A Trusted Local Electrician now servicing the Northern and South Eastern Suburbs

Builders Power Pole - 2023 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 23:59:00 +0000

2025 Premium Builders Power Poles

Epping Electrical is again taking orders for Single Phase Power poles for Builders / Owner Builders who would prefer not to hire the facility but rather sell the pole when no-longer needed.

By far the best builders power poles in Victoria!

Recent customer feedback - May 2020. "These are the best made poles I have seen in a very long time, the workmanship is excellent"

Single Phase Overhead Power Poles
The New Single Phase Overhead Power Poles are complete and ready for installation by qualified persons within the state of Victoria excluding Bush Fire Prone Areas.

Single Phase Overhead Poles - $2150 each including GST with delivery or $1,950 each including GST pick up from Menzies Creek.

Availability - Only one for immediate delivery/pickup (as at Jan 3 2024). Special Price $1,600 pick up.

Typically built to order, approx 5 business days after receipt of payment.

Installation not included, have your local electrician install and submit paperwork for connection.

These premium power poles are made by a fully qualified electrician and include only high level quality materials including B&R V5 Meter Box and Clipsal Equipment.

Premium Single Phase Overhead Power Poles Include the following: -

40A Single Phase Supply, 5.4 Meter Cypress Pine Post with rounded corners.

Galvanized Pole Cap, Treated Pine Timber Stays & Stakes, B&R V5 Compact Meter Box (Steel),

Mains Connection Box, Overhead Supply Hook, Clipsal 40A Main Switch, Clipsal 20A RCBO (Circuit Breaker / Safety Switch), Two Hager 10A Outlets, Earth Stake / Tag and Clip, Bootlace connections, Power Industry Padlock, laminated installation guide. Depth Marker @ 800mm above ground level. (1.2m in ground minimum).

Optional delivery to site (Melbourne Metro Areas Only)

Meets all requirements of ESV Guidelines - To see details - Click Here

Builders Power Pole prepared by fully licensed personnel - REC 10825

Geoff Connor

0485 006 456

Helpful Electrician Test

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 22:05:00 +0000

So you are looking for an Electrician to do some work for you. How do you know what the person is like? Will the person do great work at a reasonable price and be there for you when you need them next?

Geoff Connor - 0485 006 456

Today there are many Electrical Franchise business operating, when you use one of these services, you just don't know who you will get. There also new start-up Electrical Business run by in-experienced people, more then 50% of these don't last most than 12 months. Knowing a Local Electrician you can trust that has been operating for many years is your goal.

So how can you tell if the person who answers the phone will help solve your problem today and is someone you can trust vs someone who is just interested to make an easy dollar?

Here are a few suggestions.

1/ Look for Local Electricians with good reviews, but remember many reviews online are written by the owners for their own business, so don't rely just on reviews.

2/ Look for Local Electricians that offer Lifetime Workmanship Warranty. These Electricians will take the time to do your job right, that's how they can offer the warranty.

3/ Call a Local Electrician's number, if there is no answer or if a call center operator answers your call, call the next Local Electrician.

4/ When you actually speak to an Electrician, tell the electrician that some of your power points in your house are not working.

If the Electrician asks if you have checked your Switchboard and continues to help you resolve the problem over the phone at no charge, you may have just found a Trusted and Helpful Local Electrician.

If the Electrician immediately asks for your address and details and tells you they will be there at some point. Thank the person and call another Local Electrician. As 90% of these types of problems can be resolved over the phone at NO COST!

5/ Remember if you are not being helped today and your questions are not being clearly answered at the first phone call, how well do you think this person will help you after the work is done?

The way I run my business is different to most others. I actually enjoy helping people. I assist many people over the phone each week to resolve their Electrical problem or at the very least, help them reduce the impact of the problem so there is less urgent need to get out on site late at night over the weekend.

I challenge you to call my number (0485 006 456) anytime and put me to the test. Ask me any question and test how helpful you think I am. Once I do work for you, I am sure my business card will be on your fridge for many years to come.

Geoff Connor

Testimonials

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 02:01:00 +0000

See our True Local profile and reviews online.

CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS

Thanks Geoff for your excellent work on my recent rewire and switchboard replacement. Very happy with the work you have done.
Geoff provided excellent communication, was able to give me a quote on the spot and then when the guys did the work they spent a solid day working on what was a big job, got it done in time, and more importantly right on budget.
Thanks again! I highly recommend Geoff and Epping Electrical!
On Truelocal.com , Customer from Reservoir, 12th October 2009

Geoff responded to my email query within hours and arranged to come over at a mutually convenient time. He turned up on time, quickly and efficiently completed the requested tasks and was very accommodating when it unexpectedly turned from a small job into a much bigger one. He completed the electrical safety certificate on the spot and carried on his way leaving one very satisfied customer behind. What's more, he cleaned up after himself! As someone who has had several bad experiences with electricians I would wholeheartedly recommend Epping Electrical to anyone who's looking for a truly professional electrician
On Truelocal.com, Customer from Lalor, 23rd May 2009

Geoff Connor, Completed my electrical work in a professional manner. Quotation was very reasonable and I would highly recommend his company
Mrs K Thompson For an outdoor electrical socket in Moonee Ponds On ServiceSeeking.com.au

Improving your Home Wifi signal strength

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 13:51:00 +0000

How is your home Wifi signal strength? Do you have areas where there is little or no Wifi signal at all? Have you tried to fix it but were unable to resolve your issue?

