- Coming up on this week's news
a major pay breakthrough this week as the electricians union
and the company bosses
agree the highest wage increase in years.
A shock report reveals major safety concerns
at nearly all solar installations
and MK unveils a revolutionary all-knowing
and all-seeing double socket.
Welcome to "Electrical News Weekly".
Whether you're listening in the van onsite
or down at the wholesale counter,
I'm Joe Robinson
and I've been through the best
of the electrical industry news to save you the touble.
And as always, if you think
you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged
to slip into this week's show,
comment with them below for the chance to win a prize.
Unions and buses have agreed the biggest pay rise
for electricians in years.
Sparks pay will rise by 7% from January
and by a further 5% the following January
to help keep up with the cost of living.
And nope, we're not gaslighting you.
The ECA and Unite shook hands
on the two-year deal under the JIB collective agreement.
There will also be 20 pound a week rise in sick pay,
meaning an approved electrician
gets 200 pounds a week while ill.
Death in service rises by 10,000 pounds to 40,000 pounds.
Lodging allowance will also go up
and both parties have agreed to review the pay
of electrical installation apprentices.
In other news, a shock report
from top technical consultants
has found that nearly all solar installations
have major safety concerns.
Engineers from US organization Clean Energy Associates
surveyed more than 600 PV sites
across the world, including the UK.
They say there are safety issues
at a whopping 97% of the projects.
The biggest problem is unsatisfactory grounding,
which they found at half of all locations.
A close second is damaged modules
and next is cross-mated connectors.
There were what they called poor terminations
at 4 in 10 installs.
Clean Energy Associates say that many of the safety hazards
were down to undertrained
or inattentive installation technicians
using the wrong techniques.
Extreme weather conditions also play a part.
The solution, as always, ensure installers
are properly qualified and trained.
Still on safety,
the mother of a seven-year-old boy
who died after being electrocuted in a pub beer garden
is urging the hospitality sector
to make sure their outdoor electrical equipment is safe.
Danielle Jones' son, Harvey Tyrrell,
was electrocuted when he touched unsafe lighting
in the garden of a pub in Harold Wood Essex in 2018.
Jones is calling on pubs, restaurants, and other venues
to make sure electrical installations and equipment used
in outdoor spaces are safe this summer.
The health and safety executive says venues
should arrange for an electrician
to carry out installation work
to the required safety standards
only using lights and heaters,
specifically designed for outdoors,
and to check equipment regularly
for damage or water ingress.
The pub owner where Harvey passed away
pleaded guilty to his manslaughter
and to stealing electricity from an unmetered supply
and was jailed for nine years in 2021.
Now, how would you like
to help draw up one of those safety standards?
Well, now's your chance.
The British Standards Institution
is currently drawing up one for batteries in homes.
We're talking the big energy storage batteries
that are fed from a renewable source such as solar panels.
Where do we install them in the home?
How do we transport them safely to site?
How do we protect them from fire?
These are the questions to which the BSI wants answers.
If you'd like to give your opinion,
I've put a link to the consultation in the show notes.
You have until Monday the 24th of July to comment.
In product news,
MK has unveiled what's being billed
as the world's smartest double socket.
Dubbed Connected Power,
it has the potential to revolutionize energy use
in commercial and institutional buildings.
That's because it tackles the Achilles' heel
of high energy use in portable appliances.
The units allow facility managers to see exactly
where energy is being used
and they can schedule and control them easily.
Imagine a gym, for instance.
With these sockets,
you can make sure all the equipment is turned off at night.
In student accommodation,
you can see which occupant is using the most power
and you can investigate.
and they're super easy to install,
because you put them in like a normal socket,
and then they wirelessly connect to each other.
Gordon's taken one apart to see how it works.
Check out his verdict in a special video that he's made.
I've popped the link in the notes.
Now, have you ever tried
to install an electric vehicle ChargePoint on a rainy day?
It's not fun, is it?
And it's not particularly safe either.
Often, the job gets postponed if there's bad weather,
but now, especially designed electrician's tent
could change all of that.
