When I started my time the bible (AS3000) I went by was the 1985 edition followed by the 1991 edition. By the time that 1991 was superseded I was pretty much out of the trade and working as a manager. I am fairly sure that 1985 required both a stake and bonding of water pipes though and it should still be a current requirement. Perhaps before that the stake was an option. I have no way of verifying it unfortunately.

I've seen earth stakes made from a scrap of reo too. If it is long enough it would make a good earth but for how long is anyone's guess. Electrolysis due to dissimilar metals would eat the connection away in no time even if it was sealed from the weather.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I've seen earth stakes made from a scrap of reo too. If it is long enough it would make a good earth

I can't even be sure that this is driven into the ground to the required depth. For all I know it could be a bit of reo wired onto the concrete pathway's reo matrix itself. It would be interesting to have it meggered, etc, to establish its effectiveness as a main earth point.

The house in question is fairly new. It's a side-by-side duplex (what we used to call a semi) that replaced an old single dwelling.

If I was an installation inspector I would fail it because of the doubt that the stake would permanently form a good earth. These days there aren't too many of them around though and at most only 5% of new installs, alterations and additions are checked and even then it is usually just a quick looksee, especially if the electrician concerned has a good record. Inspectors from the former Prospect County Council were particularly vicious in their day and were known to fail an installation for fairly trivial breaches like two supporting clips on a run of cable being further than 300mm apart, etc. I support self regulation but the unfortunate side of it is that rough or illegal work can slip through the net.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I note in the oldest shed here, that where there is a cluster of wires, they have been soldered. No way the bonding on them is going to fail. The most annoying fail was from a genius who had managed to camouflage a joint on a post where he had joined the wires, not with a proper clamp, but with the open ended, tubular type. At one point the load managed to get to line maximum & it fused in its middle (not enough metal).

I am still astounded that it did not start a bushfire at the time, as it was in the right place to do so. With a few incidents around here over the years, I wonder how some electricians can claim to be one and if the person's who let them loose on an unsuspecting public, are still out there?

It would be interesting to see the distribution of earthing loads here, with the neutral & earth; with 4 sub fuse boxes and two distribution boxes with earths, plus a grid & 3 metal poles with neutral tied to them.

I would expect the neutral to be common to all lines as there is only one transformer.

Marc

I've seen a lot of rough stuff over the years and I never fail to be amazed at some of the things I see. Just when one thinks they've seen it all at least twice something else awaits around the corner and more often than not the problem is due to bone laziness rather than incompetence. It's like the road toll in a way. People die on the roads and few people care much about it because it is reported to us almost nightly and we become battle-hardened. Though politicians and the courts don't understand the root cause of avoidable accidents. They crap on about education campaigns and make it harder for beginners to get a drivers licence but they fail to understand that a lot of motor accidents are caused by people refusing to obey the law rather than being ignorant of the law. EG: I can drive down a six lane highway and be overtaken by others on both sides if I am in the middle lane. All those people know it is naughty to exceed the speed limit but they choose to do it anyway.

A rough electrician will most likely be in the same frame of mind. He'll think to himself, "this daft prick (the customer) won't find out because he never gets into the roofspace so I'll just patch this up licketty split, she'll be right, no worries and I will charge him the full price so he believes I went to the extra effort of doing the job correctly, and anyway, he'll probably cark it before the patch-up starts to cook". There'd be similar scenarios come into the minds of those simply not prepared to do the right thing every day I reckon.

I should point out that back in the days when I worked for myself only one customer ever asked to see my A-Grade licence. 99.99% of people just see an ad in the paper and assume it is legit. I was legit alright though who'd know? People were often far too casual about things and whilst I never took advantage of this there'd be a few out there who'd do that in a second.

In my last job, when I'd engage a contractor they couldn't set foot in the place I worked until I had a stack of paperwork relating to their business. Copies of all business and personal licences, OH&S white cards, registration of business names, work method statements, certificates of currency for workers compensation and public liability insurance, site induction renewal certificates - the lot. All this was updated yearly for a good 100+ contractors.

All this is a bit much for the average Joe to deal with but it is good to see licences. I don't know how other states deal with licence checks but in NSW anyone can do a lookup on a building licence on the NSW Government website if they know the name of the contractor and the licence number. It shows if the licence is current or not and if there are any restrictions, endorsements, cautions, suspensions, disqualifications, court orders and I think it may also show any fines or gaol sentences.

Nothing will show for someone who's never held a licence but they are risking a fine of $22,000.00 per offence for unlicenced building work.

