Thread: A 3HP (15A rated) DC in a shed

Originally Posted by Moph

Sorry but I'm not a sparky. I'm a structural engineer....I hold no electrical qualifications. I do have a lot more experience than the average sparky in the interpretation of Australian Standards though - it's my bread and butter. I doubt that. Electricians use AS3000 every single day for every job they do. They have to hand over a legal document for every job that says their work complies with the standards and are subject to inspections to ensure they comply. They are also legally liable for that work for the life of the job. Not 3 months or 12 months warranty period, until it is altered by another electrician or decommissioned.

In all likelihood you'll be met with blank stares and bluster, in which case move on to the next sparky. I would suggest asking them when you initially make contact (first phone call) whether they're comfortable using maximum demand by limitation rather than the calculation method guidelines in Appendix C. If they're not, keep phoning around.

I am an electrician and all I will say on this is if you need advice on electrical matters at home, ask your electrician. He is best qualified to give advice.
I know what I would tell you to do if you told me "some bloke on the internet with no electrical qualifications and no practical experience told me I can do it this way".

Originally Posted by NCArcher

I am an electrician and all I will say on this is if you need advice on electrical matters at home, ask your electrician. He is best qualified to give advice.
I know what I would tell you to do if you told me "some bloke on the internet with no electrical qualifications and no practical experience told me I can do it this way".

I would hope you would treat a potential customer the same as my medical specialist does when I challenge his recommended treatment for my condition that I found contrary advice to on the internet. He smiles and says, "been reading the internet again". After that he treats me with respect and dignity and explains in detail why he is making the recommendation. He doesn't treat me like a moron and just say 'cos I say so". He recognises I have significant technical expertise even if it is in a completely different field and can be spoken to in word of more than one syllable. I expect nothing more or nothing less. This common decency is what many tradies lack.

The worst tradies for this are probably mechanics, sprouting technobabble and fitting unnecessary parts and overcharging me for the privilege.
Then there are others like the gas fitter that I asked for a quote to install an extension to the piping underground and paid heavily for the privilege and come home to find the pipe along the wall and then he sprouts regs which are BS - he simply found the ground too hard and couldn't be fagged digging the trench.

I know that tradies and surgeons have equal amounts of stories of the consumers/patients from hell, but that does not mean consumers can and should challenge the "cos I say so" and whether it's a sparky, plumber or a surgeon, shop around until they find the service that suits them.

If you read my first post you will find I state in bold red "don't take my word for and get proper advice".

Bob
I think you have spent too much of your life working with smart people (and here I'm including most of your students.)

Over my career, I had the good fortune to work with many people in positions of supervisory authority who were only marginally literate. It's an experience I don't regret, but it sure as hell makes yiou stop and evaluate how you can communicate.

Originally Posted by ian

Bob
I think you have spent too much of your life working with smart people (and here I'm including most of your students.)

Over my career, I had the good fortune to work with many people in positions of supervisory authority who were only marginally literate. It's an experience I don't regret, but it sure as hell makes yiou stop and evaluate how you can communicate.

Cheers Ian.

I agree its all about communication and tradies, like all workers, should realise its an important part of their job. It's all too easy to just quote and hide behind regs.

In terms of levels of communications where ever you work its all relative.

I taught grade 9 science in high school for 7 years to some some of the most challenging students where a common response to questions was a grunt. In 1979 I had a class of 15 reject year 9s (nobody else would have then in their class). Amongst the incidents that year, one set fire to themselves, one turned a fire extinguisher onto another student, one sewed their fingers together with a sewing machine, and a female student threw a knife at me while I was writing on a blackboard. I was later to find out 1/3'rd have since done time. A successful lesson for that class was determined by "no fights", something put onto paper, and a smile on some of the kids faces.

Originally Posted by BobL

I would hope you would treat a potential customer the same as my medical specialist does when I challenge his recommended treatment for my condition that I found contrary advice to on the internet. He smiles and says, "been reading the internet again". After that he treats me with respect and dignity and explains in detail why he is making the recommendation. He doesn't treat me like a moron and just say 'cos I say so". He recognises I have significant technical expertise even if it is in a completely different field and can be spoken to in word of more than one syllable. I expect nothing more or nothing less. This common decency is what many tradies lack.

