Dual RCD board swap over - in a tiny tiny cupboard 

26:10 the laptop has a magnetic sensor to detect when the lid is closed. you can change the settings to do nothing when the lid is closed or when your watch is near it

Hi Tom, I don't know if you still read the comments. I used to work as an assistant manager for a wholesaler, and I loved the relationships I built with my customers in spite of enormous mistrust within the industry, I really did my best for them! Eventually one of my best customers approached me and asked me if id like to work for him. Consequently, at 32, i'm now an apprentice, attending college as well as enjoying diagnostics, testing and electrical installations at work. I've been watching your channel for a couple of years, I love the pragmatic and real approach to work that you shamelessly share, and you were a significant component in me taking this massive leap of a career change. Keep up the good work, and thank you very much.

It’s good to see an electrician with common sense these days instead of quoting regs and putting fellow electricians down.

Dear Tom, this is one of your best videos so far - I love the chatty style and covering all those old chesnut subjects and the way you do it, the dry cynicism and enthusiasm mixed and jumbled up and sorry to hear about your dear old bike. This was a great video. I wish I had a toughbook but I use lenovo think pads on jobs always have, second hand too, not too much money to replace. That looks like it'll last you well. You are indubitably the master of the genre, this was a nice video, and a nice length too. Thanks very much.

I remember watching this channel about 2 years ago. This video randomly came up on my feed after all this time and I'm delighted. I get to learn a bit and have a laugh at the same time.

Nothing like doing it yourself, single handedly, sometimes in the dark too. Quote Uncle Bumblefack

If you are a jobing spark and are not well practiced at working live, you could be in for a shock. When I trained in 1980 it was part of the course. Being able to use the correct procedures when working live is as important as understanding the isolation procedure.

I have literally no idea about pretty much anything you talk about... but it's fair to say I have become obsessed with watching your channel. Keep the videos coming mate. 👍

The Laptop is thinking the cover (screen) is closed.. magnetic switch. Love the Channel.. Sparky from the US. Thanks for sharing your craft

Great stuff Tom....best luck getting the big job

I have to say I find you very Entertaining to listen to and watch. As a fellow spark I can tell you know what your doing. I’m trying to get pointers about house work to be more efficient because I’ve mainly done Commercial and Industrial.

I agree with the insulation resistance test at 250 volts then 500 I do the same just incase somethings plugged in that was missed and cause damage to any electronic appliances

Like your stuff. Beer and peanuts nothing.. But still sitting here not working, watching you work, is good stuff.

Hello young man re safe isolation keep on doing what you are doing, unfortunately common sense ain't so common I have been sparking for 40 odd years and I have alway worked like you do, using common sense to work and stay safe,

Perfect timing just about to have a poo

Safe isolation is all about a combination of competency and being in control of the situation.

Saw you on Monday Tom when I was driving into London.

Link line and neutral together and test to earth stops false readings from neons and lamps it's in guidance note 3

Hall effect sensor in the lid to switch the screen off when the lid closes can be switched off in the settings. Another great video 👌🏻

The company I worked for was fitting those boards back in 1965. The theory of the twisting 7.29 was to stop the screw cutting the wire. We didn’t have posh torque screwdrivers back then.

Very enjoyable vlog tom👍🏻could u do more of you doing testing

I also quite often disconnect from the Henley blocks, but you will often find the screwheads to be 3mm hex. My preferred brand is Knipex 3mm VDE as it doesn't tend to chew the heads up on over torqued screws as a lot of other makes do!

Bought the exact same laptop a couple years ago, love the battery life on it.

You are right about the level of danger involved in live working. There is danger, but it can be managed if you are careful. One of the more dangerous aspects of the work in the video was the refitting of the covers on the Henley blocks; one slip and your fingers might have been inside the block! A dab of superglue on the end of your VDE pliers would glue the cover to them for long enough to offer up the cover to the block and do up the screw.

It’s the magnet from your watch strap. It happens with most laptops but the sensors are usually closer to the display for example the top left of the keyboard on the MacBook Air. It is also how the display knows when to switch off.

Neat coiled Earth connection to the surge protector but this is effectively a choke and may increase earth impedance preventing the surge protector performing effectively. I would think a short straight wire would be preferable. People may argue that at 50 Hz it is not an issue but the intention is to quench the rapid rise time of the surge ASAP so low impedance it desirable.

Wow, you actually had me pegged... "sitting there with your crisps, beer, peanuts..."

Hi mate I'm not electrician but I love watching your videos keep them going mate 👍

Nagy is in tune with electrical field of the house ! self-calibrating ;-)

I think the the Panasonic Toughbook has a magnetic sensor in it for when you close the laptop that the screen would go off.

stuck in a cupboard being tortured eating infected grapes... yes I quite like this suffering Nagy haha Great effort filming in that sock drawer!

