Repairing boats

[LadyG]

10 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Apparently I have illegally installed an outside socket to run a pond pump. It appears I should have paid an electrician a few hundred quid to drill a hole in the wall and connect three wires. And I connected the cooker...

The rules are daft, even dafter than the Boat Safety...

I used to do a bit of gardening, professionally and it was amazing what people had done in the way of garage electrics, in a bad way!

These were older house owners, the guys who left school at fifteen. My  RCD just refused to work, so it saved me from being electrocuted!

[Arthur Marshall]

23 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I used to do a bit of gardening, professionally and it was amazing what people had done in the way of garage electrics, in a bad way!

These were older house owners, the guys who left school at fifteen. My  RCD just refused to work, so it saved me from being electrocuted!

First flat I lived in, the telly went off if you trod on a certain floorboard. One house had been wired up by my partner's exhusband, a plumber, all the wires were just twisted together and if you left the immersion on too long the house filled with the smell of burming rubber.

I do still enjoy fixing up bits of the boat, I just can't stand up very easily the next day. I still can't afford to hire someone. And I've got a landing stage to sort next week...

[Quattrodave]

It always amazes me how impractical some people are.  I seem to have acquired a bit of a name for myself at the marina for repairing things, not that I want to spend my time working on other people's boats but I just can't say no when someone asks for help... a few weeks ago someone came knocking asking if I could help as they're "boat wasn't working". I was a little perplexed by this so asked them to show me.  Turned out they meant the engine wouldn't start, to be more accurate it wouldn't turn over.  I asked where the isolator was and got a blank look and "I don't know" asked where that battery was, same answer... Got the test meter out, battery dead.  Asked where the battery charger was, met with another blank look.  Turns out they'd unplugged the shore power as they didn't know what it was and not visited the boat for a few years ?!?! 

Edited June 29, 2022 by Quattrodave

[john.k]

.....When I was working,a lot of the younger ones didnt have licences or operational cars.......they use to ride bikes to work with rusty chains and wheels that squeeked as they turned..I used to give them a squirt of oil ....every one had a car "that belongs to my brothers ex - girlfriend " that would ocassionally sally forth onto the roads without benefit of registration or insurance...One kid was a hero ,because he could do a 180 skid park,and burnouts after work until he burst a tyre....he was a good kid ,good worker ,until he got behind the wheel....he said he had six months jail waiting for unpaid fines.

[George and Dragon]

18 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I think it said on the gubbins that came with the socket that legally it had to be installed by a registered electrician. It may well not have told the truth.

AFAIK that has no standing in England and Wales. It's true in Scotland (all electrical work must be undertaken by a qualified electrician). I don't know the position in Northern Ireland.