Aston'S Electrical

Due to other commitments, I shall not be taking on any new electrical work at this time. I am leaving this page visible so that anyone interested may still be able to glean information from it in the hope that you are able to use it wisely.
If circumstances change, you shall all be the first to know.
Regards
... Aston’s Electrical
See more

I appreciate that I do not post many of my jobs on here but I thought this was worth bringing to your attention. If you want to see more of my work let me know. I'll try and post bits and pieces that you may be interested in from time to time.
I have completed on a job yesterday whereby the electric heating circuit was tripping constantly, either on or off at the fused connection units.
There were a number of small panel heaters on one circuit and the RCBO would not stay en...ergised.
After spending some time tracing and splitting the circuit the fault was traced to a curtain rail hook.
This type of fault is typical when people do not understand or pay no attention to electrical safe zones. In this instance the drill had gone through the cable that was feeding one of the panel heaters.
A section of the wall was removed to facilitate a repair to the cable before the piece of plasterboard being placed back utilising a piece of wood behind to screw into. All tests were carried out for the circuit which passed with flying colours.
A decorator then came round to fill in the holes and fit a curtain rail baton above the windows for the curtain rail hooks to affix to.
A costly mistake for the owner although I have to allow them some leeway as the fused connection unit was spurred from behind the heater where there was a junction.
If in doubt, call an electrician.
See more

Weekly Post
Well this has been a long time coming.
This week I am going to provide you with a link to a page on the NICEIC (National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting) website.
... It is a campaign aimed at banning the bravado. It aims to raise awareness of the very real dangers presented by electrics and encourage people to avoid electrical DIY at all costs and instead choose a professional.
The link provides information on what 'Ban the Bravado' is, case studies and factsheets on electrical installations in different parts of your house. You can also use the link to find registered electricians in your area.
There are also a couple of light hearted videos on the dangers of DIY electrics and a rogues gallery (for which I have posted a couple of prime examples of very poor DIY electrics.
In the coming weeks I intend to publish the factsheets on these pages to ensure a large as possible distribution.
www.niceic.com/banthebravado
See more

Examples of poor installations. If you have electrics in your home that look like this or you think something isn't quite right. It is probably time you called an electrician.

Weekly Tips 9
Firstly, may I apologise for the time between the last weekly post (8) and this one. I recently had other priorities and unfortunately these posts were shelved until an appropriate time. However, normal service is now resumed.
I would also like to ask, if you find these posts useful and there is a topic you would like to see. Please leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.
...Continue reading

Accompanying photos for weekly tips 8

Weekly Tips 8
What is an RCD?
An RCD, or residual current device, is a life-saving device which is designed to prevent you from getting a fatal electric shock if you touch something live, such as a bare wire. It can also provide some protection against electrical fires. RCDs offer a level of personal protection that ordinary fuses and circuit-breakers cannot provide.
...Continue reading

Accompanying photos for weekly tips 7

Weekly Tips 7
Fuseboxes
A fusebox, also known as a consumer unit (dependant on type), should be easy to find and is where the electricity in your home is controlled and distributed.
... It’s important that you know where your fusebox is in case you ever need to turn the electricity off in an emergency.
It contains three things – the main switch, fuses and/or circuit breakers, and Residual Current Devices.
Main Switch – this allows you to turn off the electricity supply to your home. You might have more than one mains switch, for example if your home has electric storage heaters. In this case you may have a separate fusebox.
Residual Current Devices (RCD) these are switches that trip a circuit under dangerous conditions, and instantly disconnect the electricity.
For more on RCDs please read next week’s tips.
Miniature Circuit Breakers (MCB) – these are automatic protection devices in the fusebox that switch off a circuit if they detect a fault (overload). They are similar in size to fuses, but give more precise protection. When they ‘trip’, you can simply reset the switch. But make sure you correct the fault first.
There are also devices that combine the MCB and RCD into one device. These are known as Residual current operated Circuit Breaker with Overcurrent protection (RCBO).
With the introduction of 18th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS 7671:2018) new devices may also be required to fitted on all new board changes but your electrician will be able to advise you on these. The first is an Arc Fault Detection Device (AFDD), only advisory at present but will detect hidden internal damage to a cable and turn off the circuit. AFDD’s are currently expensive and take up a lot of space in the consumer unit so the initial take up will be slow until they become mandatory to fit. The second is a Surge Protection Device (SPD) and dependant on the location in the country and calculations that the electrician must perform will determine if these are required in your installation or not.
Fuses (may be found in place of circuit breakers) – re-wirable fuses have a piece of special fuse wire running between two screws. When a fault or overload current flows through the fuse wire, it will become hot and melt. The melted fuse breaks the circuit, disconnecting the faulty circuit and keeping you safe.
If your fusebox has a wooden back, cast iron switches, or a mixture of fuses it is likely that it dates back to before the 1960s and should be replaced.
Accompanying pictures will be posted so you will be able to identify what you are looking at.
If in doubt, give me a call.
See more

Accompanying photos for Weekly Tips 6

Weekly Tips 6
Lamps (you plant bulbs)
There are a myriad of different types of lamp fittings dependant on manufacturer but for the purposes of this week’s tips I shall concentrate on the main fittings.
...Continue reading

Accompanying photos for Weekly Tips 5.

Weekly Tips 5
Good afternoon everyone. Hope your Bank Holiday Monday is progressing well. As discussed last week, this weeks tips is on the fuse you would find in a standard domestic plug.
How does a fuse work?
...Continue reading

Accompanying pictures for weekly tips 4.

Aston's Electrical will be taking a short break until Tuesday 28th Aug 18. Your calls may go to answer machine, however I will still be accepting calls and messages but I may not get back to you straight away.
Tips will still be posted on Sunday 19th and 26th.
To everyone taking a break, enjoy yourself.

Cable route safe zones.