How Man Survived 11KV Switchboard Disaster

coming up on this week's news the first guidance  on how to connect RCDs and MCBs to the latest   Amendment of the Wiring Regs is unveiled a man  whose arms exploded during 11,000 volt shock meets   the doctors and ambulance crew who saved him and  the householder whose battery storage app lets him   take control of the power in 60,000 homes across  the UK welcome back after the summer break to   electrical news weekly in association with solar 

trade sales your easy One-Stop shop for all things   solar whether you're listening in the van 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 trouble we hope you've had   a great summer and are ready for the Long Haul to  the end of the year we'll be with you every step   of the way and 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 the first guidance on how  

to install RCDs and MCBs to the latest Amendment  of the wiring regs has just been unveiled Beama   released the advice to the electrical trade this  week outlining the new rules in Amendment Three   the technical Bulletin explains how to connect  both unidirectional and bidirectional protective   devices in locations with power sources such as  battery packs solar panels or vehicle to grid   enabled electric vehicles this update aligns with  the amendment which was published on the 31st of  

July 2024 the trade Association has also added a  safety checklist to help identify non-conforming   products it lists all the new marking requirements  for unidirectional and bidirectional devices so   you can check that the kit is kosher the docs  are free to download and I've popped the links   in the show notes urgent guidance has also just  been published by the Electrical Contractors  

Association this time it's about automated  electric gates the reason many electricians   are not aware of the fact that as the last  person to touch the gate they effectively assume   responsibility for the safety of the installation  that's because under the law automated gates are   classified as machines so in the event of any  accident or incident any work undertaken by an   electrician will be under intense scrutiny and  if there's any evidence to indicate negligence  

the installer will be liable to prosecution  in fact courts have already handed down big   fines relating to automated gate accidents ranging  from £10,000 to £550,000 there's also been a case   where an installer was given a prison sentence  on the grounds of manslaughter the ECA says   any electricians should think carefully before  they agree to work on this type of project the   organisation says you should take the necessary  specialist training and be aware of the action  

required to mitigate any risks to safety at the  minimum it says Gates must have a non-con safety   such as a photo cell or a laser as well as  pressure edges to stop a gate closing if it   encounters a person or object I've put the link  to the ECA's warning and some advice from the   Gate Safe organisation in the show notes in  other news a Wolverhampton man who suffered  

horrific Burns to his body after touching a high  tension electrical cable has been reunited with   the ambulance staff who helped to save his life in  November 2020 Darren Harris received an electric   shock in an abandoned building while trying  to steal scrap metal he put his left arm into   into an 11KV switchboard which completely melted  his forearms down to the bone he also received   Burns to his face arms chest and abdomen and spent  several months receiving specialist treatment at  

Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham four years  on he returned to stoke ambulance Hub to meet the   crew and the trauma doctor who saved his life Mr  Harris said he had wanted to say thank you to the   paramedics ever since the incident but the timing  hadn't been right the doctors said it was rare for   people to survive such a surge of electricity  through the body Harris says that sharing his   story helps him overcome everything and put it  to rest in his head he said the past few years  

have been very traumatic and very difficult but  he's on the mend and trying to do good things   and Good Deeds the security of software which  allows householders to control their Renewable  

Power sources has been called into question this  week it follows the Revelation that a customer   who purchased a home battery found he was able to  switch the power in 60,000 locations across the UK   Ryan Castellucci recently had solar panels and a  battery storage system installed at his house just   outside London he intended to set up some  scheduled charging but while configuring the   software interface known as an API he found  he could gain access into the admin account  

this gave him control over 200 mW of programmable  capacity that's the equivalent of a power station   Castellucci says he could charge or discharge  to the Grid at will tens of thousands of battery   packs software Engineers say the issue was  that the encryption key was just 512 bits   which is considered low by today's standards  give energy the supplier of the battery system   says that it installed a fix within 6 hours  of learning of the security breach it says it  

actively worked with Castellucci a security  researcher on the remedy in a statement the   company said that no organisation is infallible  to cyber security threats in a world where risk   changes constantly there is no such thing as 100%  secure thank goodness Mr Castelluchhi decided to   use his abilities for good and not for evil  if it' hacked into Gary's home battery we'd   never have heard the end of it building industry  Chiefs are exploring alternatives to the custom  

of retention current practice is for the main  contractor or sometimes the client to withhold   5% of a project value for a year to ensure  that snagging is completed but experts say that   this sum is typically insufficient to deal with  significant defects and withholding money harms   cash flow and investment additionally sometimes  contractors go bust During the period resulting   in a permanent loss to subcontractors now the  construction Leadership Council is suggesting  

