Test Equipment Anonymous

Today, almost 5 months after they broke, we are supposed to be getting our PV system sorted, and a new inverter installed, and the engineers are already late, so will they get the job done, or will they discover another reason for even further delays. This broken GT Britain at its best.

It's already cost us £100's in extra electric bills during the time it has been out of action and now there is extremely little chance of it producing more than a few extra watts a day, they might be able to get it back up online.

Your saga seems to confirm the stereotype that the "trades" over there are a fucking joke, doesn't it?

Yes, the fault was noticed by the solar company on the 13th July because their remote monitoring told them so (they sell any unused energy back to the national grid) but they did nothing until I reported in on the 18th July. It then took them until 2nd Sept to get someone to visit and he said the RCD (GFI) was faulty and would order a new one. I kept phoning the company and they said "We are waiting for our supplier to give us a quote for a RCD" These RCD's should be a standard spare part in all contractors vans FFS, and every wholesaler has 100's on their shelf. I could have got on myself within 1 hour.

Next visit was on the 25th Oct, new engineer, no RCD with him, claimed that he had been told to see what the problem was (FFS). He claimed that the RCD was OK but that the MDF board the inverter was mounted on was broken and hanging off the loft wall, and that the inverter was faulty. I showed him that the RCD kept tripping. He said that he would have to order a board and inverter and come back to fit.

Today was that day, again he claimed that he had never seen the RCD trip and he only came with a new wooden board to mount everything back to the wall. No inverter, he said inverter was fine and the RCD was fine and that the system was working perfectly, and then CLICK the RCD tripped

Claimed he had no RCD on the van and would have to order a new one and come back to fit at another date in the future. A few minutes ago, he came back and said that he may be back later today to fit a new RCD???

You really could not even make this shit up, all of this time to fit what I could have done myself if I was allowed in the same day, and people wonder the UK is in the trouble it is, Geez.

The phrase "Three monkeys fucking a football..." comes to mind, but that would suggest that there were ever more than one monkey onsite at one time, or that they were ever fucking the same football in the first place.

And how much money are you, the leaseholders, paying to supposedly save all this money via Solar? And then paying again to fix what was obviously a installation fuckup to begin with?

I mean... you know that ultimately, you are paying for all this fuster-cluckery...

mnem
my balls ache just reading about it.

MED6753 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:45 am Your saga seems to confirm the stereotype that the "trades" over there are a fucking joke, doesn't it?

This is one thing we're good at over here: fucking things up monumentally.

Needless to say of course, that engineer did not return with a replacement RCD (GFI for you Mericans ) so I have zero idea as to when he will return as he is the only person the company has covering the South East and Southern counties of England FFS I mean it has only been so far 128 days since they were aware of the bleeding problem and also 78 days since the first diagnoses of the RCD being the issue and still haven't fixed it yet.

How bloody hard can it be, I can jump in my car and go and get a 63A 30mA RCD and be back at the house in under 40 minutes and the unit only costs £40 all in

Specmaster wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:15 pm Needless to say of course, that engineer did not return with a replacement RCD (GFI for you Mericans ) so I have zero idea as to when he will return as he is the only person the company has covering the South East and Southern counties of England FFS I mean it has only been so far 128 days since they were aware of the bleeding problem and also 78 days since the first diagnoses of the RCD being the issue and still haven't fixed it yet.

Have you named the company/companies, so we can avoid them?

Have you named them on twatter (before it collapses because staff aren't sufficiently heroic)?

Or Farcebook.

tggzzz wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 11:43 pm

Specmaster wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:15 pm Needless to say of course, that engineer did not return with a replacement RCD (GFI for you Mericans ) so I have zero idea as to when he will return as he is the only person the company has covering the South East and Southern counties of England FFS I mean it has only been so far 128 days since they were aware of the bleeding problem and also 78 days since the first diagnoses of the RCD being the issue and still haven't fixed it yet.

Have you named the company/companies, so we can avoid them?

Have you named them on twatter (before it collapses because staff aren't sufficiently heroic)?

Or Farcebook.

No but here goes, the company is called North Lakes Energy and also Solar Maintenance Services, they are the same company but trade under one name or the other depending on where you are located I think.

What I struggle with is the fact all the time my solar array is down, their not able to sell power that I can't use, back to the National Grid, so it's costing them money all the time it's out of commission.

