A spark of inspiration

In a comment on "If you can't stand the heat...", Anonymous said:

Whistler could we possibly have a section regarding the electrics on the Market. If I remember rightly it was a trader who wired us all up in exchange for free rent, unfortunately this trader was not qualified in electrics in any way. I thought that all major electrical work in business premises had to be carried out by a registered Part B electrician?

This is going to be a bit dull, but bear with me.

Upon the abolition of the power bars (which had become grossly hazardous themselves) it became a requirement that individual extension leads must be used to carry power from the new boxes by the roof columns to each stall. Extension leads were kindly made available for purchase from the market office for a very reasonable cost and many traders bought them.

Unfortunately they were all wired incorrectly, were electrically unsafe and downright dangerous. As my commenter says, they were assembled by a trader who received a generous rent concession in return. That the trader was of a more artistic than practical bent was regrettable.

I think most of us know the most basic principle of wiring a plug (and also an extension socket) - get the right wire in the right place. The arty sparks can't be faulted on that one. There is more to it than that though. Three more essentials for correct wiring when making up an extension are:-

1. No bare wires should be visible in the plug/extension socket - the bare wires should be hidden by the retaining screws. the retaining screws should be screwed down firmly.
2. The cable should be securely held in place by the cable-clamp - the clamp should hold the outer cable and the inner wires should not be visible outside the plug/extension socket.
3. The earth wire should be longest of the three so that it is the last to be disconnected if the cable is pulled from the plug/extension socket.

The first point was mostly covered. The second was sometimes fine, sometimes not with the clamp not always bearing on the outer sheath. The big failing, especially bearing in mind the patchy application of the second point, was the third. In all cases examined, the shortest wire in the extension sockets was the earth. This was due to a failure to understand wire routing in an extension socket, an apparent inability to look at the simple picture in the socket showing you what to put where and a total incomprehension of the function of the earth in electrical safety.

So, for the sake of saving a few quid on an electrician or other suitably qualified person, traders have been using unsafe equipment sold to them by GSM.

If you're a trader and still have one of these leads, please get it checked by someone who knows their live from their neutral.