Coming up on this week's news, an electrical expert admits to losing sleep over the ticking  time bomb of aging and dangerous cutouts. A Lancashire couple faces a one-third of a  million pound bill after DIY wiring burned down their neighbour's house. And we reveal the seven  telltale signs of a cowboy renewable installer. 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. This week, the recording  studio is being powered by our friends over at Consumer Unit World with high stock levels of your  favourite consumer units, including BG, and free next working day delivery on orders over £150.  We're being lit by Flex 7 with their lightning fast pre-wired modular lighting connection system  that keeps your installation times razor sharp. 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. And while you're there, click the links to check out what our sponsors offer.  A power network expert has admitted to losing a lot of sleep over the issue of aging cutouts.  Gordon MacKenzie, who was a senior electrical engineer with Scottish Power Energy Networks  until he retired in 2021, has made the issue of service terminations national news after he gave  a hard-hitting interview to the BBC. He says he has been trying to raise the issue in the industry  for over a decade. It goes back to 2014 when he began to notice that black belike cutouts were  failing in similar ways. He says that the phenolic resin insulating material breaks down leading to a  catastrophic failure of the unit. This generates an enormous amount of heat and energy which can  cause serious fires. He says failures of service heads are being reported on a daily basis with  90% of the most serious incidents involving black plastic units. He says it's something that weighs  heavily on his mind because the industry should be doing more to address the issue. It's not just  that the phenolic resin becomes more brittle over time and catastrophically fails. The material can  also become conductive as it ages. Not an ideal property for an insulating material. In fact,  voltages on the surface of the cutouts can regularly exceed 50 volts, putting it in  electric shock territory. Electricians are advised to check for such voltages using a contact tester  pen. If they encounter any, they must report the problem to the DNO as a category A condition.  That's one which presents an immediate danger to life or property. Specifically, a problem  with surface voltages carries the condition code A19. Modern grey plastic cutouts are not prone to  the problems of degradation and surface voltages. eFIXX raised the issue of phenolic degradation as  it's known back in 2023. That's when Gary explored it in a special explainer video. More recently,  I brought the subject under my purview in a CPD on the hidden dangers around supplier equipment  and diverted neutral currents. I've put links to the video and the free training package in  the show notes. In other news, a Lancashire couple has been hit with a £350,000 bill after dodgy DIY  wiring led to fire which burned down two houses. A judge ruled that Turney and Sue Logan are liable  for the blaze which destroyed both their own home and that of neighbour Christopher Stanley Smith.  That's because they never asked an electrician to carry out or even check over an amateur wiring  job done by Mrs. Logan's ex partner over a decade earlier. The two terrace houses in Calderdale were  destroyed by the fire in 2018. Judge Steven Davies sitting at the high court in Manchester said that  the amateur wiring job was to blame for the fire and therefore the Logans are responsible for the  destruction of their neighbour's house. That's because the couple failed to get it checked or  redone by an electrician. The amateur electrics have been put in 13 years earlier by one of Mrs.  Logan's former partners. The court heard that he used a domestic extension lead for internal use  to connect the house with the shed where they keep their freezer. As part of this operation,  he removed the plug to feed the cable through a hole in the shed wall. He then reconnected  it and plugged it into a socket in the house. He said to have had no electrical training or  aptitude and no particular enthusiasm or skill in DIY. Sue Logan said it never occurred to her that  this work fell within the category of electrical works, which required a qualified electrician. The  judge said he was satisfied that on the balance of probabilities, the fire was caused by rodent  damage to the cable. He went on to award Stanley Smith compensation of £350,000. Now, can you tell  the work of a charger chancer, a battery bodger, or even a solar scoundrel? The growth in renewable  installs in recent years has attracted a posy of cowboys, many of whom are riding roughshod over  the safety standards. So, Scottish Electrical Contractors Association Select asked its member  firm I protect for the most common issues they have to rectify with plug-in points. The firm had  no trouble coming up with the magnificent seven of mistakes. top of these is basically putting  charges where they shouldn't be. For example, fitting a unit pulling 32 amps where there's a  60 amp main fuse. When you've only got 60 amps to play with, you're sailing fairly close to  the wind with a 32 amp charger. The rules say you should apply to get the fuse upgraded or if it's  on a looped supply to get that rectified as well. They've also seen many suspect solar installs. For  instance, inverters mounted on plaster board or plywood instead of a fireproof surface.  Undersized cables are also common with installers not following manufacturers instructions. They  see lots of connection issues with points inside isolators burning out because the cables not being  clamped down properly. Next in the list is a lack of interlin smoke detection, especially in lofts.  