I will try to explain the issues simply and provide practical solutions that will work for you. Like most things, there is a limit to the Wifi radio signal being received by devices around the home. You will know that the Wifi signal strength is shown by the number of bars on your Wifi icon. All the bars indicates excellent Wifi strength, no bars mean, well I think if you are reading this you know what that means.

Clearly the further your device is away from your Wifi Router the less signal strength you will receive. So how do you fix this so your home has better Wifi signal and fewer 'dead spots'?

I will assume that you have heard of Wifi extenders or Wifi repeaters. Go to any Office Works store and you will find plenty of them. You will also find Ethernet Power Adapters that can provide a virtual Ethernet cable connection using your home electrical wiring. From my experience these solution rarely are very effective. If you have one of these solutions and it is working ok well that's fine.

Here are my best solutions to fix Wifi signal issues.

1/ Relocate your router to a central location within the home to provide a better signal to all areas.
2/ Install your Wifi Router at one end of the house and then add another Wifi Router at the other end.

Tip - These days many people have an old Wifi Router collecting dust somewhere. These will work perfectly as a second Wifi Router.

Terminology -
IP address - A numerical 4 part number displayed as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Subnet Mask - A numerical 4 part number displayed as nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn to determine the number of addresses within the Local Network.
Gateway - A IP address of the Router that is the way out of the Local Network.
DNS - The Internet directory that stores all Internet Names and associated IP addresses.
DHCP - The system that automatically allocates IP addresses to devices when they connect to the Local Network.
DHCP Range - The pool of addresses the DHCP server can allocate from.

Any good electrician can help you relocate your router or install a new Ethernet cable but very few will know how to configure multiple Wifi Routers on a home Local Area Network. So, have your electrician install the Ethernet cable and setup your additional Router yourself.

So this is what you have to do to add an additional Wifi Router/s on your network.

A/ Existing Router - Change the DHCP range to free up some addresses for the additional Router/s.
B/ Additional Router/s - Enter an IP address to the additional Router/s that was made available in the previous step. Disable WAN connection, Disable DHCP, add the Gateway and DNS IP's as the existing Router IP Address. Define a Wifi name/s and password/s on the additional Router/s.
C/ Connect an Ethernet cable from the existing Router LAN port to the additional Router LAN port.
D/ Setup both Wifi networks on your mobile devices, use the Wifi network that is closer to you for best speed and reliability.

How to do this you ask?

1/ Open a command prompt on a pc connected to your existing router. Use the CMD command.
2/ Type IPCONFIG/ALL
3/ Look for your Gateway IP address. Typically it is either 192.168.1.1 or 10.1.1.1
4/ Open a browser and enter your gateway IP
5/ Your existing Router login page should be displayed. Login with its usercode and password.
6/ Go to the LAN section, you will see the Router IP and Subnet mask there. Typically the Mask will be 255.255.255.0 (This defines the number of Network IP addresses) Look for the DHCP range. Typically it will be either 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254 or 10.1.1.2 to 10.1.1.254 depending on your LAN IP addresses.
7/ Change the starting IP that will be allocated to devices to allow room for the additional Routers. Eg. DHCP Range 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.254. This will allow us to allocate up to eight additional routers. (IP's *.2 *.3 *.4 ... *.9). Devices will be allocated addresses *.10 thru *.254. I doubt you will have more than 200 devices at home :).
8/ Save your changes and re-confirm your changes are correct and saved.
9/ Disconnect your PC from the existing Router (Wifi or Ethernet Cable) and connect your PC to the additional Router either via an Ethernet Cable or Wifi.
10/ If you dont know the Wifi password for the additional Router, you will need to use a cable.
11/ Ensure you are connected and open a browser and enter the additional Router IP. Again it typically will be either 192.168.1.1 or 10.1.1.1. Look at the Router label, it usually has the factory default IP details there.
12/ Your additional Router login page should be displayed. Login with its usercode and password.
13/ Go to the WAN section and disable WAN connections.
14/ Go to the Wireless section and add a new Wifi name and password.
15/ Go to the LAN section and disable DHCP.
16/ Change the additional Router IP to one you made available in step 7. eg. 192.168.1.2, change the gateway IP and DNS IP to the existing Routers' IP. eg. 192.168.1.1. Save your changes.

Note: You will loose your view to the Router once it re-boots as it no-longer has the old IP.

17/ Enter the new additional Router IP in the browser address bar.
18/ Login and check all your changes.
19/ Remove the Ethernet cable from your PC and connect it to your existing Router LAN port.
20/ Connect to the additional Router Wifi network (as per Step 14) and test you have access to the Internet.
21/ If this is working, you can relocate the additional Router to the other end of your house where poor Wifi signal exists. You may need help to have an Ethernet cable installed between the old and new Router locations. Cat5e or Cat6 will work just fine for a home network.