The worst tradies for this are probably mechanics, sprouting technobabble and fitting unnecessary parts and overcharging me for the privilege.
Then there are others like the gas fitter that I asked for a quote to install an extension to the piping underground and paid heavily for the privilege and come home to find the pipe along the wall and then he sprouts regs which are BS - he simply found the ground too hard and couldn't be fagged digging the trench.

I know that tradies and surgeons have equal amounts of stories of the consumers/patients from hell, but that does not mean consumers can and should challenge the "cos I say so" and whether it's a sparky, plumber or a surgeon, shop around until they find the service that suits them.

If you read my first post you will find I state in bold red "don't take my word for and get proper advice".

Half the sparkies out there dont understand the rules anyway. Some of the guys I have met on job sites over the years should have their licence revoked in my opinion.

Originally Posted by BobL

The worst tradies for this are probably mechanics, sprouting technobabble and fitting unnecessary parts and overcharging me for the privilege.

If that's always the case, why don't you fix the vehicle yourself?

Originally Posted by BobL

If you read my first post you will find I state in bold red "don't take my word for and get proper advice".

How many posts have you made without that warning and where you gave specific advice on electrical matters?

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

How many posts have you made without that warning and where you gave specific advice on electrical matters?

Lots - but probably relative to the number of posts its % wise about average for folks on the forum.
What you can't see is the number of times I have refrained from answering questions in posts seeking advice from someone who clearly should be getting a sparky to do their work.

Anything to do with motors usually has a warning somewhere near the start of the thread

Unless you really know what you are doing I strongly recommend not doing this.
The information is intended for those that are just interested and/or comfortable at doing this sort of work.

Once again the usual warnings and dangers of working with mains voltage apply.

Another one

First I strongly recommend not doing this unless you are competent and comfortable with mains AC and motors.
Having the right testing gear is also handy
If this is not you then this is for info only and if needed for you to discuss with your sparky

Anyway I have put it in my signature file. Not just for electrical - for everything.

Originally Posted by Lappa

If that's always the case, why don't you fix the vehicle yourself?

I found an decent mechanic who picks up and delivers the vehicle back to my place.
He calls me before replacing something we have not previously discussed, explains things clearly, doesn't even try to BS me, keeps all the old parts and showed me what was wrong with them.
Pretty basic service really.

Originally Posted by BobL

Anyway I have put it in my signature file. Not just for electrical - for everything.

"Please note: All advice provided by me should be check by a qualified professional."

does this mean that you are no longer our resident dust collection guru?

Originally Posted by ian

does this mean that you are no longer our resident dust collection guru?

That gave me a chuckle. Im sure Bob can keep his guru hat for DC

DaveTTC

Turning Wood into Art

Originally Posted by ian

does this mean that you are no longer our resident dust collection guru?

Whatever I write you will need to check it with a qualified professional, so you might as well go to the qualified professional?
You might also need to check with a qualified professional if you need to go to the qualified professional.
Dang, now you will to need to check with another qualified professional if you need to go to a qualified professional to go to the qualified professional.
I give up!

Originally Posted by NCArcher

I am an electrician and all I will say on this is if you need advice on electrical matters at home, ask your electrician. He is best qualified to give advice.
I know what I would tell you to do if you told me "some bloke on the internet with no electrical qualifications and no practical experience told me I can do it this way".

As an electrician, would you agree or disagree that you can have more than one 15A socket on a breaker where the equipment is not all turned on at once? I'm not sure if you're just advising people to get advice from their electrician or if you're saying that Moph is incorrect.

Originally Posted by BobL

I found an decent mechanic who picks up and delivers the vehicle back to my place.
He calls me before replacing something we have not previously discussed, explains things clearly, doesn't even try to BS me, keeps all the old parts and showed me what was wrong with them.
Pretty basic service really.

This sounds the norm for the hundreds of workshops and dealerships I have dealt with over the years.

The tone of your post re tradies probably explains a lot.