The alarm could be going off in the roof because there's a fire and yet the customer is downstairs  in the kitchen none the wiser. They saw one EV charger install where the inverter was fed from a  socket circuit and just doubled up with the socket outlets. Lastly, and possibly most shocking,  they've seen forged insurance certificates for installations. I Protect electrical manager Mike  Cruickshank says the root of the problem is that rogue traders see EV charge points as a fancy  socket outlet. They don't realise it's a specific technical install with its own rules. What have  you seen on your travels in the Wild West? Let us know in the comments below. Now, some big personal  news that's got me more excited than a schnowzer with two tails. I'm delighted to say that I, too,  have joined the battery brigade. The Robinson household has just taken delivery of a shiny  new sodium battery from 11 Energy. Why sodium? because it's more sustainable and ethical than  lithium. It's made from an abundant non-toxic material. They get the sodium by extracting it  from seawater or sometimes from salt mines. Sodium batteries are also more reliable than lithium in  extreme cold and hot conditions. The 11 energy packs are controlled by an energy management  platform which will optimise my usage. I got the idea when I saw the guys from 11 Energy on  one of our live streams in September. I'll pop the link to that episode in the show notes. And  I'll also let you know how I get on with it in the coming months. Keep your eyes peeled  on our platforms for the install video. Still on all things sustainable and renewable, Solis,  celebrating their 20th anniversary have unveiled a host of new kit for commercial and industrial  applications. One of the brand's big advantages is the ability of its hybrid inverters to handle  a solar input of up to 200% of the inverters rated DC power. So yes, you can connect twice  as much solar as the inverter's rating. If you use a number of 2,000 operating hours a year,  a Solace system can generate an extra 188 megawatt hours annually compared with typical designs. The  company has also just unveiled its latest innovation, which it's describing as less  a hybrid inverter and more a 4-in-one powerhouse. Instead of juggling multiple devices, cables, and  control systems, the unit puts everything you need into one intelligent platform. The battery has  smart charging and discharging. It stores energy when it's cheap and uses it when it matters most.  There's a PV inverter for harnessing the sun's energy. There's on-off grid and gen set switching,  which means that you can move seamlessly between power sources. And finally, a smart energy  management system, which optimises usage based on your needs, tariffs, and load priorities. Coming  this November is a 125 kW version, which boasts integration with an AI powered cloud. It works  with the recently upgraded Solace cloud platform, which learns sight specific consumption patterns,  factors in weather forecasts, and tariffs, and automatically schedules battery charging and  discharging. And if you've never installed their new 50 kW hybrid inverter before,  you could bag yourself a massive discount of 30% off your first order of one. Simply register your  interest by filling in the form at the link in the show notes, and they'll be in touch with  some details and the discount code. Sync Energy is currently marketing its home energy management  system. A major benefit to the system is there's the Sync Energy app, which brings together all the  brands many pieces of kit into one place, so you don't need multiple apps to control the different  elements of your setup. These elements include its innovative solar diverters, hybrid inverters,  battery storage, and EV chargers. Homeowners can store energy when it's cheapest or most abundant,  and use it when it's needed most, reducing energy costs. By storing solar energy,  the system can reduce typical solar only payback periods by 50% with just 25% additional upfront  cost. The flow range can be configured to suit a range of property types and energy needs. There's  a choice of 3.6 kW or 6 kW hybrid inverters and modular battery packs which are expandable to 36  kwatt hours. In lighting news, Integral LED has reimagined that staple of the ceiling,  the fire rated down light. Most of them are simply tightly sealed tin cans. With some, you  can't even change the light source if it fails. But Integrals One is a bit cleverer than that.  The Evo Fire uses UK patented fire rated glass to stop flames from passing through the ceiling.  Combined with powder coated steel and tempered glass, it delivers a premium finish with bezels  under 1 millm thick. The range is fully third party certified to 30, 60, and 90minute ratings,  including timber and I joist ceilings. You can pair the Evo Fire 85 with a GU10 or 50 mil module,  or select the Evo Fire Mini for GU11 or MR11 lamps. They'll even give you a 7-year warranty.  Less material and replaceable lamps. That's sustainability by design. Still on sustainability,  we're giving a shout out to Marshall Tufflex, the leader in trunking conduit, has been a pioneer in  this area for years. It makes much of its cable management kit from recycled material, much of  which comes from PVCU windows. The company has now set itself an ambitious target. It says that  by 2028, all its PVCU cable management kit will be manufactured using recycled material. They're  calling on contractors to join this vision by installing PVCU trunking solutions with a minimum  of 50% recycled plastic. The company is also cutting its operational carbon footprint. It's  investing in energy efficient manufacturing, waste reduction, and renewable energy sources to cut its  carbon. Boss John Chamberlain says the brand wants to lead by example. Now, some exciting news from  friend of the channel, Greencable. If you're not familiar with the scheme, it's a mobile scrapyard  that comes to you. The company gives you a green wheelie bin. There's no contract or service  charge. You simply put in your offcuts of twin and earth and other non-ferris metal. They collect it,  they give you money, and that's it. The news is that Greencable is expanding across the country  at a rapid pace. The company has announced that it's now serving East Anglia, Bristol, Cardiff,  and drum roll please, because this is huge, the Big Smoke Itself, London. If you've signed up,  they'll be in touch to advise the next steps to receiving your bin. If you work on large jobs,  they'll collect from site and issue legally compliant documentation to prove responsible  disposal of waste materials. The link, as ever, is in the show notes. In manufacturer news,  Hager has opened a local distribution centre in Telford. For electricians,  the 107,000 ft facility will mean easier access to the company's electrical distribution kit.  