Identified: Electrical Fault Behind Double Deaths

coming up on this week's news a coroner has  written to hot point after a grandmother and   her disabled son perished in a house fire caused  by an electrical fault a roofer is electrocuted   while working on a house in Northern Ireland  and a new law says Builders must reveal how   they handle retention cash welcome 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 on site  

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 and just  to let you know this is the last ever episode   of electrical news weekly that I'll present from  the current Studio we're just moving premises so   keep your eyes peeled for the new look Studio  next week take that Gary Lineker 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 a coroner has written to hot point after  

a grandmother and her disabled son perished in a  house fire caused by an electrical fault in one   of the brands Whirlpool tumble dryers Eighty-six  year old Champagauri and 66-year-old Dipak Bhatt   died from inhalation injuries after the fire  at their home in Edgware, west London in March  

in 2023. in his newly released report coroner  Peter Straker says there was a 10% chance that   the EMI filter in the dryer caused the fire and  a 90% chance that the condensate pump was the   culprit the condenser pump discharges the water  extracted from the clothes during the drawing   process he lists as one of his key concerns that  water getting into the pump may result in tracking   faults causing resistive Heating and fire he's  now written to hot point with his conclusions  

and requested that the company respond with its  proposals and the timeline for Action Straker   also raised issues over occupants sleeping while a  product takes advantage of lower electricity rates   he recommends that manufacturers be required to  use the office for product safety and standards   risk assessment method dubbed prism to take into  account householders and their likely actions hot   point had yet to respond as eFIXX went to air in 

other news a roofer has been electrocuted while  

working on a house in county Armagh in Northern  Ireland. Gareth Richardson, known as Paddy,   may have touched a live cable while at the 

property in the town of Keady. the father of four   was taken by air ambulance to the Royal Victoria  Hospital in Belfast where he was placed in an   induced coma he died 12 days later as a result of  his injuries his employer David Jameson Roofing   Services said that Paddy was a popular character  in the area who took great pride in his work an   investigation is expected to take place into the  circumstances of the fatality and will keep you   posted about developments the eFIXX team extends 

its sympathies to the family and friends of Mr   Richardson the abuse of retention money has long  been a source of contention in the trade typically  

Builders and other main contractors hold on to 5%  of an electrical contracts value for a year this   is supposed to ensure that defects get rectified  but when the liability period is up electricians   hear a series of wearing familiar reasons why the  money can't be released we're waiting to get paid   ourselves mate we're expecting a practical  completion certificate any day now we're   just getting final account approval we need the  warranties the as built drawings the Ops manuals  

the insurance stocks and while you're at it your  diversity equality and inclusion policy and then   you'll get paid it's enough to make you feel like  you should be voting for a faithful or a traitor   but now a new law is set to put pressure on  Builders an amendment to the reporting on payment   practice regulations has just been approved by  the government starting next month Builders must   disclose the ratio of retention cash that they  owed compared to what they owe in turn to their  

subbies they must also reveal the percentage  of retention money withheld from suppliers as   a proportion of the total payments made to its  suppliers the electrical contracts Association   hailed a new law which it said followed its  consistent lobbying it said the regulation   was a long awaited win for the trade the ECA's Rob  Driscoll claimed the rolling would expose the size   and nature of the problem of retentions abuse  in the UK the organisation says it worked with  

its equivalent organisations in Australia and New  Zealand in shaping its demand for reform the trade   isn't alone in its Financial challenges makers of  Green Tech are getting squeezed too myenergi the  

Grimsby based maker of home chargers and battery  packs has just reported a pre-tax loss of £25   Million last year it made a profit of almost  £9 million The Firm blamed the downturn on weak   demand and intense competition among suppliers  of plug-in points rival chargers are increasingly   being bundled with car sales and finance deals  it's also been revealed that company co-founder   Jordan Brompton is stepping away from the business  Brompton said she wanted to spend more time with  

her family we at eFIXX wish her all the very best  in her future ventures meanwhile another New Wave   green firm energy supplier Octopus is rolling  out its zero bills contract to Scotland Yes   you heard that right the firm is giving Scottish  customers a 10-year contract with no energy bills   what's the catch well to be eligible you need to  be kitted out with solar panels and a battery at   a minimum you must also have no gas supply the  idea is that you generate more power than you  

use octopus says it aims to deliver 100,000 zero  bills homes by 2030 and has already rolled out   the initiative in England Germany and New Zealand  the company has also announced that installs which   use Enphase solar and Battery Systems can benefit  from its smart tariffs specifically customers with   the kit can use the intelligent octopus flux  rate this allows Dynamic buying and selling   of electricity as well as the optimising of  charging and discharging of the battery in  