Tip - You can use any address for the additional Router but it MUST be within the LAN IP Range and MUST NOT be within the DHCP Range. IP conflicts may occur if you get this wrong. Be aware of any static IP usage. Look in the Port Forwarding section of your Router to see if anyone has setup a specific IP for external access. These static IP's are for devices that do NOT use DHCP. These static IP's must NOT be within the DHCP range. This instruction is suitable for most home and small office networks with less than 250 devices.

Need help? Send me an email, tell me your problem and I will try to help you out.

Call Geoff on 0485 006 456 or email Geoff@EppingElectrical.com

Electrical work with 'Lifetime Workmanship Warranty'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 17 May 2015 13:23:00 +0000

How many times have you heard how difficult it is to have a trades person return to attend to something that went wrong?

Imagine finding an electrician in Melbourne that will not only arrive on-time, do the work and clean up after themselves, they will provide a written warranty that will cover all their work for life*.

At Epping Electrical, we have a very different outlook to most other electricians. We believe that if electrical work is done right the first time, it should stand the test of time. We are so confident of our workmanship, we provide 'Lifetime Workmanship Warranty*' for 'ALL' our work.

Should anything go wrong with the work we have done, we will make it right at no cost to you. Our customers rely on us to not only get the job done, but to stand by the work into the future.

We understand your home is one of the biggest investments you will ever make. Don't risk your home with anyone. Keep your investment safe with Epping Electrical's 'Lifetime Workmanship Warranty*'

What about installed materials? Electrical materials today vary greatly in terms of cost, design, quality and durability. Choosing the right materials is an important first step to ensure what we install will stand the test of time. We only use high quality materials, using brands including Clipsal and ABB. These trusted suppliers produce a range of electrical supplies of the highest quality.

Call Geoff on 0485 006 456 or email Geoff@EppingElectrical.com

*Lifetime Workmanship Warranty is non-transferable and is defined by the entire time the property is owned or occupied by the Epping Electrical Customer. Other conditions apply. Images sourced from Nostra Homes

Another Home Safer with a New Switchboard

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 08:18:00 +0000

Today we were called out to a home in Thomastown, we found the home was still using its original switchboard from the 1960's. The fuse contacts overheated and burnt the wire behind the switchboard. Thankfully this did not cause another house fire started by old electrical switchboards. We replaced the old switchboard with a new Switchboard from ABB. The new Switchboard complies with the latest regulations.

Some of these regulations include:-

1/ Main Switch is a Circuit Breaker rated to the mains cable capacity.
2/ Safety Switch to protect every circuit.
3/ Work Inspected by a qualified third party.
4/ A Prescribed Certificate of Electrical Safety issued.

So, its out with the old and in with the new.

If your home has an older Switchboard, don't risk it, upgrade it!

If you are not sure if it needs replacing, send me a pic to 0485 006 456 or geoff@eppingelectrical.com and I will let you know.

Geoff

Are you stealing Electricity without knowing it?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:46:00 +0000

In April 2010 we come across a home that had an illegal mains connection to access free Electricity. If you did not get to read this blog, here it is again. I thought that was amazing until last Friday when I was called to a home in Epping to repair a fault in the Slab Floor Heating. After some initial testing, we discovered the Off-Peak Meter was not turning when the Floor Heating Elements were energised. We knew this could only be the result of a few situations.

1/ All the Slab Floor elements were damaged. (Open Circuit)
2/ The Meter is not operating correctly or has been tampered with.
3/ The Off-Peak Meter had been illegally by-passed.

We tested the elements and used an Amp Meter to measure if there was current flow. There was 12Amps on one element and 8Amps on another. These high loads really make the old Meters spin quite fast, well not in this home!

The family of six had lived in the house for over 4 years and did not seem to be the type of people to be involved in this sort of activity. I asked the home owner if they think the Slab Floor Heating is expensive to run during winter, she said "yes, my electricity bill is always around $300". I asked if this was the monthly bill or a quarterly bill. It was quarterly!!! Clearly the home owner has no idea what the bill for Electricity should be with Slab Floor Heating. The fact that she did not say the bills were higher in winter rang the alarm bells even louder.

I told the owner that I suspected they were not being charged for the Slab Floor Heating. She showed me her last bill, as expected it showed 0 KWH (KiloWatt Hours). From the home owners perspective the bill had always been like this.

The home owner asked me to look further to determine if there was any sign of illegal wiring. I first looked behind the Switchboard Panel, this is what I found!

Two enclosures were mounted behind the panel, one was made to look like it was legitimate with the words "Heating Timer Control - Danger 415V". The lower enclosure had some gear un-mounted, another example of dangerous and illegal wiring. After removing the covers, I discovered the illegal mains connections and traced them back to the Floor Heating controls.

The owner was horrified to see this in their own home. All relevant authorities have now been informed of this situation and have commenced their investigations. They will go back to all the past bills to determine when the last time Off-Peak Electricity was used. This will allow them to identify the owner at the time to possibly lay criminal charges. Unfortunately for the current owner, all rectification costs will be charged to them in order to have their Electrical System returned back to the normal state. This will not only mean removing the illegal wiring but will also include mandatory works to bring the Electrical Switchboard & Meter Panel to the current regulations.