It's strategically located just a mile from the company's factory at Horton Wood. That's where  Hager makes enclosures and custom electrical distribution equipment. The new distribution  centre will significantly enhance logistics, production capacity, and mean better customer  service for the trade. It's also one of the first carbon positive buildings in the industry. It's  got a very good rating and an EPC rating of A thanks to its 300 m of solar panels which can  generate 63 kW of renewable energy. There's also a new tree landscape and 2 km of hedge rows and  wildflower zones to boost biodiversity. Boss Bruce Davis says the investment is a testament to  the brand's confidence in the UK. A reminder that there's still time to avail yourself of a special  offer this month from Velocity, maker of top tier tool bags and backpacks for the trade. If you buy  one of four qualifying products from the brand during October, then the company will add a 40  drill pod XS for free. Qualifying kit includes the firm's top of the range Rogue 600 wheeler  tool case. This one has a superpower. It's the world's first trackable tool bag. The Rogue 600  is equipped with a velocity connect tracker right out of the box so you can know where your kit is  at all times. It combines massive storage capacity while being super mobile as it's equipped with two  sturdy all-terrain wheels and a telescopic handle. It has two front tool sections for  vertical tool storage and a larger open section on the rear for your larger tools. In total,  it has no fewer than 55 pockets for all your gear. Other kit that qualifies for the deal  are the Rogue 50 and the Stealth NV100 backpacks and the Rogue 20 XL service bag. To avail yourself  of the deal, simply buy the kit and pop the Drill Pod XS into the basket as well. Then  use the promo code EFIXX to make the Drill Pod XS complimentary. You can use the code up to  Friday the 31st of October. Now, it's that great moment where we get to celebrate the sterling work  being done by the next generation. Our learner of the week slot is brought to you by El Taco,  German manufacturer of premium actuators, sensors, and energy meters for smart homes. And our learner  this week is Luke Hornby. Luke is a level three student at Tameside College in Mosley. He was  recognised at the end of his level two program as the college's learner of the year. Alongside this,  he has been making excellent use of his LinkedIn profile to showcase both his practical work and  his eFIXX CPDs. Both are great examples of how a learner can demonstrate to a future employer  the type of apprentice they will be taking on. Luke should be incredibly proud of everything  he's achieved and hopefully this recognition will help him towards securing an apprenticeship soon.  Congratulations, Luke, on being the eFIXX learner of the week in association with Elco. And now to  the lighter side of the electrical news. Yes, it's time for a tea break with quickwire and  its range of incredibly rapid electrical connectors. EcoFlow has launched a solar  panel hat for when you want power on the go. It captures energy from all angles. The manufacturer  says it has a conversion efficiency of up to 24%. It says it's great for fishing, hiking,  or going to the beach. But tester Richard Bugily has given it a thumbs down. He says it delivers  too little power to charge his phone. And worse, he looks ridiculous. Dude looks like a runner up  in a Terry Pratchett lookalike competition. That's the lighter side of the news in our tea break with  Quick Wire and their range of incredibly rapid electrical connectors. Click the link in the  description to check them out for yourself. 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 thank our premium  partners. We couldn't make the news without you. First up for all your circuit protection needs,  they like having an Italian Star Striker in your premiership team. It's Lewden Palazzoli.  With a new award-winning Lumo consumer unit and offering complete product support from  their highly trained team, it's CPN Cudis. And with over 5,000 product lines from heating,  lighting, ventilation to wiring accessories. If you need it, they've got it. It's electrical  distributor CED Group. And the best thing to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel, the home  of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality products, is Doncaster Cables. Click the links in  the show notes to find out more about these great brands. If you think you know the words that I've  smuggled into this week's show, pop your guess into the comments. 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. Last week's words were calypso  and meringue. And the first person to come out of our electronic hat was JR McFaren. So well done  to you. Click the get involved link in the show notes to claim your prize. This week the recording  studio has been powered by our friends over at Consumer Unit World with high stock levels of your  favourite consumer units including BG and free next working day delivery on orders over 150 quid.  And we've been lit by Flex 7 with their lightning fast pre-wired modular lighting connection system  that keeps your installation times razor sharp. Don't forget to click the links in the show notes  to find out more. 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.