coming up on this week's news the trade is warned over fake news about AFDDs and low smoke cables  a government department accuses Tesla over the electrocution of an electrician and the  NICEIC clamps down on CPDs are you up to date with continuous learning welcome to electrical  news weekly whether you're listening in the van on site or down at the wholesale counter I'm  Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you  the trouble and this week's challenge word competition is sponsored by Brady printers  they'll be at the Elex show in Ally Pally on the 2017 and 28th of March so book your tickets  to see the great kit they've got on offer and if you think you've spotted the two words that  I've been challenged to slip into this week's show comment with them below for the chance to  win a prize electricians are being warned this week over fake news about arc fault detection  devices and low smoke cables the manufacturer's representative body BEAMA says that inaccurate  claims are circulating in the trade over AFDDs and XPLE cables XPLE which stands for Crosslink  Polyethylene is a super tough insulation which also provides a high level of fire performance  specifically BEAMA says there are two untruths doing the rounds one is that AFDDs require carbon  produced by the charring of a PVC PVC cable to detect an arc fault and that they won't  work with an XPLE cable the second is that XPLE cables don't char under any arc fault  conditions so there's no point fitting an afdd BEAMA commissioned an independent test house to  prove its point the research explored how AFDDs and RCBOs performed under arc fault tests the  testers use BASEC approved PVC and XPLE insulated cables with low smoke and zero halogen sheathing  the technique was to repeatedly make and break the connection to induce arcing in the experiment  researchers used three different brands of AFDDs all tripped correctly three different RCBOs were  also tested and non tripped in response to the arcs despite significantly more charring BEAMA  says the results refute the rumours it is possible for XPLE cables to char and AFDDs will trip with  this type of cable the the organisation has now put its technical bulletin with details  of the investigation on its website I've put a link to the download in the show notes in  other news Tesla this week stands accused of breaching workplace safety rules following  the death of an electrician last summer Victor Gomez senior was electrocuted while working on  an electrical panel in a new battery Factory his family claims that the electric car giant  was negligent and it says the panel should never have been energised it's suing Tesla for 800,000  over the incident in Austin Texas the US Labor department has formally accused the company but  is not disclosed details of the specific failures or any possible penalties this week Democrat  Congressman Greg Casar demanded details of the probe into Gomez's death in a reference to Tesla  boss Elon Musk Casar said that an electrician's death should not be ignored simply because the  CEO at the top has lots of money and Powerful connections here in the UK the NICEIC is cracking  down on the continuing professional development of electricians from next month certified companies  that aren't able to show documentary evidence of their learning will be given a deadline of  30 days to do so the organisation says that firms must be able to show documented evidence of their  CPD activity the NICEIC's technical director Paul Collins says that in the electrical industry it's  simple if you don't do CPD you're going to get left behind this is especially true of  new tech such as EV Chargers solar panels and heat pumps but it's also true he says of things  like marketing the way firms sell themselves has changed enormously and contractors need to keep  up with this too now if all of this is making you feel more uncomfortable than if you sat  on a cactus the good news is that here at eFIXX we've created over 40 free training packages for  the electrical industry each one counts as an hour towards your annual CPD requirement and you'll get  a certificate that you can keep for your records check out the eFIXX Know How Page by clicking the  link in the show notes you'll also find there the NICEIC's guide to CPD now how would you like a  massive 30% off top quality light fittings we've teamed up with Signify to bring you a massive deal  on products purchased through the LumXpert app or website even without the huge discount this is a  great tool for electricians helping you do quotes lighting CS ordering and tracking of materials you  can find Phillips and Ecolink lighting Products by type or application and order from your usual  wholesaler you can compare prices check stock levels and track your order it also gives you  direct access to manufacturer experts via WhatsApp for support with product selection installation  and after sales service it's convenient allows you to place orders anytime anywhere with delivery in  just 24 to 48 hours and the very best thing is that if you enter the order code eFIXX30  you'll get a massive 30% discount across the entire signify LumXpert portfolio you won't find  a better discount code anywhere else so click the link in the show notes and make your life easier  and cheaper there's more good news for contractors this time for those looking to make their next van  an electric one the government has announced that it's extending its zero emission vehicle grant for  another year under the scheme you can get up to 2,500 when buying a van up to 2 and 1/2 tons and  up to £5,000 for Vans up to 4.25 tons normally you'd have to undergo additional training and  upgrade your license if you significantly increase the weight of your van after all thanks to the  batteries electric vans are significantly heavier than petrol or diesel ones but the  department for transport also says it's scrapping this requirement to make it easier to make the  switch you can get more details on the Grant from participating EV dealerships still on EV Charger  maker Indra is expanding its partnership with octopus energy by integrating the intelligent  octopus go tariff into its charges the Tariff has a super cheap rate of just 7p per kilowatt  hour Octopus says the plan saves customers up to 70% compared to a standard tariff the integration  was made possible by octopus's proprietary Kraken software another EV partnership that's got off to  a flying start is between plug-in Point maker Rolex and charging station operator wattif EV  the agreement will see Rolex kit matched with wattif software and funding the duo have begun by  targeting Caravan Parks they've installed chargers next to mobile homes across Dorset and Devon they  say the project means holiday makers can relax knowing they'll always have power for their  vehicle now no doubt Gary and Gordon will jump on this opportunity to spread even more slanderous  rumours that I enjoy taking a caravan on holiday the truth of course is very different when I drive  to my holiday destination I prefer to go at the speed of a roadrunner rather than a tortoise  meanwhile in North London