If you suspect your home to have any illegal or un-safe wiring, call Epping Electrical on 0485 006 456 today.

Geoff Connor
Director
0485 006 456

Are Home Solar Systems in Melbourne Worth the Investment?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:31:00 +0000

I am frequently asked by customers if Solar Systems in Melbourne are a good idea. The answer is not easy as there are so many factors to consider. If the customer's only objective is to help the environment, then thats other story. But for most people (I would say) who install a Solar System, its all about the savings!!!

Well what are the savings? What factors will limit the savings and most importantly how many years will have to pass before I have saved enough to offset the initial outlay to actually start saving money.

If you are interested to know if its all worth it, drop me a line and I'll work it out for you.

Here are the details I need from you.

1/ The size of the proposed system in Kilowatts (KW).
2/ How much you are paying for electricity per Kilowatthour (KWH)
3/ What your Feed-In Tariff would be. This is what you are paid for Electricity passed back to the grid.
4/ How many KWH's you use on average every 3 months.
5/ Total cost of the Solar System (after any govt rebates) plus any meter change charges.

Geoff
Director
Epping Electrical

Smart Meter Safety

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:20:00 +0000

There has been a lot of media reports recently about the Safety of Smart Meters. It would seem from the reports that some Smart Meters could be un-safe if exposed to an Electrical surge. Other reports suggest that the installation of the Smart Meters could cause Electrical connections to become loose, this can then result in an Electrical fire particularly in older homes with old Switchboards.

A fire was found behind a Meter panel in a house in Epping, this occurred a few weeks after the Smart Meter was installed. In this case the fire was caused by a loose connection, its possible that the movement of the wiring during the Smart Meter installation may have caused the connection to become loose.

If you have a concern about the safety of your Electrical Switchboard or Meter, call Epping Electrical on 0485 006 456 to book a Safety Inspection or Switchboard Upgrade.

Geoff

Director

Epping Electrical

0485 006 456

High Electricity Bills - Epping Electrical comes to the rescue

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 07:06:00 +0000

June 2011

Epping Electrical was called to a home in a northern suburb of Melbourne March this year to investigate high electricity bills. The owner told us they were receiving bills of over $1000 per month, they had been in discussions with their electricity retailer for over two years who concluded that the situation was simply due to the high use of electricity by the owner. A suggestion was made to the owner to have the home electrical system checked as another possible cause. We did check the installation and found the two-bedroom unit had floor heating install in all the rooms. The floor heating was controlled by a timer within the main switchboard. We did identify the timer had been incorrectly set, this was adjusted to ensure the floor heating elements only came on during the off peak hours.

Whilst the owner was pleased that something was identified at last, the owner was sure something else must be wrong as the electricity bills continued on average to be over $1000 per month even over the summer period. Our attention now focused on the bills and the electricity meter.

The owner explained that the meter had been checked before and was told it was operating correctly. We decided anyway to confirm the meter readings and check these against the electricity bills. What we uncovered would explain everything. We had found that the electricity meter has three registers that tally kilowatt hours. One counts the kilowatt hours used during the peek period, another counts the off-peek period and the third is the total of the two or in other words, total usage over the 24hour period. We found that instead of the first two registers finding their way to the bill, we confirmed that the total kilowatt register was being added to the bill in the peek section. This means that all off peak usage was being correctly billed at off peek rate but it was also being billed at peek rate.

Unfortunately, this was not the end of the story. We thought this would be a simple matter of contacting the electricity retailer and explaining the situation. When we called the electricity retailer they would not accept our findings. Instead they would send out their own expert to investigate. Weeks would pass before a report was issued. It explained that the high energy usage was due to the fact that the floor heating requires a timer and the owner should have an electrician install one to resolve the problem!! The electricity retailer now was satisfied everything was correct and it was the owners issue. They demanded the electricity bill now more than $20,000 be paid.

We attempted to contact the retailer a number of times, they refused to listen and said this is now out of their hands and could do nothing. We decided to contact the electricity distributer in the area. We spoke to at least three people who simply did not know enough about metering, after a few days we got put through to someone that had worked with electricity metering equipment for over 20 years. We explained the situation to him, he agreed to look into this. After an hour he called back to confirm we were right and the billing team would be calculating the correct electricity costs over many years. This would result in a significant refund to the owner.

I personally had the pleasure to inform the owner of the great news.

This experience for me was often frustrating but ultimately rewarding. At Epping Electrical we are driven by doing what is right and assisting our customers however we can. Its our hope that electricity companies will see this as a lesson to improve the service they provide to their customers.

Names of involved parties have been intentionally withheld.

Geoff Connor
Director
0485 006 456

Why does my Safety Switch keep blowing?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 01:47:00 +0000

Does your Safety Switch keep blowing? The most common reason is a faulty appliance. Give us a call, and we will guide you step-by-step on the phone to help you fix the fault yourself. At no cost to you.

