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Posted By: Trumpy Don't waste my time!! - 12/01/06 01:03 PM
Guys,
A local electrician here had a falling out with a builder (aka GC) and refused supply to the place because he was not allowed to install what he called a safe supply to his co-workers.
No worries folks, the GC went straight to the Power Company and got me to come and hook up his set-up to our lines.
This was all very well, until I got there and saw what he had in mind:

[Linked Image]

I said, get the other guy back, I want weather-proof gear and at least an RCD and an isolator on that.
Before even thinking about hooking that up to the mains.
Good Grief!. [Linked Image]
Posted By: electure Re: Don't waste my time!! - 12/02/06 08:10 PM
What the heck is THAT supposed to be?

I see a couple of receptacles, a couple of insulators, and ?????

[Linked Image]

Is it even fused?
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Don't waste my time!! - 12/02/06 11:04 PM
" An RCD!? I'm not paying good money for you to listen to music all day!

- And you can buy your own raincoat!"


[This message has been edited by Alan Belson (edited 12-02-2006).]
Posted By: napervillesoundtech Re: Don't waste my time!! - 12/03/06 12:09 AM
Electure, thats a great pic! Ha ha. Awful panel, though.
Posted By: pauluk Re: Don't waste my time!! - 12/03/06 12:15 AM
Quote
Is it even fused?
That looks like a fuse carrier just above the receptacles.
Posted By: Theelectrikid Re: Don't waste my time!! - 12/03/06 05:31 AM
"Power company lines," "Mains," "GC/Builder," and "Hook up to that," should not be used in conjunction with that photo!

Ian A.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 12-03-2006).]
Posted By: Elviscat Re: Don't waste my time!! - 12/03/06 07:13 PM
that looks something the GC spent an afternoon on and thinks is a briliant peice of electrical creativity i.e."this here box wit' a couple plugs and a fuse (I think I see one...) 'tached to some spare cable from my last job works and only costs 1/48 of what the dumb 'lectrician wanted for a temp service"
Posted By: Trumpy Re: Don't waste my time!! - 12/03/06 10:42 PM
Guys,
Perhaps an explanation of what this thing is would be handy. [Linked Image]
This is what is known in these parts as a "Builders Temporary Supply" unit.

Although this particular one does look pretty basic, this type of format was used here for many years, through the 1960's to the 1990's.

The coil of black wires and insulators would have been hooked up to the top of a temporary pole and the wires run to the nearest overhead (230V 1 phase + neutral) lines, fed via a pole fuse on the supplying pole.
That length of cable that comes out of that small Mains-entry box, that looks like Romex, would then be run (and clipped) down the (wooden) pole.
The box itself would then be screwed to the pole and used as a supply for a building site, until the service line to the house could be installed.

Sure, this set-up might have been OK in the 70's, but the rules have changed somewhat since then.
For a start, there is no isolator for this "installation", the only way that you can shut the power off to the box as a whole is remove the pole fuse.
That fuse (usually a 20A rewirable type) only isolates the two sockets below it.
The fuseholders in these units used to have a really hard life, because if the supply went down, chances are "somebody" would make sure that it didn't happen again, often with a much larger piece of wire being used as the fuse element.
If you were lucky, the pole fuse would blow, if you weren't, the smell of burning plastic from the length of wire between the mains entry box to the supply box would be a likely scenario.
Them two sockets with no switches, wouldn't comply here now (in this type of situation, at least).
Weather-proof enclosures and RCD's are pretty much the norm on building sites here these days.
One thing I seem to remember about these boxes, is the fact that there was no strain relief to the socket and the plug connected to it, often you could open the lid on the box and smell ozone and see the plug of an extension cord hanging halfway out of a socket, the contacts in the socket used to get worn out pretty quick too.
Oh one final thing, the reason why everything seems to be over to one side in that box, back when these units were quite prevalent, there was a regulation here that said you had to provide room for a revenue meter (kWh), however, Power Companies here hardly ever used to provide meters and charged a flat rate for the period of construction, but you still had to provide room in the box for the meter!. [Linked Image]
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