ajm
25th March 2024, 10:01 AM
we bought a place 6 years ago that has been the victim of a DIYer electrician. one side of the house has been wired up by someone who was not a trained electrician. we have recently done a major refit and had a guy rewire that side of the house. he did a decent job, seemed like a nice bloke, everything worked as it should (except he installed all the fan controller/light switches upside down with the little arrow pointing the wrong way!). He's local and easy going so invited him back to move the switchboard from the bathroom (apparently, it used to be the kitchen many years ago) to the other side of the same wall. No problem, says the sparky, and it needs to be upgraded for compliance. No problem. the last thing we want in a shouse (shed house), is dodgy electrics. no worries. job done within the quoted estimate. On the same day, he installed two ceiling fans and the switches for these also. we're happy.
day after he has been, one of the kids asked why their new fan light was flickering. sure enough, its not a strobe light but it definitely pulses. the light that was in there previously, also a fan light, did not pulse at all. the other new fan lights, all the same make and model, do not pulse. later that same day, another child went to the loo and when they turned on the light, the safety switch tripped. this happened a few times so we called the sparky back. he had a look and asked if he could begin pulling off the roof sheets to see what was happening. That sounded expensive so we came up with a workaround. He would take the power cable from the light in the toilet out through the side of the house, along the exterior wall, then back in through the wall near to the newly installed switchboard. this saved heaps of time. all done. time to test the light. all good but now the lounge room air con circuit keeps tripping the house out. none of these issues occurred with the old switchboard. all the fans worked, all the lights worked, all the air cons worked.
so, at the moment, we do not have a working air conditioner in a house we are about to sell and the sparky is demanding full payment by Friday. Without payment, he will not come to look at what has happened to the air con. I am concerned that if we do pay him, he won't show up. Any suggestions folks?
day after he has been, one of the kids asked why their new fan light was flickering. sure enough, its not a strobe light but it definitely pulses. the light that was in there previously, also a fan light, did not pulse at all. the other new fan lights, all the same make and model, do not pulse. later that same day, another child went to the loo and when they turned on the light, the safety switch tripped. this happened a few times so we called the sparky back. he had a look and asked if he could begin pulling off the roof sheets to see what was happening. That sounded expensive so we came up with a workaround. He would take the power cable from the light in the toilet out through the side of the house, along the exterior wall, then back in through the wall near to the newly installed switchboard. this saved heaps of time. all done. time to test the light. all good but now the lounge room air con circuit keeps tripping the house out. none of these issues occurred with the old switchboard. all the fans worked, all the lights worked, all the air cons worked.
so, at the moment, we do not have a working air conditioner in a house we are about to sell and the sparky is demanding full payment by Friday. Without payment, he will not come to look at what has happened to the air con. I am concerned that if we do pay him, he won't show up. Any suggestions folks?