Review on Truelocal

First pieces of the national broadband network in Brunswick

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:35:00 +0000

At last we are seeing some initial work towards the National Broadband Network in Melbourne's north.

See http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/brunswick-gets-some-fibre-20100928-15vvp.html for the full story.

Buying a house? Check this out first

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 09:58:00 +0000

Most people buy a house without knowing the condition and safety of Electrical Wiring. If the previous owner/s have installed illegal Electrical Wiring, an Electrical fault or Safety hazard may develop that could result in the loss of life and/or property.

Nearly every house over 2 years old we visit is found to have some illegal wiring! This week we were called to a house in Epping because of power constantly failing. What we discovered was one of the worst examples of illegal Electrical Wiring we have ever seen. As Electrical professionals, its normally easy for us to spot illegal and dangerous wiring.

But what can home owners do themselves to try and determine if their own home has any obvious illegal wiring?

Here are a few hints for the home owner -

(1) If you find any exposed (normally white) wiring, it is likely to be illegal.
(2) If you find any Electrical fittings that are not secured, it is likely to be illegal.
(3) If any wiring looks untidy, twisted, hanging or loose, it is likely to be illegal.
(4) If you find a join in Electrical Wiring not within a junction box, it is likely to be illegal.
(5) If you find extension lead installed in a permanent position, it is likely to be illegal.
(6) If you could reach bare Electrical Wiring while standing on the ground, it is likely to be illegal.
(7) If your switchboard is loose, missing parts or has exposed Electrical contacts, it is likely to be illegal and unsafe.

Remember - This list is only intended for home owners to identify 'obvious' illegal or un-safe Electrical Wiring. As most of the Electrical Wiring is located within walls, under floor and in roof spaces, only a trained professional will be able to carry out a complete visual inspection and complete the required electrical tests to ensure the Electrical Wiring is in good order.

If you suspect you have illegal or un-safe Electrical Wiring, call in a Licensed Electrician. Under no circumstances should you attempt to rectify the situation yourself. If you are unsure, send a good photo to me via geoff@eppingelectrical.com, I will have a look and provide my advise to you free of charge.

When we work at a home, we get a sense of the extent of the illegal wiring we may encounter. Normally early visual inspections will indicate to us that illegal wiring may be present.

Here is a photo I took from the house we visited this week. We found this home had several illegal joins in Electrical Wiring, as you can see, the join is substandard and dangerous. Lucky for the home owner this fault did not cause a fire.

If you are planning to buy a house in the northern suburbs of Melbourne or simply want to be sure your home is safe, call EPPING ELECTRICAL to provide an Electrical Inspection.

I hope you found this information informative, if you have any questions, please drop me a line or call me on 0485 006 456. Geoff

Australia's NBN - More Than Faster Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:09:00 +0000

So, what is Australia's National Broadband Network? Why is it so important and what will it mean for every Australian?

Source: Youtube, TheNBN2009

Epping Electrical is a registered communications service provider and provides services for PABX, telephone points and extensions, ADSL, CAT5, network cable, patch panel, switch, hub, router for both residential and commercial properties

Consumers the winner in the NBN game?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 06:04:00 +0000

The all new superfast National Broadband Network (NBN) that is laying cable across 7.7 million sq kms of Oz will soon allow 90-93% of us Aussies to access speeds of up to 100 Mbps on the FTTH (Fibre To The Home) infrastructure. [For a bit of perspectivem right now about 0.1% of us are connected to fibre optic]. And all that at a price cheaper than the existing ADSL. Sounds too good to be true? Welcome to the future!!

Some Tasmanians can already order this exciting new broadband service, with installations being expected to start in July. "Internode" is one of the first retail service providers, and has released 15 FTTH plans at aggressively cheap prices. Its $29.95 entry-level plan, with a 15 Gigabyte (GB) data quota, has a 25 Mbps downstream speed and 2 Mbps upstream. The 50 Mbps plans cost from $39.95 while 100 Mbps plans start at just $59.95. There are no long term contracts or early termination charges on any of the plans.

Check out the other Internode plans here, and get ready to bid adieu to your old TV, telephone and internet networks and say hello to a super-fast broadband coming soon to your neighbourhood.

Epping Electrical is a registered communications service provider and provides services for PABX, telephone points and extensions, ADSL, CAT5, network cable, patch panel, switch, hub, router for both residential and commercial properties

“Sparkies” most in demand in mining

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 02 May 2010 02:40:00 +0000

Here's some great news for aspiring Australian electricians. The mines in WA will pay really big money for you according to this article in Businessweek.

"Electricians—the Aussies call them "sparkies"—are the blue-collar workers most in demand in the mines. According to the Hays Resources & Mining Salary Guide and mysalary.com, electricians in the Western Australia mines made between $83,000 and $120,000 (U.S.) in 2009. In contrast, mining electricians in the U.S. made $49,000 to $59,000 in 2008, the latest figures available"

So what are you waiting for? Finish that apprenticeship and get going… the world is waiting for you!

World Skills Australia: National Competition for Trades

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:41:00 +0000

Are you a young Australian under 23 years of age, and want to showcase your trade and skill talent at a regional, national and even international level? Here's a chance for you to compete on the International Stage in the Skill Olympics.