Compleo has just won a 1.2 million pound charger order from Islington  Council the company will help Electrify the local authorities Fleet in a bid to cut emissions over  the next two years Compleo will install a range of AC DC and high-speed EV Chargers to power up  the 550 strong electric fleet vehicles covered include bin lories buses and tipper trucks yet  another collab as the kids say is between charger maker NEX blue and specialist installer bumblebee  they've teamed up to launch a plug-in point for home charging capable of providing up to  7.4 Kw of charging power on a single phase the Bumblebee point is a wall mounted unit  with Advanced features it can receive over the air software updates via Wi-Fi a 4G e-sim or Bluetooth  the sleek black charging box is compatible with all grid systems and features integrated  pen fault protection now Welcome to our electrical news weekly feature where we focus on a specific  product area this week we're getting charged up with all things EV the latest charger to hit the  market is the IO8 from Ratio the Bollard style plug-in Point comes in 7.4 and 22 KW versions  and has a cool light at the top it's British made OCPP 1.6 compliant and you get a 3-year warranty  ChargeM8 has unveiled two new products this week first up is the sigma contactless payment kiosk  which allows electric car drivers to pay for their charge this is designed to work seamlessly with  the tap electric pay technology it has an onboard power supply with plug and play connections for  both power and a 4G connection it also boasts an anti Vandal High Gain 4G antenna for the install  it fits into an EV block mini or you can bolt it down to a suitable surface also out this week is  the Brand's Libra Dynamic load balancing device instead of allocating a set amount of power to  a client set of EV Chargers this clever bit of Kit allows you to use any available power when  the building is running below its maximum use told you it was clever it also features out of  the box integration with tap electric as well as integration with subzone load management  and individual phase monitoring it talks to the outside world via 4G ethernet and Wi-Fi  you commission it via the touchscreen that's our electrical news weekly Roundup of products  we think deserve some attention next week we're taking a look at wiring accessories and off the  back of our product focus on EV the results from last week's question of the week are in  we asked if no RDCDD is used to protect an EV charge Point what type of rcd protection must  be used the correct answer is type B that's because type B RCDs are specifically designed  to detect AC pulsating DC and smooth DC residual currents making them the required Choice when no  RDCDD is used on YouTube only 25% of people got it right whereas some 44% of LinkedIn members  got it correct so that's a little bit better the question was taken from our free training package  from Indra renewable Technologies I'll put a link to the course in the show notes and based on those  results it might be a good idea for everyone to go and have a look at that remember it'll count  as an hour towards your annual CPD requirement in product news this week Contactum has unveiled  a 250 amp disboard based on the Brand's 125 amp Defender the unit features include five incomer  options these include three and four pole switch disconnectors thermal magnetic adjustable MCCBs  and a four pole MCCB with adjustable type B RCD the type B Earth leakage breaker detects AC as  well as both pulsating and smooth DC residual currents so it works well with charge points  and solar installs there are seven enclosure sizes available supporting 6 to 24 triple pole outgoing  ways a neutral disconnector link and provision for surge protection and metering options come  as standard the bus bar is rated at a chunky 35 Ka NightSearcher has introduced a professional  inspection light which it's aiming at the trade the ISpector 400 delivers 400 lumens that's the  same as an old school 40 watt incandescent lamp its slim profile is great at getting into tight  spaces you can also rotate the light bar 180 degrees for awkward locations it's IP65 fully  rechargeable and will set you back just 24 quid now our usual reminder that we're in the  market for your stories your projects and your recommendations as we'd like to share them with  the wider eFIXX community over the next few weeks we'll be featuring wiring accessories  and electrical Innovations so send us pictures of your in stores or let us know if you've come  across any new kit that's making your job easier or any products that you think deserve a shout  out and just before we get to your favourite bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge  words and winners we want to to thank our premium Partners we couldn't make the news without you  first up they're the people who've created the Swiss army knife of solar inverters along with  all weather batteries very much the Boy Scouts of the solar industry it's Sunsynk and speaking  of solar with manufacturing powered by a massive 250 megawatt solar PV array they're literally the  greenest test instrument maker in Europe both physically and ethically it's KPS now are you  a bit of a control freak motor control that is if so with huge stocks in excellent service check out  Crompton Controls as they said to me in a recent conversation if we don't have it then we can build  it with their new award-winning lumo consumer unit and offering Complete product support from their  highly trained team it's CPN Cudis don't forget to use the code eix 30 to claim your 30% discount  on top quality light fittings from Phillips and Ecolink download the LumXpert app today  and make your life easier and less expensive it's the light of Our Lives Signify and the best thing  to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel the home of EV ultra and other groundbreaking  and quality products it's Doncaster Cables click the link in the show notes to find out more about  these great Brands big thanks to you all we really appreciate your ongoing support for the news if  you think you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show then  leave your guesses in the comments below we'll take all the correct guesses and select one at  random to be the winner of an eFIXX goodie bag prize answers submitted after about lunchtime  on the Thursday after release will not be entered into the draw now let's reveal the winners of last  week's challenge word competition as sponsored by the good people at Brady printers don't forget to  go and see them down at the elect show at Ali pal on the 27th and 28th of March last week  words were Rigar and Blimey and the person to be selected from our electronic hat this week  was David Pike so well done to you David make sure you click the get involved Link in the show  notes to claim your prize thanks for listening to this episode of electrical news weekly make  sure you subscribe to receive the next update thanks for listening and until next time have  a great week stay safe out there and remember there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm