T i m wrote:
On 25 Apr 2006 20:52:17 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:
Don't forget to get them inspected and PAT tested regularly.
Sounds like a good idea but I've never seen a PAT tester in the flesh
(or anyone testing stuff with them but I'm sure they must do
somewhere?)
Well, they are a standard piece of electrical test equipment. They
aren't all suitable for testing everything, and some of them can do
testing much faster than others.
However, the inspection part of "Inspection and Testing" is very
much more important than the testing part. The inspection is the
part which finds the majority of faults, as most are down to visible
physical defects, and you pick these up with no more than a
screwdriver. A PAT tester can't see the cable is pulled out of the
cord grip, or a hot air paint stripper is being used as a hairdrier,
both of which are failures. So even if you don't have a PAT tester,
you can still get most of the benefits just by doing the inspection.
Don't forget to get the installation inspected and tested regularly,
Apart from big, formal companies who actually has this done (I guess
everyone should but to they)? The number of places I visited as a
I was really answering for a workplace where you've got employers
liability related to a number of Acts and insurance, and often frequent
changes in use of work areas. There isn't anywhere near as much
justification for doing this in the home, nor can a periodic inspection
and test be performed on domestic wiring as effectively as it can in
commercial premises.
Comms engineer where I would see the mains cable sheath pulled out of
the clamp on 13A plug top and trailing sockets etc ;-(
You should draw this to their attention.
And I wonder how many houses have the appropriate fuse in every plug?
Except for extension cords and old appliances which predate current
EU regs, you can use a 13A fuse in every plug. In much of the rest
of Europe, appliances are protected at 16A, and they have to be
designed to work across the whole EU market nowadays.
I'm not suggesting that you go and refit all your plugtop fuses at 13A,
but it's not really a problem if they already are.
and review the loading on circuits which might never have been
designed to handle the number of appliances now commonly used.
True, but again in the real world I wonder how often this happens? I
Larger companies take this more seriously, particularly US ones
in my experience (it's a much more serious issue with US wiring,
and they tend to presume the rest of the world has the same
poor wiring that they do).
--
Andrew