World Skills Australia's National Competition will run over three days from Friday 7^th May to Sunday 9^th May at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Over 500 competitors from over 30 regions will compete in up to 50 trade and skill categories including electrical installations.

Government dumps home insulation rebate scheme

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 04:21:00 +0000

So there's not gonna be any more of the insulation rebate scheme, not even in any kind of modified form as it was initially expected.

Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet made the announcement today: "The government has determined not to proceed with the proposed insulation rebate."

Quoting from the same article in The Age:

"Cabinet is understood to have decided the government's top priority should be assuring the safety of homes which had already had insulation installed rather than installing more.

The government had promised to install safety switches into about 50,000 homes which had foil insulation installed and to carry out safety inspections on at least another 150,000 homes which had batts and other non-foil insulation installed"

Three men treated for electric shocks today

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 22:51:00 +0000

Browsing through the news today, this article caught my eyes

PARAMEDICS treated three men for electric shocks in separate cases across Melbourne today. Two of the men were taken to hospital

Electrical burn on fingers

Dislocated shoulders and electrical burns. Ouch! But thankfully all three men are safe. Electrical accidents may in many cases, tragically, be fatal. For your own safety, if you need electrical work done, please call a licensed electrician to have a look.

Electricity Theft - Illegal and Dangerous

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 09:13:00 +0000

During a routine switchboard upgrade the other day, I discovered this house had an illegal and potentially dangerous electrical connection directly to the main electricity supply cable bypassing the meter. In the picture below, the black cable is the main supply from the street, the white cable is illegally connected. To check if your house has an illegal connection, turn off all main switches in your switchboard and then ensure that all electrical outlets, appliances and lights are no longer operating. If anything is still operating, contact us immediately for a professional inspection.

Call Epping electrical on 0431 232 796 for a FREE quote

Insulation scheme finally abandoned

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:20:00 +0000

Last week the government's billion dollar insulation scheme was finally abandoned. After being linked to four deaths, 93 house fires, and 250,000 houses potentially having unsafe or poor quality insulation, it was a largely expected decision by the time it happened. The government has promised a new improved scheme by June 1. We have to wait and see the details of that.

Inspectors are now being arranged to make sure the work on at least 48,000 properties has been done properly. I don't even want to imagine what they will find. Just the other day Geoff went to quote on a job that needed some roof work and discovered that the insulation batts have been put only in one single row just around the manhole!! That's it! The rest of the roof is empty, uninsulated. It's gonna need some serious remedial work to eventually sort out the mess.

If you have had your roof insulated under this scheme, especially by a person that walked off the street, made you sign a form, went up in your roof for an hour or so and walked away - get it inspected. It's highly likely the job has not been done properly. At best, it is only that your home is just as uninsulated as before. At worst, you run the risk of a roof fire or electrocution. Get it checked to be safe!

Have you had your roof insulated recently? What has your experience been?

"Am I insured if DIY electrical work causes a problem"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:36:00 +0000

This is an interesting question I found in the list of keywords used in Google searches that led to this site. Let me give the short answer to the question. No :)

Here is what NECA (National Electrical and Communications Association) says:

... home owners with illegal wiring may find that they are not covered by the Home Building insurance policy in the event of a fire which can be traced to the illegal wiring as the cause of the fire

And a standard policy document from AAMI says:

You must at all times, and at your expense, take all reasonable precautions:
......
to ensure compliance with all statutory obligations, by-laws or regulations imposed by any public authority, relating to the safety of persons or property.

If you do not, we may reduce or refuse to pay any claim you may make.

As per the Electricity Safety Act 1998 it is illegal for an unlicensed person to undertake electrical installation work in Victoria.Persons who do undertake such work can be prosecuted in the courts and subject to substantial financial penalties.

Registered electrical contractor card

Electrician's license card

Stay safe. Always use a registered electrical contractor and a licensed and qualified electrician to do the work to the required standards. Ask to see their license – it is your guarantee that you are working with someone who knows that they are doing and gives you avenues for recourse if something goes wrong. Also make sure that you get a certificate of electrical safety once the work is complete.

Building a new home? Involve your electrician early

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:28:00 +0000

Most people, when building a new home will spend enormous amounts of time planning exact size and colour of rooms, appliances, woodwork and furnishings – but fail to seek the assistance of a qualified electrician early enough in the process to get the best possible outcome. Given that the electrical work in the home will provide light, warmth, entertainment, technology and probably even cooked food – you would want the service and outlets and wiring and every detail to accommodate your lifestyle and incorporate flexibility for future changes.

Engage an electrician right after you get the building plans

Know what to ask in your initial meeting

Understand the electrical design process for your new home

For the best outcome and to save time and money, engage an electrician as soon as plans are available. An initial meeting with your electrician should typically take between 60-90 minutes depending on the size and complexity of your home.

