PARTICK GLASGOW ELECTRICIANS - TIPS AND TRICKS

TIPS AND TRICKS FROM AN ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR

Amps, By Multiplication: follow us on Facebook 

Dividing shortcut, Hey if your like me, when you’re trying to figure out how many amps. a piece of Equipment draws, long division is a hassle and I usually get it wrong, but multiplying is a lot easier. Well with this shortcut you can use multiplication instead of division to divide watts by volts.
Example: usual way to figure how many amps. in 5000 watts with a voltage of 240 volts is to
divide 5000/240=20.88 amps.


Shortcut : You multiply the watts 5000 by the reciprocal of 240 which will give you the same answer as dividing.

208=.004807
230=.004347
277=.003610
480=.002083
Shortcut Example:
watts x reciprocal=amps
5000 x .008333=41.66
5000 x .004807=24.03
5000 x .004347=21.73
5000 x .003610=18.05
5000 x .002083=10.41

By the way to get the reciprocal of a number divide 1 by the number you want the reciprocal of the result is the reciprocal

Anti-itch Remedy For Insulation: 

How often do you have to work in an attic or lay in ceiling that has insulation? Well, there is a remedy that will keep the itch a way. Take a bottle of baby powder or corn starch and apply it to your hands, arms, neck and a face (be carefull not to get in your eyes). The powder protects your skin from the insulation and prevents the irritation and
itching

Locating Locations In Attic With Ease: After your customer decides where they want the new devices installed in existing drywalls, you can drill (or nail) a 1/8 hole at these locations into the attic (or floor), push a bare #14 CU about 3 feet long into the 1/8 hole then go into the attic or crawl space and locate where you want to drill the hole. The shinny copper wire is really visible with flashlight in dark attics or crawlspaces.

Use a Ballon to Plug Unused Conduits: An inexpensive way to plug unused conduits is to use a balloon and spray foam. First the balloons were blown up to fit the conduit snugly and then the balloon was pushed about 6 inches back into the conduit and then filled with foam. The conduits can be opened easily for future use

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Electrical Testing EICR - Electrical installation Condition Report

ELECTRICAL CONTRACOTR GLASGOW

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What is an EICR?

An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is as the name implies a report into the condition of the electrical installation and to highlight any safety shortcomings, defects or deviations from the current revision of the electrical regulations BS7671.

Who should perform an EICR?

An electrical installation condition report should be performed by a competent electrician with the necessary experience and extensive knowledge of the type of installation that he or she is testing.

Are there any considerations that you need to be aware of when you commission an electrician to conduct an EICR?

When an EICR is performed on the property the electrician will need to disconnect the installation from the mains electrical power supply; depending on the size of the property this can be anywhere from an hour or two to a whole day, some larger installations especially commercial or industrial installations can take days or even weeks.

The electrician needs to switch off and disconnect the power for reasons of safety and also for the purpose of being able to apply the correct test to the relevant electrical circuit. The disconnection of the power supply is of course going to be an inconvenience for those that are using the building at the time, especially if the disconnection of the power impacts on the running of a business or other critical operation.

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Who needs an EICR?

Although for privately owned domestic properties it is not a statutory requirement to have an EICR performed on the electrical installation, it is advisable that the electrical installation of all properties are tested and inspected at regular intervals and no longer than once every ten years.

For privately rented properties it might not be a statutory requirement, although that is dependent on the area that you live in. It is important to ensure that all electrical appliances and fittings within the property are safe and in good working order, as you can still be held liable if there is an injury caused by an unsafe electrical installation.

For a House of Multiple Occupancy or an HMO, it has been a statutory requirement for over five years; it states that the building management should;

 ‘ensures that every fixed electrical installation is inspected and tested at intervals not exceeding five years by a person qualified to undertake such inspection and testing’

It is a statutory requirement that commercial properties and properties where the public have access; are regularly checked and that an EICR is perform on the electrical services. The period between inspections is determined by the function and the use of the building.

What are the processes of an EICR?

Visual inspection:

This is where the electrician will survey the electrical installation before he/she commences with the electrical testing. The visual inspection will highlight broken or cracked devices, where devices may have been installed in the wrong location, or if there have been overloading or over heating problems.

Electrical testing with the use of electrical test meters, including:

Dead testing

• Continuity testing: a test to check if there are any badly connected    conductors (wires)

• Insulation resistance testing: this test is to make sure that the electrical insulation material surrounding the conductors is intact.

• Polarity: this test is to check that the connection are connected in the right sequence
• Earthing arrangement testing: this check is to make sure that the earthing arrangement complies with regulations and that all connections are sound.

Live testing

• Earth fault loop impedance testing: this test is to check that if a fault did occur, that the system meets requirements to cause a disconnection of the supply within the time limit specified

• RCD testing: on modern electrical systems RCD’s and RCBO’s are regularly fitted, these devices react to electricity missing from the circuit or installation such as when a person is receiving an electric shock as the electricity passes through his body to the ground (earth)