product news this week is what's being termed the  only bracket in the market that will allow you to  

install a metal back box in a closed wall the Box  strap bracket is a one-sized fits all bits of Kit   it works with both single and double metal back  boxes up to 35 mm in depth if you want to use   a 47 mm backbox on a single layer plaster board  you adjust the bracket by bending the corners if   you come up against a stud you can simply turn  the bracket vertically to avoid The Clash the   product's been fire tested with quell fire putty  pads and the fire testing info is available on  

the company's website all throughout this week  Knightsbridge has unveiled what it claims is the   most powerful USB socket on the market the Dual  USBC Outlets can charge two devices simultaneously   at 45 wats and 18 Watts or it can power a single  device at 65 Watts Knightsbridge says it secret   ingredient is special gallium nitride Tech which  achieves over 94% efficiency it's not the only   USB socket setting new standards in the market  however BG says that its super fast range can  

now be insulation tested to 500 volts this makes  it compliant with the product standard BS1363 D2   it says the sockets don't need to be removed  from the circuit during insulation resistance   tests saving time and simplifying testing I did  a breakdown of all the different power ratings of   the BG sockets and where to use them so check that  out after this video you'll find a link to that in   the show notes and speaking of testing with 500  volts DC our question of the week came from our  

free training package From Doncaster cables on  cables and conductors and asked the question band   One voltages are voltage bands not exceeding the  correct answer was of course 50 volts AC and 120   volts DC and it was another below par showing on  YouTube with only 37% of people getting it right   while over on LinkedIn for another record-breaking  run of four weeks more people got it right again   with 68% hitting the mark I suspect our YouTube 

audience didn't quite read the question properly   so we'll give them the benefit of the doubt don't  forget to take the free training package From   Doncaster Cables you'll find the link to that in  the show notes back to products now and Knipex   has launched what it terms stalk beak pliers they  feature a 40° bend to allow you to get into really   awkward places you can also cut with them thanks  to hardened edges shaped for a pierced cut this  

makes them suitable for both hard and soft cables  and wires the Pliers are VDE tested so they comply   with safety standards for electrical work and  our very own Joe 3PO has been at eFIXX's top  

secret research and testing laboratory at Lincoln  College just off monks Road opposite the sandwich   chop Joe's been testing the new cable containment  solution from cable boss the CB02 and the CB03   have been billed as a quick and easy solution for  supporting Cable in commercial installations and   above suspended ceilings to test this Joe has gone  head-to-head with the fastest chap he could find   from the Northeast Andy Bellas it's a great race 

and well worth a watch as always I've left links   to the video and the cable boss in the show notes  now the microgeneration certification scheme has  

approved its first small turbine the G11 from Reis  energy is now the only MCS certified wind product   the company says it's suitable for applications on  farms factories and Community projects it reveals   that it's getting a lot of interest from customers  who want to combine it with solar panels to ensure   better energy security during the winter months  meanwhile solar panels are finding their way into   the most unexpected places a Dutch firm says 

it's integrated them into Road surfaces it's   now planning a network of cycle Lanes across the  Netherlands also the Swiss railway Authority has   approved the placing of solar panels between the  rails of its tracks Sun-ways a local startup is   now planning to build an 18 kilowatt system  along a 100 meter section of track in the   Canton of Neuchâtel looking forward to hearing  how I've pronounced that wrong in this week's   comments while over in Germany solar panels have 

become so cheap that householders are using them   for fencing some say they're not even going to  bother connecting them up and on that bombshell   we've come to our usual 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 send us pictures   of your installs or let us know if you've come  across any new kit that's making your job easier   and just before we get to your favourite bit of 

the show where we 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 and speaking   of solar with manufacturing powered by a massive  solar PV array they're literally the greenest test   instrument maker in Europe both physically and  ethically it's KPS now are you a bit of a control  

freak motor control that is if so with huge stocks  and excellent service check out Crompton Controls   as they said to me in a recent conversation if  we don't have it then we can build it with a   new award-winning Lumo consumer unit and offering  Complete product support from their highly trained   team it's CPN Cudis and 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 click the links in   the show notes to find out more about these great  Brands big thanks to you all we really appreciate   your ongoing support for the news now if you think  you know the words that I've smuggled into this  

week 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 lunch time   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 last week's  words were perplexing and horsepower and the   person to be selected from our electronic hat this  week was no-one really not one single person got  

both so we're going to give Jenny a week off  from sending out prizes and hopefully this   week's words were more obvious we'll find out  in a week's time thanks for listening to this   episode of electrical news weekly in association  with solar trade sales your easy one stop shop for   all things solar remember to click the link  in the show notes to check out their online   shop 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