Top 10 things to ask your electrician before building a new home

Electricity Supply arrangements, ie. underground or overhead etc
Availability and location of Electricity Service Pit or Service Pole, distance to house
Preferred Electricity Meter location
Occupancy – Single or Multiple (units)
Power Outlets – Type, Colour, Number and approximate location within each room, also include weatherproof outlets for external locations and outlets in ceiling for ducted heating and cooling
Lighting – Type of light fittings, Smart Lighting and Home Automation, number fittings and approximate location within each room, also review external lighting requirements
Electrical Appliance Review - Oven, hotplates, hot water, air conditioning, heating, garage door openers, spa bath, sauna, bathroom 3in1’s, exhaust fans, workshop equipment etc. For all appliances required, power consumption in KW, single or thee phase connection is required in order to confirm electricity supply capacity is sufficient
Telecommunications - TV Points, Telephone Points, Local Area Networking
Smoke Detectors – Number and Locations
Home Automation requirements

Once this is complete, your electrician should be able to prepare the initial quotation that will detail all reviewed requirements. It is advisable to obtain two or three quotes before deciding on your electrician. Do not base your decision solely upon price. Consider how all prospective electricians assisted you to understand the design and implementation phases, how clear each one was when reviewing your requirements, are they all available to undertake the work within your timelines? Remember, no matter how well you planned, changes will occur so you need to be able to easily communicate with your chosen electrician.

What’s the process of the electrical design and wiring for a new home?

Most home electrical installations go something like this: -

Confirm Electrician
Prior to concrete pour, install underground service and builders post, extend Telephone conduits to home, normally buried within same trench.
Once concrete slab is complete, install Builders Temporary Supply, normally located in final position. Your electrician will organise the required inspection and paper work for supply to be connected. You will be required to nominate the electricity retailer of your choice and open an account with them.
Once the frame is constructed and windows, brickwork and roof installation is complete, the electrician can commence the “Rough-in” stage. This stage allows the electrician to run all required cables within the house frame. Normally the location of outlets and light switches are either confirmed on a final plan or ‘walked’ thru with the owner on-site. Note: Electrical Rough-in stage is normally done with plumbing Rough-in.
Once the plaster is complete, the electrician would cut out all power outlets and light switch locations, down-light holes are also cut. This will allow tiling to be complete where required and will confirm all locations are found ‘BEFORE’ painting is complete.
Once kitchen and bathrooms are fitted out, painting is complete, the electrical “Fit-off” stage can commence. All Power outlets are installed, Light Switches and Light Fittings are installed, Smoke detectors fitted, all appliances and finally switchboard fit out with safety switches and circuit breakers.
Test and energise the installation.

Simple as that. Of course there is more to it than that, but that’s a good start in your understanding. Remember to start early with your electrician, think about all your requirement in the early stages. If you do this, you will save both time and money.

If you are planning to build a new home in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and require a qualified electrician for your project, EPPING ELECTRICAL would be more than happy to provide the initial review and detailed quotation for you and no cost.

I hope you found this information informative, if you have any questions, please drop me a line or call me on 0431 232 796.

Get paid by your customer: Top 5 tips

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:03:00 +0000

You get a call from someone wanting the services you provide, you listen carefully and prepare a quote for the job, you get the job beating all your competitors (yaaayy!!), you fix a date for the job and shop around for best materials, you accomodate the customer's changing and additional requirements that come up as he understands the product better, you finish the job a few days later and are happy about having provided a great service, you come back and prepare an invoice based on the earlier quote and added tasks, you send it in the mail, and... nothing!! You call the customer another few days later to ask for payment and...

"Oh my God!! That is definitely not what I expected"
"I nearly fell off the chair looking at the amount"
"How did it become this expensive??!!"
"I am really struggling for cash right now, can we negotiate this?"
"Can I pay in installments?"
"Can I pay next month?"

Have you ever faced difficulties getting payments from customers? Have you found yourself struggling to pay your suppliers since you simply dont get paid by your customers on time? Do you find yourself spending a lot of time trying to follow up with slow or non-paying customers, calling them, sending reminders and sometimes totally spoiling the good relationship you have so far developed with them? Here are our top tips to help you avoid this nightmare:

1. Set expectations right

Start even before your relationship starts. What are your call-out charges? Do you charge for a written quote? What is your definition of a quote, is this the same as your customers definition. Make sure you make your initial charging policy clear the first time a prospective customer calls you. Do not assume that it is simple "common sense" that a particular service is or is not free. Just be honest, transparent and perfectly clear. Do not let anyone accuse you of "hidden charges".

2. Provide a written estimate before you start

It is tempting to immediately start the work the customer asked for. But STOP! Always provide your estimated cost to complete the works. Think of what obstacles you might find on the way, and put in provisions for them. At the same time put in your terms for payment. Do you want a deposit? If it is a large job, do you want milestone payments along the way? How many days after the job do you want final payment by? Do you give a discount for early payment? What happens if the customer does not pay? Put it all down there, and make this your standard quoting practice.

Tip: Much of your spending on a job will be at the start, to buy materials required. Remember that cash flow is king in the business, and ask the customer to pay enough payment upfront to cover this. It also helps to make the final payment relatively small, so that if unfortunately you do have to chase up later, you are chasing up for a smaller amount.

