Rather agree. But it did have the singular advanatge that a gennie makes some noise and would eventually run out of fuel! A 13A-to-13A plug lead is silent and would be much more likely to catch the unwary.
If the company fuse is out, there is no certainty whatsoever that the installation is itself safe in any way. Making it live is simply queueing for a Darwin award.
If the fuse is out on the Live (line) conductor (neutral still connected) and the wiring to this dangerous 13amp plug is back to front then this will introduce another danger I think.
Put one of those £8 RCD plug/sockets at your end before the builder plugs in - and test the RCD in your consumer unit by pushing the button...
And get the money up front!
But the builder using extension leads (and not the unknown shop wiring) would be safer
Im not sure of the problems with having two earths - yours and the one in the shop
[g]
The happiest Darwin scenario is if no fuses are out and the two flats are on different phases ;-)
As with ll thee things its a good idea IF you know what is going on and IF you take teh corret precautions.
Elfin Safety is predicated on the assumption that you are a complete numpty who must at all costs be protected from your own actions. Or originally (and with some justification) from your employers greedy fascist capitalist corner cutting actions. Allegedly. And that legislation is a substitute for understanding and good safe working practice.
Or the fuse in the plug might just blow.
Yes, I know it could be 415V but I reckon it would clear the fault on a dead short, zero power factor on an extension lead.
Still a very stupid idea though.
naa, thats a relatively small safety issue. Fuse goes bang, end of. Both neutrals will be at or very close to 0v.
NT
could hardly be more wrong
And yet you give advice on something that could put the man in prison.
If it goes wong he will.
Wonder if the insurance would pay out.
hardly. The risk isnt massive, but yes these things can and do go wrong.
NT
No Adam, im not a spammer.
In which case,
I would offer the builder the use of one 13A extension lead that is fully unwound and supplied via an RCD supply and state that it must not be used to power the ring in the shop.
If it only the company fuse that is missing in the shop most electricians can usually find a spare fuse in their van and the builder could have his own power. It is only on drug raids that I have seen power totally removed to the building
Adam
If the builder intends to run a 3 KW heater 24/7, that would be about
500 units a week.If your cost is 10p per unit (and it is probably more than that, possible much more), that would be 50 pounds a week.
Is his offer going to cover your costs? It might sound a lot now...
And would any builder offer any more than necessary? If you are going to take it up, make sure he raises his offer.
Others have told you it's a wholly unsafe means of connecting the supply. Please just take it as such and tell the builder if he wants electricity, contact the local electricity company and ask for a supply.
I had to attend two or three fatalities where people had been doing electrically unsafe things. It isn't a nice experience.
Is that before or after the fuses in the plugs blow?
I might, but I would make a metal bracket to screw the plug into the socket so the pins can never become live and unshielded. However its probably easier to wire the lead into the consumer unit where the feeders usually go and it is a lot safer.
Two or three? I think I would know exactly how many.
Actually, the Health and Safety at Work Acts themselves don't regard legislation as a substitute for understanding and good working practise - in fact understanding and good working practise is what they mandate. The problem is that what they also require is some thought, and a large number of people seem to find this difficult. The acts thus become an excuse for jobsworths to say "No".
Alright, what's the worse case senario for the OP? Blown fuse? The OP isn't responsible for any idiocy that the builder might get up to.
The *builder* might, not the OP.
Okay, you tell me what might happen at the *OPs* end of the wire other than a blown fuse.
Tim
If its done by a stupid person its a stupid idea, if done by a clever person its a clever idea.
When I were a 'prentice at the Marconi company, the required service tool for the high power Magnetron racks, was a sixpenny piece, that allowed the microswitch that cut the lethal HT to the thing when the door was opened, to be jammed on.
You couldn't service/test them without it.
If they haven't cross wired the rings! This is a competition to find the 'chernobyl' combination of utter stupidity and failure to follow procedure, and get the worst result.
Maybe one was an open verdict.
[gruesome]Or the bodies were really badly incinerated.
Owain
Two were electrical, one was a sparky with many years experience trying to complete work at the distribution point of a small industrial unit whilst keeping supply on so the place could keep working.
Another was a householder who chopped through the cable on his lawnmower and apparently picked up the ends of the cable without first switching off.
Both of which prove that people really do the most stupid things, and which could apply in the scenario under discussion.
The third was presumed electrical until the fire brigade could recover the body when it was found to be non-electrical.
A fourth, which wasn't at all relevant to this discussion was some contractors moving equipment at a grain store using a fork lift, straight into an 11kv o/h line.
Oh and that has excluded the couple of times I had to visit fire scenes to try and ascertain if there was an electrical cause.
None of them were pleasant experiences.
Have I made myself clear enough now?
Very little, except he 'could' have a fatality on his conscience, not to mention a prosecution.
It's a stupid idea and needs stopping now, without further pointless ramblings from people who think they know better.
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