Specmaster wrote: ↑Sat Nov 19, 2022 12:15 am

tggzzz wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 11:43 pm

Specmaster wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 8:15 pm Needless to say of course, that engineer did not return with a replacement RCD (GFI for you Mericans ) so I have zero idea as to when he will return as he is the only person the company has covering the South East and Southern counties of England FFS I mean it has only been so far 128 days since they were aware of the bleeding problem and also 78 days since the first diagnoses of the RCD being the issue and still haven't fixed it yet.

Have you named the company/companies, so we can avoid them?

Have you named them on twatter (before it collapses because staff aren't sufficiently heroic)?

Or Farcebook.

No but here goes, the company is called North Lakes Energy and also Solar Maintenance Services, they are the same company but trade under one name or the other depending on where you are located I think.

What I struggle with is the fact all the time my solar array is down, their not able to sell power that I can't use, back to the National Grid, so it's costing them money all the time it's out of commission.

Thanks. I'd shame them on social media and/or threaten to take them to the small claims court to recoup your losses.

The nearest I've had to that incompetence was Dynorod. There was an awakard partial blockage underneath my parents' 1849 house; obviously the drainage had been modified and repurposed over the centuries! I'd had a good go at clearing it through multiple orifices with various rods, with no success. Since the house insurance included drainage, I claimed on that.

Despite my telling them it was awkward and giving a brief description, the first person they sent could only clear sink u-bend blockages. Boring. The second person they sent could operate relevant tools, but they weren't working. The third person they sent had the tools but couldn't operate them. The fourth person had the tools and could operate them, but couldn't get them around a 90degree bend.

I gave up, and got a local contractor (Maintain-A-Drain), who sorted it.

Unsurprisingly I didn't renew the "drainage" clause.

The problem I have with doing that is that the house is housing association property and the solar panels were installed on a scheme that they are linked into somehow or other. They encouraged as many tenants to have them installed at no cost a few years ago when Government was pushing the whole renewable thing. Not to sure what they get or got out of the deal, as we are allowed to use the free power and anything produced that we didn't use, the solar company sold back to the grid. So its complicated, yes we have had to pay full price for the power because we have lost all the summers power, which on a good sunny day would have powered all the normal things in the house.

So as you see, should it be us or the housing association pursuing compensation and then on the other hand you also have the solar company themselves, who through their own incompetence have also lost out on the sale of power to the national grid.

I suppose I just need to have further words with the HA to see what can be done to compensate us for the extra costs incurred, bearing in mind that we still have not got the panels producing anything yet

Replying to tggzzz's Dynorod complaints.

Had a run in with Dynorod at the old place. Got them to come out to a blockage (caused by the woman upstairs putting food down her sink) and similar trouble. Failed to deal with it. Asked me to make payment at the end for attending. I said that he'd have to contact my landlord, which I didn't actually have because I owned the place. Tee hee. Few disappointing grunts, took details. Get a call the next day from their central office and explained that they hadn't sorted out the tenants problem and like fuck I was going to pay them. They said "fair enough" and buggered off. Went to Screwfix and bought some rods and sorted it myself in about 10 minutes.

Specmaster wrote: ↑Sat Nov 19, 2022 8:09 pm The problem I have with doing that is that the house is housing association property and the solar panels were installed on a scheme that they are linked into somehow or other. They encouraged as many tenants to have them installed at no cost a few years ago when Government was pushing the whole renewable thing. Not to sure what they get or got out of the deal, as we are allowed to use the free power and anything produced that we didn't use, the solar company sold back to the grid. So its complicated, yes we have had to pay full price for the power because we have lost all the summers power, which on a good sunny day would have powered all the normal things in the house.

So as you see, should it be us or the housing association pursuing compensation and then on the other hand you also have the solar company themselves, who through their own incompetence have also lost out on the sale of power to the national grid.

I suppose I just need to have further words with the HA to see what can be done to compensate us for the extra costs incurred, bearing in mind that we still have not got the panels producing anything yet

Don't piss off the HA is all I can suggest.

Best to cut any losses and ask to have it made good, that is all.

Which parties (you, the HA and the company -in its various guises) in this have contracts with each other and what do they say?

I can't see why the HA would be happy with this installation not working properly, but it's probably a bureaucracy, and they may have made as much as they expected by going along with it in the first place.

bd139 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 19, 2022 8:10 pm Replying to tggzzz's Dynorod complaints.