A Yorkshire company has developed the Drycab,
a work tent that inflates in one minute
and allows you to work snug and dry.
It is made by Vango, the tent people.
When you finish the job and your coffee and donut,
it packs down in a minute and you're onto the next job.
We tried out the Drycab on a rainy day in Yorkshire.
You don't have to wait too long for one of those.
And you can see our short video via the link in the notes.
Another cool product we've had to play with
is a handy wall-mounted toothbrush charger for bathrooms.
It fits in the same space as a double socket,
so you can either replace the shaver socket
or install it in a new location
as we did in our short video.
Anyway, we think it's a great upsell,
which will have customers flushing you a bright white smile.
You know where the link is.
Now, it's time for a historic first.
Yes, it is. Drum roll, please.
Today, we introduce a new occasional slot
called Ask the Expert.
This is where we take some of your commonly asked questions
about an electrical subject and we, you know, ask an expert.
First, we had to catch an actual expert in the wild
and I'm delighted to report
we bagged an absolute guru of electrical testing.
I'm talking about Mr. Meter himself,
the one and only Mr. Peter Wade of Megger.
And his starter for 10 is,
why is it so hard to get reliable results
for loop impedance tests?
Peter replies that the issue
is that on circuits protected by RCDs,
the testers can only use very small currents,
because otherwise, the RCD will trip.
This means the tester has to measure small voltage changes
to work out the loop impedance.
And if there's a lot of electrical noise on the circuit,
it isn't easy to do this accurately.
Megger's MFT-X1 installation tester solves the problem,
because it has a core bit of tech
called TrueLoop measurement.
This incorporates a confidence meter
that tells you when the measurement is accurate and stable.
Next up, why does automatic RCD testing take so long?
Peter says this is because many installation testers
have a fixed automatic test sequence for RCDs,
but often, there are tests
in the sequence that you don't need.
If you want a meter that lets you
program your own test sequence
to include only the test you actually need,
you can use something like the MFT-X1.
Last question,
can I test EV charge points with a multifunction tester?
Peter says that if the tester is a recent model,
the answer is probably yes,
but you'll need to check the data sheet.
Even if you tester is suitable
for testing EV charge points, you'll still need an adaptor.
You need this to simulate the connection
of a vehicle to the ChargePoint,
which is necessary for carrying out the full range of tests.
Thanks for the expert insights, Peter. Much appreciated.
And if you're interested in EV ChargePoint installation,
then please check out our free training packages
that we've made to help you with your CPD.
They're all free
and you'll find them on the know how page at efixx.co.uk.
So, I'll leave a link to that in the show notes as well.
And just before we get to your favorite bit of the show
where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners,
we want to thank our premium partners.
We couldn't make the news without you.
First up, they're the people
who've created the Swiss Army knife
of solar inverters along with all weather batteries,
very much the Boy Scouts
of the solar industry, it's Sunsynk.
Up next, for all your circuit protection needs,
they're like having an Italian star striker
in your premiership team, it's Lewden Palazzoli.
Next, the creators of the priority,
non-priority consumer unit
that protects your incoming supply
from heavy loads like showers and EVs,
it's the ingenious and gifted GARO.
And the best thing to come out of Yorkshire
since stainless steel, it's Doncaster Cables,
the home of EV-Ultra
and other groundbreaking and quality cables.
Big thanks to you all.
We really appreciate your ongoing support for the news.
If you think you know the words
that I've smuggled into this week's show,
pop your guess into the comments
and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize
to the first to get the right answers.
Last week's words were cockroach and cappuccino,
which sounds a lot like a bush
(indistinct)
to me.
But the first person to get both right
was actually the first person to comment on the video.
So, well done to you, KnExMaGiC.
You are spot on and very quick off the mark.
Make sure you click the link
in the show notes to claim your prize.
Thanks for listening
to this episode of "Electrical News Weekly".
Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update.
Thanks for listening,
and until next time, have a great week.
Stay safe out there.
And remember,
there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm.