Ynot Blog

BEST EARTH CONNECTION EVER                                                                                            28 October, 2017

Is this the best way to connect the cpc (earth) wires together within a junction box?

Surely the two wires joined with the blue crimped butt connector should be connected to the other two earth wires in the junction boxes screwed terminal?

PORCELAIN FUSES                                                                                                                   6 September, 2017

What a piece of art! They don't make them like this any more.

A cast metal fuse box with porcelain fuses and fuse holders. It even gives the wire gauge sizes for the rated current. This is the sort of equipment that you would see in an old B movie.

I love it!

CORRODED KITCHEN SOCKET                                                                                                     23 June, 2017

A badly rusted kitchen socket and rear metal back box.

The fixing point for the faceplate screws have totally rusted away, and so the faceplate cannot be secured to the back box.

The metal back box and the chrome 2 gang faceplate have both been replaced, along with a new wall tile that was cracked while removing the back box.

LETS BEE FRIENDS                                                                                                                           16 June, 2017

Found a small hive of bees in a loft the other day!

Reports say that these bees only live in a small colony of up to 150 bees.

Still, 150 hot and angry bees are 150 bees too many!

Better leave them bee for the time beeing, and hope that they move out at the end of the summer.

WARNING.....DANGER!!!!                                                                                                                   31 May, 2017

Is this the worst (or best, depending on your point of view?) example of how not to connect the electricity meter to the fuse box?

Both the meter tails have been extended twice, via Henley connection blocks, one of which, on each meter tail have no covers, are dangeously exposed, and are live at 230V. They are not secured to the wall, but simply hang under their own weight and are free to move about!

Just waiting for the big bang!

M   I   C   K   E   Y    M O U S E                                                                                                            21 May, 2017

Funny what you find under some floorboards!

Could this be an unknown fossil of an undiscovered dinosaur from millions of years ago?

A Dinomouseosaurus perhaps?

No, it’s just a mouse, maybe Sniff or Scurry, who didn’t find his cheese, after it was all moved in the night from Cheese Station ‘C’!

KITCHEN DOWNLIGHTS                                                                                                                    25 April, 2017

Is this the best way to connect downlights in the kitchen?

This unprotected connection block supplied a single transformer powering five 12V halogen lamps. The transformer should not be directly connected to the mains supply, but be connected via a fused switch. The wall socket should be covered with this switched FCU. Without this switched fused connection unit (FCU) how is it possible to disconnect the supply to safely change the bulbs? 

BATHROOM ELECTRICS                                                                                                                   22 April, 2017

Recently found this cable poking out of the wall, about two feet above the sink in a newly refurbished bathroom. The cable was about a foot long, and is live, as shown by the red glow from the voltage tester.

It used to supply a shaver socker with a bathroom pull cord light, that was removed when the bathroom was refurbished, and no longer required.

The end of the live wire was simply covered in a piece of insulation tape.

THE LIVE, THE SWITCH AND THE WARDROBE                                                                           27 March, 2017

Recently discovered this little beauty at the back of a built in wardrobe. No cover to protect accidental contact with the conductors from hands or coat-hangers etc., and a faulty and damadge junction box. This was supplying two 13A sockets supplied from the upstairs lighting circuit (the 5A fuse wire had been replaced with 15A fuse wire, and the earth conductor was not connected to the lighting circuit).

This wardrobe won't take you to Narnia, but you might get to see A & E!

Or you could use a metal coat-hanger to see the big bang!