You can tell what your up against when you see the first light switch in the hall way what the banter is about to be!!

Watching this in the US hearing you talk about ring circuits makes my brain hurt! I love our split phase 120v systems here, so simple and straight forward!

You haven't got a choice but to work on the board while it's live in certain situations. You're an experienced sparky Tom so yo know what you're doing, ignore all the negative comments & keep doing your thing 👍

Fully agree with your sentiments Tom,... there's the theory world and there's the real world.. Good video bro 😄

It's the magnet on your watch strap the though pad ,has a sensor to shutdown the screen when closed to save power

Hi Tom, love the channel. its interesting and entertaining. I'm not a spark, i'm a kitchen fitter so obviously a lot of the tech stuff you talk about goes over my head, however did you know that a half used bottle of orange juice in certain conditions, can be explosive?! I found this out....severe brown trouser moment that was! Keep up the good work.

The reason your display will turn off when a magnetic object comes in contact with that area is due to there being a reed switch in there for when you close the lid. It’s a sensor to indicate when the screen has been closed to put the pc into sleep mode.

The thing I love most about your Videos Tom is all that English slang lingo I pick up.. I mean sure, seeing an electrician doing what you did like 15 years ago in a different country is a plus (fckin interesting as well), but nothing beats learning new ways to use words =D

Good video don't think what others say work safe and in your limits and the job a gooden

the screen turns of by a magnetic sensor and its probably magnetic to keep it more rugged and not having to have some sloppy mechanism that needs to be waterproof

Mind the spiders, Tom. Tom knows no fear: "OK chaps, we're going in". Got sustenance, can stay in here for hours. Tom worked and worked, and scoffed and scoffed. Trouble is, his "food baby" got so big, he couldn't get out. We think he's still in there now.

It's the hall sensor under the top of the casing when it detects that there's a magnetic object in the vicinity, like the magnet that's used in the charger, it's causing that hall sensor to go off and sending the command to windows to turn the panel off.

Flat bits - Bosch self-cut speed, can’t beat them Tom

The only thing I think I'd do different is a bit of dielectric grease to keep the connections from corroding. It's a good mitigation for harsh environments like by the beach. I used to be a general contractor and encountered this problem where the wires would rot out of the breakers. The grease stopped it happening flat and didn't hurt conductivity at all. So if you find yourself near the coast or any other harsh environment a little dielectric grease will save you a lot of headaches later.

Become an Electrician they said...fun it will be they said.

Another great vid thanks for us that are still learning 👍 if you find two circuits in a 32amp and discover it's not a ring (rfc). what do you do split and put each leg on it's own 16amp or keep both legs in mcb but reduce to a 20amp?? Cheers

tomas your are a topman and very down to earth I like your stile and humourus

magnetic sensor. there will be a magnet in the lid and this is used to shut down the screen when you close the lid.

Here in Aus we have system where our service fuse has a protective sealing cover that goes over the terminals the supply authority seals that and we can freely remove the service fuse and de energise as we need. Also for pricing larger jobs I use a price per point method.

I've got a sore neck just watching you in that small cupboard.

Thomas im a chippy and by far the best spade bits are the dewalt extreme ones. Chippies give drill bits hell and iv found they are the best. I used them on price for drilling mortice locks out the last ages and they a the easiest to resharpen 👍👍👍👍

working on live fuseboards: do a risk assessment, (even in your own head is fine, there's no requirement for it to be written down). If the board looks like a disaster, i pull the main fuse. (puts worm can opener down). If it's just a quick look... leave it live.

That was always my least favorite part of running data cables and installing network hardware - working in tight quarters. Gets old quickly as you said. Finally decided to change jobs after falling off a ladder.

you Sir are working hard.

What is the coiled cable in your van is it a ham radio for the microphone or cb

My Festool case doesn't make that noise....... Ya tubby bar steward. :) Thanks for the upload us usual. :)

In Canada, most main residential panel have the mains under a separate cover so if you turn off the main your bussbars aren’t live

I wasn't claustrophobic until I watched this!! 😁

When I went to high school I went to a technical one that had Tafe too, one of the reasons was the electrical trade teacher, he was a good friend of the family. But now getting to the good part (and no it's not blowing up caps which shut a classroom for awhile, which was the first thing we did there) I walked pass the classroom and was asked to come in and show the Tafe students how to wire up a hole house (small cubicle that had 5 circuits that was ment to be like a house) My father did house and industrial and so I was trained early (lucky too) The teacher made the feed in live and so I had to wire the lot live (this was fuse wire boards and almost 40 years ago) The students laughed as I was 12 and they was over 20 but I put them in there place so quickly, the best was when I did a test as I just plugged a light in and it worked, they realised I did it all live and didn't get shocked once. As you said use insulated tools and your head and as I was told, always assume the line is live no matter what, I have never had a at fault shock. I also pitty you for the small spot you had to work in and even try to film in but you did great thanks for the video.