Had a run in with Dynorod at the old place. Got them to come out to a blockage (caused by the woman upstairs putting food down her sink) and similar trouble. Failed to deal with it. Asked me to make payment at the end for attending. I said that he'd have to contact my landlord, which I didn't actually have because I owned the place. Tee hee. Few disappointing grunts, took details. Get a call the next day from their central office and explained that they hadn't sorted out the tenants problem and like fuck I was going to pay them. They said "fair enough" and buggered off. Went to Screwfix and bought some rods and sorted it myself in about 10 minutes.

Oh, I haven't come across that "landlord trick"!

I'll mention that to sproglet, who is far better at being bolshie than I am

Something I read today that I suspect will be familiar to Anders and Graham, or anyone else who's regularly done any sort of site work on a construction site or similar.

"Fitter we used to work with used to just stand there and watch others doing the work, just casting a shadow ... so we called him 'Sundial'."

Cerebus wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 3:00 pm Something I read today that I suspect will be familiar to Anders and Graham, or anyone else who's regularly done any sort of site work on a construction site or similar.

"Fitter we used to work with used to just stand there and watch others doing the work, just casting a shadow ... so we called him 'Sundial'."

I love work: I could watch it all day.

I'm here now. It's taken some time, the main reason being that I was in a car accident a couple of weeks ago so I've been taking things slowly and haven't been doing a whole lot lately.

I did pick up a second HP 16C the other day so I can have a 15C + 16C pair on my bench at work as well as the bench at home.

Soldiers all in a row...



Sgt Dustbin: "Atten-SHUNN!!!"

mnem
Done for another year... :whew:

25 CPS wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 7:17 pm I'm here now. It's taken some time, the main reason being that I was in a car accident a couple of weeks ago so I've been taking things slowly and haven't been doing a whole lot lately.

I did pick up a second HP 16C the other day so I can have a 15C + 16C pair on my bench at work as well as the bench at home.

Welcome to our new home, have a look around and get a feel for it. Nice to see you over here at last and glad you're getting back to normal again, and I'm jelly of your 15C and 16C , .

I'm just getting into HP calculators and in the space of a just a few short weeks, I've gone from not having any HP calcs, to now owning 7 and an eighth incoming, 10Bii ,10Bii+ 2 x 17Bii, 17Bii+ 32Sii, 12C platinum and incoming 1986 original USA 12C and plenty of Commodores and others.

mnementh wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 7:28 pm Soldiers all in a row...



Sgt Dustbin: "Atten-SHUNN!!!"

mnem
Done for another year... :whew:

Just fall leaves ?
Excuse for a bonfire and have neighbors over for drinks.

tggzzz wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 5:37 pm I love work: I could watch it all day.

I thought it came from "Three Men in a Boat"; a frivolous tale about three worthless yet well-connected young men going on a boating holiday on the Thames.

"It always does seem to me that I am doing more work than I should do. It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me: the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart."

Also,

“I can't sit still and see another man slaving and working. I want to get up and superintend, and walk round with my hands in my pockets, and tell him what to do. It is my energetic nature. I can't help it.”

It pre-dated P G Wodehouse and must have been one of his influences.

I read the book when I was 13. I must read it again. The film is pretty good.

mnementh wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 7:28 pm
Sgt Dustbin: "Atten-SHUNN!!!"[/size]

What a shower. You should have got them to present arms, port arms, ease springs and then present arms for hinspection.

The one third from the left is an obvious shirker. You should have come down on that like a ton of bricks.

Honestly, with the wind that was blowing like ice-dragon breath by the time we were done, I'm just glad they weren't rolling around in the street like shinys whut just raided a wine cellar.

mnem

Cerebus wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 3:00 pm Something I read today that I suspect will be familiar to Anders and Graham, or anyone else who's regularly done any sort of site work on a construction site or similar.

"Fitter we used to work with used to just stand there and watch others doing the work, just casting a shadow ... so we called him 'Sundial'."

My Bro had a manager, who, when a problem was brought to his attention, would say, "I'll look into it", followed by complete inaction!
They called him "Mirrors"!

At the TV Studio, we were dumping a bunch of BW Philips Pix monitors, which had some very nice carry handles.
One bloke went through them removing the handles thus saving them from an ignominious end in landfill.
We asked him if he was the "Handle's Messiah"!

mnementh wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 7:28 pm Soldiers all in a row...



Sgt Dustbin: "Atten-SHUNN!!!"

mnem
Done for another year... :whew:

With all the current wet unpleasantness in the Eastern States of Oz, I initially thought they were sandbags, & thought:-"Nice start, but you've still got the whole neighbourhood to do!"