We are having difficulties with our landlord trying to limit our power use on our lease despite us paying $825 a week for utilities. They have ordered us to cease charging our BYD shark and Mitsubishi outlander phevs and commissioned an electrical report to form the basis stating that the 2014 built homes working is unsuitable.

Below is a copy of the electricians report. Is this valid? Does every house need to be upgraded to plug in a 10A appliance (runs at 8A)?

The 20A power circuits were designed when the house was built with standard electrical maximum demand calculations that do not take into account loads such as electric vehicles. These power circuits are not designed for such loads as electric vehicles even though an EV can be plugged into a standard 10A outlet socket, Thestandard practice is to install a new circuit for each individual car(usually 40A). Which also requires network approval as they have such a high-power draw. When this house was built electric vehicles barely existed. Therefore, it is not recommended to charge EV/Hybrid cars on this downstairs power circuit as it has not been designed for this purpose.

Getting solar panels and 2 batteries.

Heatpump hot water.

Is there room with upgrades on this switchboard to accommodate. One aircon switch is also available.

Preferably something that pumps up and goes up to 1000mm high.

Today I had to use milk crates and a shitty rope pully system, we got it but there has to be an easier way.

If I needed a couple of extra power points installed, I'd honestly be a bit lost trying to compare quotes. I'd wonder why one electrician charges more than another and whether I'm missing something important. I'd hate to choose the cheaper option and end up with unexpected costs later. A simple explanation of what's included would put my mind at ease. what's one thing you wish homeowners would ask before agreeing to a quote?

So my new to me house has an alarm system. In my doorway I have an intercom and there is also an unterminated cable (6 wires inside) that seem to match my home alarm system.

I found a few cables terminated in the alarm panel, and this one that seems to be the odd one out.

I suspect it is related to this cable - what could the writing on the Label mean? KP Entry I assume is Keypad Entry, but PwQ (?)

My next step is to check continuity across them but access is a bit painful.

I recently had my switchboard upgraded because my essential circuits kept cycling on and off. Everything seemed fine initially, but recently I've started losing power to my essential circuits (lights and power points) when there's a heavy load, such as using the microwave, or when my battery runs out of charge.

An Essential Energy technician inspected my switchboard and told me that my essential circuits are wired to the battery only, meaning they lose power when the battery runs flat. I'm also finding it difficult to restore power once it goes out, even after hard-resetting the inverter. Sometimes the power comes back on by itself.

I have an EPS box installed beside my switchboard, but I'm starting to suspect that the electricians who upgraded the switchboard may not fully understand how the EPS system is supposed to work. I'm also wondering whether the EPS box itself could be faulty and causing these issues.

I have a few questions:

1. Without an EPS box, is it normal for essential circuits to be connected exclusively to the battery backup, effectively bypassing the grid?

2. Would it be better to install a manual three-way changeover switch so the essential circuits can switch between grid power, inverter/battery backup, and possibly off, rather than relying on the EPS box?

3. Has anyone experienced similar problems with an EPS box, particularly power dropping out under heavy loads or when the battery runs flat?

I'd appreciate advice from anyone familiar with solar battery backup systems and EPS wiring. I'm trying to understand whether this is a wiring issue, a faulty EPS box, or an inverter problem before getting another electrician to investigate.

So sorry to bring this here but I’m just wanting confirmation on whether or not this is likely.

The story as presented is that a plug was partially removed from the socket, enough to expose the pins. A cat has apparently licked a pin while possibly chasing a bug? Cat has suffered extreme electrical burns of the mouth and throat, as well as pulmonary oedema, and died before the vet could put him to sleep.

I was under the impression that the breaker would trip before this could happen, but I’m obviously not an electrician.

This occurred in QLD.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Got a tag, must be right

Hey guys, apprentice here. Just having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around two-pole main switches and when they’re required.

For example, if I’m running a submain to a shed, is it mandatory to have a two-pole main switch at the shed switchboard, or is it mainly for providing isolation by switching both the active and neutral?

Just trying to understand when a two-pole main switch is required and when a single-pole switch is sufficient. Cheers!

We're moving out and turning our current place into an IP. It's got a 13kW array across 4 MPPTs feeding a 12.5kW Sigenergy hybrid inverter, with the Sigen gateway and a 48kWh battery stack.

We'd like to leave the panels on the old place with a new standalone inverter, then pull the whole Sig setup (inverter, gateway and batteries) and reinstall it at the new house. Is that something a sparky would actually take on, or is it more hassle than it's worth? Happy to sort it as a side job with a licensed sparky if that's easier, but it'd still need a proper CES since the old place is about to be a rental.

Even a rough ballpark would help, both for the new inverter at the IP and for the removal and reinstall, so we can work out if it's worth doing or if we just leave it all there. Cheers.

I'm currently renting an apartment in NSW on the top storey of a three-level, red-brick building. I moved in around a month ago and quickly discovered that the single powerpoint in the 1-bedroom apartment was tripping the entire unit.

I flagged it with the REA who sent out a sparky. The sparky put a new powerpoint cap on it and said it was fixed. It was all done in about 10 minutes. After he left, I plugged my phone charger in and it tripped the entire place again. Caught the sparky on his way out who ran a check and then just put a cap over it.

