ATD Electrical BlogPowerful electrics

A special thanks has to be given to Keith and his crew at DOSS electrical.

Thanks so much for all your support and all the work you have given us!!

DOSS specialises in certificates of compliance and repairs any other jobs they refer us and we have always given as always our best to the clients.

I am very pleased to announce that we haven’t had a problem from Seal Alert for around 6 month now.

The building  is on the pier in Hout Bay harbour that is most exposed to the elements, we installed spot lights along the fence and they are still working and have survived the strongest winds cape towns had in ten years.

They also had a shocking problem that was caused by a backfeed problem when the ships plugged into the same general D.B that they were using. We then ran new power to Seal Alert from the transformer room which is before the other sub D.B and the problem has now been solved!

Happy days, now the seals can get on with there  theropy shock free.

Copper theft has become big business.

We recently did a job at sea harvest in hout bay, just a few months later we are being called to do the same job over.

I’m not complaining but you have to feel for the client , they are paying for 24hr security guards and still the thieves manage to get in and steal anything that shines! any water pipe or electrical cable is stripped and later sold at the scrap yard.

Why is it that people feel the need to help themselves to other peoples hrad earned goods…?

We will never know

Just a quick bit of advise for those of you out there that own 3 phase propertys. A problem that has arrisen for a couple of my clients is that of a loose neutral . On a single phase system it doesn’t pose a prolem but when it comes to 3 phase the damage can cost a large amount of money because a backfeed is created that burns out any and all electronic components in its path!

You will know you have a loose neutral when plugs start blowing things up or when your lights just start dimming when switched on.

The best thing to do is to switch your power off at the main switch and call us straight away the problem is easy to fix and stopping it at the right time is crucial.

It may even be a good idea just to have us in to check all the connections are in fact tight a service we offer when any work is carried out…

I’v noted a huge decline in development during 2010. As the builders holiday draws to an end, I’m hoping that 2011 will bring an increase in the construction indusrty and that we will have the chance to quote for and work along side quality builders . Providing us with a platform to get our name out there. A client asked me the other day which builders I suggest for his renovation , I said LA devolpements , VECTOR construction ,RATTLE or Quest construction are the first to come to mind but there are a lot more quality builders in and around cape town.

We have already quoted on the first stage of a guest house in simonstown and it looks as though the quote will be accepted!

In 2009 we did a 11 bedroom guesthouse in camps bay , the job turned out perfectly and the client was very happy we upgraded the power from 60A 3Phase to 300A 3 phase due to the fact that there are 2 kitchens ,3 geysers , heat pump on swimming pool and under floor heating in every room and bathroom and there is a bathroom for every room and 1 in the lobby!

We also had the pleasure of installing all the under fllor heating.

Heres hoping 2011 brings in another big delopement!

This week we were again called out to Seal Alert in Hout Bay harbour , the last time we were there was in November 2009 . I was so impressed with the work Francious has done to the building and how peaceful and warm it feels inside . He has had found good relations with De Beers and they have helped him get all the equipment he needs to carry out his rehabilitation of his favourite friends the seals .Francious takes his job very seriously and you can see he has a very personal relationship with the babys he has saved . Located on the pier running down the middle of the harbour the building undergoes serious punishment from the elements , the problem we found was the electric fence energiser was getting wet on the wall and the current was running down the wall onto the floor and when wet and touching the metal cageing inside one would shock . We supplied a housing for the energiser and thought that would help . It will help  keep the unit and its controls dry but another problem we found was that on the outside barb wire had been blown onto the fence and was shorting it onto the roof this may also cause a shock if undetected . We tried our best to pull the barb wire off , but called in the experts from hout bay alarms to check it out!

Late yesterday afternoon we were called out to a property by seeff hout bay to inspect why the client was not getting hot water. We quickly found that there was a loose connection in the isolator and replaced it . Whilst the team was busy i chatted with the client , Mr Ron Dean who told me he was about to install one of his instant geysers in line with his shower , he showed me his product (small instant heat geysers) called Dafi ,which he imports from poland . This morning already we have sold one to cafe bristort and i’l be taking one for my moms kitcken . You see, you save by turning off your existing geyser if its just for the kitchen and installing this device under the sink which only ever draws power if the tap is running! You also dont need to run the tap for 2min before hot water arrives from geyser its instant . The device costs around R3000ex.vat with installation . You can goggle dafi the website is under the builders section just click on page to read more. Another great product , parts are readily available , if installed correctly you receive a 24 month guarentee and the only time it may give problems is when the element needs to be replaced( which should only happen every five years or so. Respect to Rod for having had such great vision all those years ago he is now doing really well supplying these units to households and low cost housing projects throughout southern africa thats how energy effiecient and cost effective they are…

DAFI INSTANTANEOUS WATER HEATER

I can truly say that this is a great product , we recently kitted out a house in camps bay , it looks really upmarket and classy with satin chrome finishes , our client choose the toggle range which is also my favourite . I would just like to warn people out there that all goods ordered can take up to four weeks to be manufactured . On the all we experienced very friendly service from the reps and i would have no issue recommending this product to other clients or contractors . I have to say its very expensive but if I could afford this luxury I’d definitely indulge !

Heavy Days

Yesterday we were called out to inspect a fault and advise our client on the best route to resolve the problem . When I arrived I noted water pouring out of the earth terminal of the wall socket , the earth leakage had tripped but even though water was flowing through the plug stayed up when I switched it on . Which is very strange because the test button did work when pressed . When I opened the socket water sprayed out of the hole were I removed the screw . Water had got into a conduit underground that may have been damaged by roots and was pushing up through two pipes and just filling up the flush 4×4 box and causing a good deal of damage to the bedroom floor etc . We isolated the plugs in that room and will replace with new Crabtree doubles once the water problem is corrected!

This morning I met with the Clipsal rep in Hout Bay. I was expecting to view impressive state of the art switch gear but instead we were shown a major flaw in the product . They have not manufactured the 4×4 covers properly and now they don’t match the 4×2’s ,the 4×4 switches are a little recessed which was pointed out by the rep who said an architect on another job had complained about this . Im now left in a situation where my client wants to use s3000( mostly because of illumination lights) but we must now choose to live with the recess or install 2x 4×2 boxes next to each other to house 5 switches . I am most disappointed and cant believe that such a well known company could have let this happen…