what to do?

[ajm]

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?

[jack620]

…none of these issues occurred with the old switchboard.

But might that just mean your old switchboard wasn’t correctly detecting faults?

[ajm]

that's one of the options we (wife and i) thought of. but not being electrically inclined, we weren't sure if that was at all possible. all circuits in the old board had RCDs and it was inspected by insurance electricians two years ago so discounted that idea. At the moment he is still taking my texts so have sent him a question about it. Cheers Jack

[rambunctious]

Personally, if he is demanding payment and not making good what he has done, I would be talking to these people.

Electrical licences | WorkSafe.qld.gov.au

FWIW My electrician of some 30+ years who I also used when I was in business left 2 bare live wires poking up in the ceiling very close to the bathroom manhole.
I phoned him when I discovered them and he came straight around and made good.

[havabeer69]

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?

negoiate to a half payment to keep everyone happy

[ajm]

thanks rambunctious (atleast his licence is current and valid for the work he did) and haveabeer. i think we will end up paying him as we get the money. we have paid all his other invoices so he knows we will pay when the jobs are done. will try the half way deal tosee if that gets him here sooner.

[r3nov8or]

that's one of the options we (wife and i) thought of. but not being electrically inclined, we weren't sure if that was at all possible. all circuits in the old board had RCDs and it was inspected by insurance electricians two years ago so discounted that idea. At the moment he is still taking my texts so have sent him a question about it. Cheers Jack

I had a sub-board installed for the workshop and pool equipment, and ever since the chlorinator randomly trips its RCD - might do it every few days, might be good for two weeks or more, then it trips. Unpredictable, has nothing to do with the operation of anything or any combo of anything else. Put in a larger breaker, but didn't help (was an illogical long shot, but needed to try... something). It never did that before when its RCD was on the main house board. (sh)it can happen I guess. And open to ideas here too!!