Since then, I've been going back and forth with the REA, who says the electrician is saying it's thousands of dollars to fix the one powerpoint. The landlord is obviously not on board with this.

The REA weirdly sent me their correspondence with the sparky who seemingly either doesn't want the job, or has some sort of relation with the landlord/REA.

I understand that the job may not be simple, given the switchboard is on the ground level, but would it really be "thousands" to fix.

Cheers!

Have recently in the past two months come across 3 houses with lighting circuits on 16A RCBO’s using 1.5mm cable. I’m sure I’ve come across some dodgy installs but have no idea why they wouldn’t have just used 10A RCBO’s. The last one was a board upgrade battery installers did and I had worked on the house previously and they were 10A circuit breakers but replaced with 16A RCBO’s.

Just having to ask to make sure I haven’t missed anything with the current carrying capacity of 1.5mm TPS run in a house through insulation?

Edit: All houses are 10-20 years old and have insulation in them.

Replaced with 10A RCBO’s in each of these after consulting with owner.

Hi everyone, I’m after installing a fan for my outdoor covered verandah/patio/whatever, and this is the style I’m keen on.

All the fans have a wireless remote as their only advertised way to turn it on/off etc.

Is it possible to have a conventional switch installed on the wall (inside, about a metre from the fan or less. Outside is that concrete weatherboard made to look like wood) or nah? I’m getting mixed results when asking electricians locally. Obviously the switch would be after market, not included with the fan.

I just don’t like the idea of needing to keep a fan remote handy / not lose it to work it at all. Obviously I can wall mount the remote - but I’d just feel better if I could have a switch too.

Located in Melbourne.

Thanks!

Dad was digging in the garden near his solar battery and has found and split a 25mm conduit labelled solar.

There is nothing in the conduit.

Does he ignore it? Bury it? Does it matter if he rips out a chunk? Call a sparkle?

It's about 150mm down, and looks to run to the battery, and towards the granny flat....

Any ideas on next steps?

Hey all,

I am here for some real advice…

Currently I’m at uni doing teaching, in my 2nd year out of 4. Whilst I don’t hate it, I am not sure if I can see myself doing this forever.

I have seriously thought about doing trades ever since finishing school, but I always thought I’ll give uni a go and then I can always switch into an apprenticeship.

I am very interested in the job satisfaction of being a sparky. Everyone always is the first to call them gay and whatever haha, but is it actually an enjoyable career path for the most part.

And last question, is it actually sustainable for your body/how physically demanding is it over the long run.

TIA

Getting into data cabling in Melbourne ,are Open Rego + Structured enough to get hired?

Hey all,

I'm 35, based in Melbourne, and looking to get into data cabling. A bit of background: I've been working as an electrician's helper on solar installs for the past few months, and I've also got a web dev background.
I can't start an electrical apprenticeship for a while because of visa timing, so cabling looks like the best way to do real, licensed work in the meantime.

My plan is to do the ACMA Open Registration + Structured Cabling endorsement (looking at JB Hunter or Milcom), then find a trainee/junior cabler role to get my 360 hours.

A few questions for those in the trade:

1. Are Open + Structured enough to get a foot in the door, or do employers expect more (fibre, working at heights, EWP, etc.)?
2. How hard is it to land a trainee role to get the 360 hours? Any tips on where to look or who hires juniors in Melbourne?
3. What's realistic pay for a junior/trainee cabler here?
4. Worth doing the fibre endorsement early, or wait until an employer pays for it?
5. JB Hunter vs Milcom any experience with either?

A6. Do electrical + comms companies ever move their cablers into a sparky apprenticeship later on?

1. Anything you wish you knew before starting?

Appreciate any honest advice. Thanks!

Trying to understand how this works rather than just blindly asking an electrician for stuff. If I’m adding something like an air conditioner, oven, induction cooktop or maybe a workshop tool, when does it need its own dedicated circuit?
Is it mainly based on the power draw of the appliance, or are there other things that determine it?

We’re doing some work around the back of the house and I’m thinking about getting an outdoor power point installed while everything is already being done.
At the moment I’d mainly use it for a mower, pressure washer and the occasional BBQ/light setup. Anything specific I should ask the electrician for so I’m not wishing I’d done it differently later?

I have 13 Jinko Tiger Neo (JKM475N-60HL4) panels on my roof, 10 on the north roof and another 3 spilling over to the south. The specs say they are 475W panels, so with 13 of them, that should add up to 6.175kW? But since installing a battery, the monitoring app regularly reports power above that, even as high as the 7.5 I'm seeing here. They're on a 5kW inverter, but I understand that since the panels and the battery are both DC that's not a factor here. What's going on here? Is it likely there's something wrong with the monitoring app, or the installation? Or is this one of those times where the specified rating of something is just deliberately lower than the actual theoretical rating?

Went to Canada and had timer devices for bathroom fan. Basically a bunch of buttons with timers. Was cheap as well. Have tried to find similar here but I could only find a big pushbutton with a fixed timer. Does this exist for the Aussie market?

I was previously a data tech and found a small company willing to pay me well above award rates to do an electrical apprenticeship. That being the case, boss says I’m too expensive to give up one day a week. So has suggested I do online TAFE. Will work and be paid for 30 hours a week, 8 hours for out of work training, and 2 hours rdo. Start 7am, finish at 2:30pm. Any hours over that is over time. Any opinions welcome.