Here is one of many classic examples.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

A rough electrician will most likely be in the same frame of mind.

What worries me these days about sparkies, and plumbers for that matter, is the number of "apprentices" they have on the job and the level of supervision, or otherwise, involved.

A mate of mine who has been in the plumbing game since the 1950s, told me that most of their grunt workers are not ticketed plumbers but "journeymen" who will never be good enough to get a trade ticket. I suspect a similar situation applies with many electrical contractors. And then there's the increasing numbers of electricians who don't have much English. Who gave them a full licence to operate in Oz? How and when did they pass an exam on AS/NZS3000?

Well, I just obtained batteries for my two clamp meters and took test readings on active of one phase at the main board (due to closeness of the cables I could only fit the tongs around one phase). I got 28A on one meter and 15.9A on the other, so either or both could be wrong. Will have to test the meters against a known one. I suspect I'll end up buying a new one.

I remember when a journeyman was a plumber in the fifth year of his trade, something that was abolished for electricians a long time ago though not sure why they kept it for plumbers and not really sure if they still have a fifth year now.

I remember when I got my licences I was exempt from the oral exam on the Wiring Rules because I worked for the government and that my apprenticeship was fairly wide ranging. This was a standard thing at the time but any applicant from the private sector had to do the exam, regardless. At the time it was something like 25 random questions with many of them from Section 5 (Earthing) and a pass was something like 22/25.

I've just had a look at the relevant website now and there is no mention of this exam so at this stage I can't confirm whether it is still a requirement or not. Many job advertisements for electricians and plumbers make mention of no requirement for a licence. Technically one doesn't need to be if they are just wire-jerking and under the supervision of a licence holder. The quality and compliance of an installation is down to the holder of the contractor's licence who signs whatever they call the Ready for Test certificate these days. The name of this document has changed a couple of times.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

As they rely on induction I've thought it prudent never to rely on them for an exact reading. One thing is for sure, the jaws have to be perfectly closed for them to read with any accuracy. Fluke make one that has fixed open jaws but they will only fit, at most, around a 16mm² SDI cable. A more accurate reading would be using an ammeter inline with the installation however you'd be at risk of shock and messing about with shunts and making sure connections are tight - it's just not worth it for this exercise.

Did you have both tong testers on the cable at once or test individually?

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

Did you have both tong testers on the cable at once or test individually?

I tested each individually, then both at once. Made sure jaws were closed. Models (both pretty old) are:

* TST 3030
* Kyoritsu KEW 2003 (this is a beauty -- pity if it's unreliable)

(I have no intention of using anything other than clamp meters for this exercise.)

2.8 amps on the MEN link in my block. The measurement was taken at 18:30 when most occupiers would have the heater on and be cooking tea. There's 18 flats here so that isn't too bad I don't think. I think the more I ponder on the SC article the more I think it is somewhat alarmist and as was conceded in the article, the issues are well known to both electricians and plumbers.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I used my Fluke 33 True RMS Clamp Meter with 0v at the water meter and 0v at the earth stake.
Peter

Thanks for the readings, folks.

I think the more I ponder on the SC article the more I think it is somewhat alarmist

The article's title is definitely in the Shock! Horror! category, and Leo Simpson does tend to like those sorts of topics, but his 55% struck me as far too high to be considered normal. If EA considers that normal, then it doesn't say much for their neutral connections.

QUOTE: On the question of earth stakes, I noted at a friend's (rented) place today that under their switchboard the main earth cable is attacked to what seems to me to be a rusty piece of 'reo' rod cemented in between the brick wall and the concrete path.

In the USA that's a "Ufer ground". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufer_ground.

Brad, drop by http://www.electrical-contractor.net/ a web site forum for electricians mostly in the USA, though there are people from the world there as well.

Violations of the electrical code can be found here:-
http://www.electrical-contractor.net/forums/ubbthreads.php/forums/4/1/Violation_Photo_Forum.html.

Thread about Australian wiring methods, specifically no boxes?
http://www.electrical-contractor.net/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/212232/Australia_wall_boxes_not_requi.html#Post212232.

Yep, that's how Gyprock (a trademark of CSR Ltd and what Aussies call drywall) walls are set up here and always have been. The standards require a shroud to be over the back of the plate if there is more than one phase present but apart from that it's all good. RCDs will usually trip when arcing on a loose connection occurs - this is an accidental quirk present in RCDs, as far as I know they aren't necessarily designed to do that.

That said, most electrical fires in Australia still occur as a result of a faulty appliance than from faulty hard wiring.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...