up on the subject in a DIY book my parents gave me when I moved into my joint rental with Mrs B.
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<< To be told that's a looped live wire that runs through the whole house and will still be live even when the light switch is off at the wall. >>
I thought everyone knew that both power and lighting circuits are (should be) on a ring main consisting of live, neutral and earth ? Switch just completes a circuit for the lamp between live and neutral, which may be done from two places with 'corridor' switching. Ring main also feeds each power point round both sides of the ring, spreading the load a bit.
Last edited by: Andrew-T on Tue 21 Apr 26 at 14:39
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Ring mains for sockets and lighting are a British peculiarity on the whole, as most of the rest of the world uses radial circuits. Perhaps because we were at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and the Victorians built so many houses before electrification became widespread there wasn’t the appetite to tear a house apart to retrofit radial circuits. Or perhaps we just liked the fact was cheaper as it used less copper!
At the risk of sounding, and indeed being, old by repeating myself I think I have posted on here before that, as a fresh faced graduate who had just joined BTR in ‘92, I along with 5 other equally inexperienced grads was tasked with writing a set of training manuals for electricians to help explain the then new 16th edition regs in basic terms. Who better to explain the difference between cable and flex, lights and lamps, resistance and impedance, MCBs and RCDs, volts, amps and watts than a bunch of 22/22 year-olds who, at best, might have wired a plug and experienced a DC electric shock from a train set ;)
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Ring mains became thing after the Second World War. Radial circuits use more copper wire. There was a critical shortage of copper which was very expensive . To ensure the mass building of homes could continue radial circuits were abandoned in favour of the ring circuit.
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>> Ring mains became thing after the Second World War. Radial circuits use more copper wire.
>> There was a critical shortage of copper which was very expensive . To ensure the
>> mass building of homes could continue radial circuits were abandoned in favour of the ring
>> circuit.
And excellent sense they make as well.
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>> I thought everyone knew that both power and lighting circuits are (should be) on a
>> ring main consisting of live, neutral and earth ?
Older circuits were radial with each room typically having its own feed. In 1969 my parents moved to a largish inter war house on what was still regarded as a pretty posh part of the district.
The circuit for the 4th bedroom was still labelled as 'Maid's Room'.
In 1985 Mrs B and I rented Edwardian semi converted to flats. The flat itself had been rewired but the lobby at the bottom of the stairs still had a light on a radial circuit the flex of which was perished rubber with bits of conductor visible.
I nipped into Robert Dyas, bought a length of 2 core, ceiling rose and light socket and replaced it witihn the hour.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 22 Apr 26 at 07:21
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>> I thought everyone knew that both power and lighting circuits are
>> (should be) on a ring main consisting of live, neutral and earth ?
The loop method for lighting is discouraged now over simply running the supply to the switch first.
Last edited by: Fursty Ferret on Thu 23 Apr 26 at 09:25
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>> The loop method for lighting is discouraged now over simply running the supply to the switch first. >>
What are the advantages ? I'm not sure whether it saves much cable ?
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I think that smart controls often (always?) need a permanent neutral at the switch don’t they? But I think the key advantage is that it makes it easier and quicker to test / diagnose faults, and easier / safer to swap light fittings so fewer electrocuted householders ;)
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"No neutral" smart switches are available...
E.G. tinyurl.com/34zv4mzs tinyurl.com/dkwr4wrp
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I don't think I'd buy any electrical goods from Ali Express.
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Why not? Often the same stuff as you get on Amazon/eBay just much cheaper (though not as cheap as it once was)
Not many British manufacturers of some of that stuff these days anyway...
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 23 Apr 26 at 23:55
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>> Why not? Often the same stuff as you get on Amazon/eBay just much cheaper
What you mean is its slightly less for the same unsafe tat, if branded - frequently fake tat
When it comes down to it, if I am dealing with mains wiring (or high current situations elsewhere) Its branded European stuff from an known electrical wholesaler.
Check out big clive on youtube for reasons why
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<< What you mean is its slightly less for the same unsafe tat, if branded - frequently fake tat
When it comes down to it, if I am dealing with mains wiring (or high current situations elsewhere) Its branded European stuff from an known electrical wholesaler. >>
As a generality, when it comes down to it, you have to believe (or not) what is on the label for anything - which includes (for example) the list of ingredients on any packaged food you buy.
An example - I just had the rear springs on my 207SW replaced; my indy said a pair offered on Ebay for £25 would be junk, and I should get a reputable make such as Sachs, which he said would be about £60 each. He is a trustworthy guy, but that seemed a lot to me so I had another look on Ebay. Could get them direct from Germany at £35; kept looking and found them for £24 from a place in Kent selling them on from Europarts. As the springs were not actually marked SACHS I was suspicious, so asked a few questions and was assured they were genuine Sachs springs. They were put on the car yesterday and everyone seems happy.
Last edited by: Andrew-T on Fri 24 Apr 26 at 09:55
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Make Double Sure Its Off!! - Fursty Ferret