3. Expect the unexpected

This is one of the greatest truths of any business. The customer wants something that you quote for, but as he sees his thoughts taking shape, he might think better of something, change one thing, add many more. And of course, with the focus on customer service that you have you will do that. But keep note of every change and addition.

Also take note of unexpected difficulties or setbacks at the job. We have had underground cables stolen overnight, hit illegal wiring that absolutely had to be fixed, found customers who had bought large appliances such as a spa without thinking of telling their electrician, had another tradesperson at a new house cut through our wires and.. you get the picture. Some of them we have absorbed into our own cost of doing business, some we have not. But what is important is to note every single one of them, and make sure the customer knows how that affects both schedule and cost. Inform the customer immediately, if possible. And better still, send him a daily running statement of work completed along with cost. This makes sure there are no surprises at the end of the job.

4. Send invoices promptly

Do not wait for the end of the week or month to send out invoices. Do this as soon as the job is done. If you have been sending running statements of work and have been in touch with the customer at all times, he will already be expecting this and will also have an idea of the total cost.

5. Keep track and follow up

Have a system in place that tells you of which customers owe you money. We use MYOB for our accounting and tracking and find it extremely easy-to-use and user-friendly. Even if you are not currently using an accounting software, track payments on Excel. If you have not received payment, you can call the customer the day before the due date to confirm that he has received your invoice. If you are not paid by the due date, do not be afraid to follow up, both on the phone and through written reminders. Sometimes customers do simply forget to pay in time, and a simple reminder is all it takes. If not follow up at least weekly, and try to get a promised date to get the payment by. Be polite, but firm!

Are the 5 tips enough?

Following up, calling, sending repeated overdue reminders. All these do eat up a lot of your time and energy. Sometimes, you will come across some customers who do not pay up despite all these measures. Know when to give up and accept that you are simply not going to get 100% payment from these people. There are still some things you CAN do after this stage - you can call in a debt collection agency (they are expensive, and remember to read their terms carefully too, do not pay fees before they collect), you can try "factoring ", you can even try negotiating payments in installments or at least some percentage of the total. You can also insure the accounts receivable from the very start if you just want to sleep in peace. Hopefully, if you have followed the 5 tips carefully, you will rarely reach this stage of non-payment

Electrical hazards from roof installation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:22:00 +0000

Earlier this month, a young roof insulation installer was killed when a a staple used to fix aluminium reflective insulation pierced an electrical cable . Another person helping with the work suffered burns and electrical shock. At another installation site in Brisbane, the homeowner got zapped when he leaned against a metal awning on the back deck of his house after a foil reflective insulation was installed . An electrician detected a 240-volt charge running through the insulation to sarking in the roof and walls and the roof gutters, awnings and poles, all because the foil insulation was stapled into a power cable that was switched off at the time.

The federal government's Home Insulation Program ~~offers ceiling insulation worth up to $1,600 to owner-occupiers, landlords and tenants. [~~~~Update~~: ~~The home insulation rebate has now been slashed to $1,200~~]

[Update: This scheme has now been abandoned effective 19 February 2010] If you have had your roof insulated under this scheme, it is best to get it inspected to stay safe.

The subsidies have boosted the amount of roof insulation installed and Australia is moving towards the government's vision of having Energy Efficient Homes. However, the high demand has also attracted a number of inexperience installers to the industry, and their shoddy work is putting homes and lives at risk. Inadvertently, the program seems to be contributing to an alarming spike in roof space fires and electrical risks. Homeowners should be aware of potential electrical hazards that may be caused by unsafe roof insulation and know the ways to protect yourself from these dangers.

Fire Risk from roof insulation

Insulation should never be too close to downlights and their transformers, electrical cables or exhaust fans. Though most insulation is heat-resistant to some extent it can still ignite if it directly covers electrical cables or devices and is exposed to the heat generated for long periods of time
Minimum clearance required is 50mm around incandescent lamps or 100mm if located next to structural timber, and 200mm for halogen lamps
Downlight guards or other physical fire-resistant barriers should be installed before the insulation is put in [Update: Covers on downlights are now mandatory]
Blow-in or loose-fill insulation should be secured properly (usually by spraying an adhesive solution) to prevent movement. Else this can jam blades of an exhaust fan, for e.g., and cause overheating
A roof fire is not usually detected by a smoke alarm since the smoke is above the alarm. Homeowners are often unaware of the fire until the damage has been done, and embers fall through air-conditioning ducts or the roof collapses. This makes prevention of any potential fire risk even more important

Electrical shock risk from roof insulation

This specifically applies to conductive type of roof insulation such as aluminium foil reflective insulation [Update: Government's new safety guidelines include a ban on the use of metal fasteners on foil insulation]
Check that the insulator takes adequate care when installing near electrical equipment including cables, light fittings and ceiling fans, etc

Choose a registered roof insulation installer and licensed electrician

Select your installer only from the government provided Installer Provider Register
If in doubt or worried about your roof insulation installation, arrange for an inspection by a licensed electrical contractor

Geoff is a registered electrician with over 20 years experience in the industry. He is also licensed to provide data and voice services. Baishakhi is an MBA and looks after the "business" side of Epping Electrical. Read about Epping Electrical here.

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