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Post by Miculo on Aug 14, 2014 20:48:49 GMT
Kev, thought I would update you. Got it fixed today, for now at least.
For those who didn't see my previous post about it I had a problem with my 240 to 120v step down electrics. We had narrowed it down to the transformer which is an absolute bugger to get at and even more difficult to remove. I have never seen so many wires stretched to their limit coming into one box from so many directions. It's bolted to the floor under a drawer with a wardrobe on top. The only way in is through the drawer opening which is 250mm high with the transformer, which weighs over 20kgs, a further 450mm down.
Anyway we finally got it up to the drawer opening where we got the top off it and disconnected it with a view to sending it away as a pattern for a new one. Having got it out and removed the casing for a quick look we found a wire burned through just where it entered a connector block. It was clear that it had been lose and arcing till it finally burned through. Luckily that wire was long enough to allow us to remove the damaged bit and reconnect and so after a couple more hours of struggling we finally got it back to test it and it worked. A good result.
Now I will work out a way to lengthen the wires and provide access to the transformer from the front so that it can slide out if needs be. This is a retrofit done when the van was imported to the UK. The electrician who did it must have been a contortionist and a congenital idiot. Access was so restricted due to the length he cut the wires he couldn't possibly have had any idea whether he was fitting and tightening the wires properly. And of course it turned out that he wasn't. I am not able to be properly sure we have either so it will be coming out again very soon and being rearranged so that it can be worked on where there is access and where it can be seen. Oh well.
Thanks for your concern earlier Kev, Alan.
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Post by 747 on Aug 14, 2014 21:27:06 GMT
There appears to be a plethora of useless electricians in the UK.
BTW, my van is being brought back tomorrow morning. The Service Manager himself will attend. Presumably to take the driver back .... after serving me a High Court writ for putting it on Fucts.
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Joe66
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Post by Joe66 on Aug 14, 2014 21:55:09 GMT
There appears to be a plethora of useless electricians in the UK.
BTW, my van is being brought back tomorrow morning. The Service Manager himself will attend. Presumably to take the driver back .... after serving me a High Court writ for putting it on Fucts. You can't be hanged for telling the truth, but I cannot guarantee that
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2014 7:31:28 GMT
There appears to be a plethora of useless electricians in the UK.
BTW, my van is being brought back tomorrow morning. The Service Manager himself will attend. Presumably to take the driver back .... after serving me a High Court writ for putting it on Fucts. Are you being serious? Surely not, I didn't read anything you'd said there that was actionable, but I haven't looked recently.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2014 7:35:25 GMT
There appears to be a plethora of useless electricians in the UK.
BTW, my van is being brought back tomorrow morning. The Service Manager himself will attend. Presumably to take the driver back .... after serving me a High Court writ for putting it on Fucts. You can't be hanged for telling the truth, but I cannot guarantee that As none of our politicians are hanging from lamp-posts, you you must be right. Mendacious, self-serving twats, all of 'em.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2014 8:51:01 GMT
Thanks Alan, I missed the post as we were away, not sure how many wires there are or the sizes, but could you move it to a better location using something like trailer plug cables.
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Post by Miculo on Oct 20, 2014 8:13:46 GMT
Can't really move it Kev as there is nowhere else to put it. It has a morass of mains cables coming and going, maybe 10 or a dozen and they connect in all over the place to auto switches, power source selector switches and sockets both 120 and 240 volt. If it was as simple as fitting a connector or two we would have done it. All the cables would need extending or replacing with longer ones then it will be possible to unbolt the transformer from the floor and lift it up to the drawer opening for access. I may still look at making an opening in the front of the cabinet so it can slide out but there is very little room to do that as it's sandwiched in between the manufacturers 12 and 120 volt distribution board and the bathroom heating outlet.
For now I will probably leave it and wait to see if a suitable way of changing it comes to mind. It's working fine now and I'm told that a transformer correctly attached should give many years of service.
Cheers, Alan.
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Post by GB584 on Oct 20, 2014 8:34:22 GMT
It's bloody infuriating when the manufacturers scrimp on a couple of inches of wire for the sake of saving a couple of quid (if that) and then jamb the bits you need to access in the most inaccessible places. The first thing I look at when doing is a modification is how easy will be to remove and repair if needs be. Our cock mobile is built well, but in order to get the fridge out you would pretty much have to start by removing the bloody windscreen wipers and working your way backwards through the vehicle to get to the cupboard it's housed in. They do all this over engineering and then use a bloody scotchlock to connect the elektroblock charging sensor to the vehicles ignition warning light which can easily work loose and stop the fridge and LB's from charging...Wamkers!
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Post by Miculo on Oct 20, 2014 9:04:41 GMT
I could almost forgive a manufacturer for having done it. It could all have been assembled outside the van and then dropped in to place before the side was fitted.
But this is a retro fit, probably a homer, done by an incompetent, contortionist, midget electrician. Presumably he only had 3 meters of cable in the boot of his car the day he did it, but being small himself he probably thought that 3 meters was a shit load of cable. It must also have been done on a Sunday so that when he discovered that he hadn't enough he couldn't nip round to the shops and get a bit more.
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Post by tugboat on Oct 20, 2014 11:14:32 GMT
I bet he had a weeny dick as well. Terwat, eh?
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Post by GB584 on Oct 20, 2014 13:04:44 GMT
I bet he had a weeny dick as well. Terwat, eh? I was about to admit that I had fitted it but I'm Fucted if I'm going to now!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2014 14:03:58 GMT
I bet he had a weeny dick as well. Terwat, eh? I was about to admit that I had fitted it but I'm Fucted if I'm going to now! I'd be surprised if you can eff anything with that weeny dick you've got. Oh, how exactly did Tuggles get to know that fact?
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Post by GB584 on Oct 20, 2014 14:23:20 GMT
It was his turn in the barrel.
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Joe66
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Post by Joe66 on Oct 20, 2014 19:56:58 GMT
It was his turn in the barrel. Well, you said it would be my turn next, bollox to you then
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Post by GB584 on Oct 21, 2014 9:42:38 GMT
joe, Tuggers used that old trick of pulling his pud rank, although I always thought that it was the captain who went down with his ship and NOT down on his shipmates. I suppose different ships have different rules.
Rest assured I will circulate a new roster for turns in the barrel.
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