a rating system for firms which is based on their  quality performance in previous jobs it's similar   to the way you'd rate an Uber driver but instead  it would be a number between 1 and 100 however in   a recent proof of concept trial the organisation  discovered that the industry doesn't like sharing   its data on defects who knew however one of  the clc's partners at the trial the get it   right initiative says it will persevere with the  development of an app for assessing contractors  

in product news this week EV blocks has unveiled  a concrete base for DC chargers because they're   pre-cast the company's blocks eliminate the need  for pouring and curing concrete bases this allows   for quicker installation and reduced downtime the  B800 features a single entry point for ducting and   a detachable adapter plate for mounting DC charges  the company says it provides easy access to cables   and hard-to-reach areas during the ducting cable 

pulling and cable dressing phases Lewden has  

launched a consumer unit configurator tool this  online platform is designed to help electricians   to easily create bespoke consumer units that  perfectly match their requirements you can   access it on both the mobile and desktop versions  of Lewden's website there are three main options   the RCBO dual row RCBO and dual RCCB consumer unit  at the end of every configuration you can ask for   a quote for either a pre-assembled unit ready for  installation or list of individual components for  

assembly yourself each option comes pre-fitted  with a 100 amp double pole main switch and a type   2 SPD as standard for a single row RCBO unit you  can choose between round and rectangular Knockouts   with options for five to 18 usable ways and two  coloUr choices the dragon drop interface makes it   easy to add RCBOs AFDDs and DIN rail blanks for  dual row units there are 21 to 39 usable ways   in classic white the Dual RCCB unit supports up  to three high integrity circuits you can choose  

between eight and 17 usable ways and select  from a range of MCBs RCBOs AFDDS RCBOs RCDs   and blanks when you're finished you'll get a list  of part numbers and product data sheets the link   to the configurator is in the show notes there's  been a big boost this week for the concept of EV  

charging cables running across the pavement Milton  Keynes city council is giving the thumbs up to a   ducting system from Kerbo charge the council has  just completed a trial of the product which is   designed to help householders without driveways to  charge their car easily as its recess there's no   trip Hazard for pedestrians it follows a similar  move by West Berkshire last month Milton Keyes   will now make the Kerbo charge duct available to 

all its residents Kerbo charge says home charging   is 5 to 10 times cheaper than public charges when  a resident wants to charge their car they insert   the cable into the channel and the lid closes  behind it like a zip eliminating any trip Hazard   the approval has been welcomed by Kerbo investor  and TV star Deborah Meadan who backed The Firm on   an episode of Dragon's Den I still think they've  missed a trick there though they could have called  

it kerbaretta like carbaretta because it relates  to cars and that's a thing in a car no okay I'm   clearly a little rusty after the holidays we'll  pull it back and finally if you've been wondering  

where Joe 3PO has been hiding out recently I  can reveal that he's been down at the firing   range popping off targets and dunking electrical  components into glasses of water hopefully had a   pair of marigolds to hand for that after a few  days he returned to Sideline Studios wide-eyed   and breathless claiming he had discovered a way to  turn a standard down light into an emergency light   we were disbelieving too until we took a look at  his latest video the link as you know by now is  

in the show notes lastly a reminder that we're  in the market for your stories your projects and   your recommendations as we'd like to share them  with the wider eFIXX community in September we're   shifting our Focus to Commercial Lighting tools  and workwear and of course diving into the Safe   4 September campaign that we fully support send us  pictures of your installs or let us know if you've   come across any new kit that's making your job 

easier now just before we get to your favourite  

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 it's 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 they're  resolving ventilation problems one property at a   time offering a simplistic ventilation design  service and high quality products made right  

here in the UK breathing fresh air into your home  its environment next they're the brand that Pride   themselves on keeping people close to what's  important with the world's most recognisable   doorbell chime it's RING and do you want a no  fuss lighting Solution that's packed with value   then try the Ecolink range from signify combining  value for money with top-end signify quality now a   business that will literally bend over backwards  to give you the first class service on the trade  

only supply of signal reception and distribution  custom install home automation and security   products for all residential and Commercial  projects it's Alltrade if you want to pump up the   jam and join the home heating Revolution then it's  got to be heat pumps from Daikin the best thing   to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel  the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking   and quality products it's Doncaster cables with  an incredible range of equipment from EV charge  

points through industrial sockets and switches  to kit for explosive areas plus they supplied   gear for a Campari factory so they'll always have  a place in my heart it's Scame 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 we'll take all the correct guesses   and select one at random to be the winner of an  eFIXX goodie bag prize answers submitted after   about lunchtime on the Thursday after release will  not be entered into the draw now let's reveal the   winners of last week's challenge word competition  the words were adrenaline and apricot and the   winner from the last episode is Andrew Watson 3576 

so well done to you Andrew make sure you click   the get involved Link in the show notes to claim  your prize thanks for listening to this episode   of electrical newsweekly in association with solar  trade sales your easy One-Stop shop for all things   solar 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