DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Electrical Work

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Another week and another BLOB of taped up electrical connectors! This cowboy also forgot to sleeve and terminate the earth, add a proper cover and allow for strain relief on the cables, oh and improper ventilation.  But I suspect that he didn’t allow for doing the job correctly as he was probably the same guy that dry lined the dropped ceiling and just added the recessed down-lights because he thought he knew how? I’m guessing that he didn’t.

When we arrived to the complaint of something burning we were met the cable pictured below which had been burned clean through. The cable insulation could no longer  withstand the heat of the lamp underneath it. The dropped ceiling is deep enough for the heat output of halogen lamps. The heat build up from the eight lamps and eight transformers is too high for the ventilation provided. When I explained about the heat build up I was told that the bedroom floor above the lounge was always hot and the carpet had ‘hardened’ in the areas directly above the lamps!!! The smell of slow roasted carpets over oak flooring should be a pretty good indication that something is seriously wrong.

So the quick solution was to replace the single transformer and repair the connections properly so that they can turn the lights on. The proper solution however is to replace the lamps with cooler running units next week and eliminate the problem altogether.

We see these types of problems all of the time. Most are not this bad but the majority of clients find that either light bulbs burn out all of the time or that the transformers are always needing replacement. There must be enough ventilation to get rid of the heat generated by the lamps and the transformers. A ceiling that has been dropped by four or five inches is usually not enough unless other steps have been taken. If the ceiling cannot be lowered down to ten or twelve inches then a different lighting solution may be required. Purchase LED lamps or the newer cool running lamps instead. They cost about double the price of a cheap halogen lamp but you’ll save in the long run from lower operating costs, you won’t require the services of an electrician every so often and you won’t burn your house down. Bonus!

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