It was quite a coincidence that every installation that needed to be isolated over my entire career, the cutout fuse seal was always already broken, and sometimes, but usually only when I needed to replace tails, the meter seals were also missing. Very strange, but entirely true.... Of course I did my duty and always phoned the REC to let them know it wasn't me that removed them.

24:12 BOSCH speed bits all day long, munch through timber like a hot knife on butter 😍🤤

In those Lucy blocks, were you removed the cables there should be a plastic insert to take the smaller cable with no exposure, if you slide it out and flip it round it’s then a blank.

And that’s why we have “Insulated” tools!

Very tight squeeze Thomas

How did you join the old cables to extend them? Wagos in the trunking???

When working live it’s brown to brown and blue to bits

Dad.......there's voices coming from the cupboard!

Hi thanks for your cool video's my Q is when you put the security MCB before the RCD where do you connect the live and to which bar do you connect the neutral of the usually they will trip out

What size are your snips? I'm using 160mm just now and they are crap.

No crisps. No Beer. No Peanuts. Immense enjoyment.

Isn't the most important thing the radio Tom? Always pop the radio on before starting 👍

I have to say I don't really understand the spark jargon, I think I tune in for 'the world according to Tom' and it's good!

magnetic megger... now there's an idea!!

Sorry for the stupid question, what size stuffing gland is that? And do they usually come with the board?

I have a CF-19 and I worked out the mechanics behind the way the screen turns off/laptop thinks you closed the lid. In the lid at the top right (I think it was the metal locating pin) there's a weak magnet or piece of ferrous metal (I honestly can't remember which right now but my gut tells me magnet) and a hall effect sensor in the bottom right of the body of the laptop. When the hall effect sensor detects a change in state it tells the motherboard if the lid has been opened or closed. The hall sensor will go either high or low on it's signal pin telling the motherboard open or closed. Your watch either has a magnet in it or has ferrous metal fooling the laptop into thinking the lid was closed, under power options in control panel you probably have the setting 'when lid is closed' set to 'do nothing' this is how I have all my laptops set as I don't want it going to sleep every time I close the lid, which is often. Hope you understand that but I'm sure you will :)

Tom, get yourself a GoPro and record in POV! Completely hands free and space saving!

I like what you did with the van

Did you just extend the T&E inside the trunking?

50V pi test can be good enough?

Hi Tom.... nice vid... Just a question is that your camera making the noise in the background... The noise is like that of a camera when you use auto-focus... a series of very high pitched beeps... Could also be the Alarm for loss of power to the burglar alarm...

What are the sepsific quals you need to become a sparky? I'm currently doing my level 3 nvq in electrical and mechanical maintenance/engineering so I work with panels robots 3 phase wiring and Everything daily and I'm extremely used to fault finding electrical systems I'll have my hnc in the next 2 years in electrical engineering too but I'm not sure if there's specific stuff other then your 18th edition

How did you join the old cables inside the trunking onto the cables attached to the board?

Depending on size I use electrical estimator, but if he will supply parts what you said makes sense. London ~£300 day (with the mates your day rate builds up a bit) X 6 weeks (5days) X 3 guys £27k + bit of fat...

Seems positively huge compared to some of the cupboards I’ve had too squeeze into.

What about where there is no connector block between meter and consumer unit? Do you get electrocuted regularly?

Great job again like always

Tom, as a non sparks, what should happen if you cut the seal and pulled the fuse.

my dads fuse box is old and has one part protected with a RCD and the other part just protected by MCBS.

Arh Tom cheering me up. 😃

Yes a new video !!! How’s your Thursdays going ???

In previous videos i have seen you install isolators on the meter tails?

Price large work in blocks / stages. Regular contract clauses for variations etc.

Popcorn is the only thing to eat during your excellent videos.

Still doing my training and the answer maybe obvious, but how have all the old red and black twin and earths cables from the old CU turned into brown and blue in the new CU?

Do you still opt for split load board or is it down to price? Just wondering with the fact most of them incorporate type AC rcd’s which can have trouble tripping under dc load, plus they can be a ball ache fault finding.

Why the pig-tail on the earth to the busbar? With fault currents that could introduce a certain amount of reactance , I was always told to keep the connection from the surge diverter as short as possible.

There will be a hall-effect sensor I imagine and a magnet in the screen so that it turns off the display when you close the lid. Perhaps there is a magnet in your watch?

This guy never has a lunch break

Live working! Unavoidable sometimes how else do you take a efli reading?! I would love trying to tell some of the large manufacturing plants I’ve worked in that I’m shutting the whole operation off! Not happening!