Looking for a sparky (Geelong)

[astrovic]

G'day folks

Here at casa de Geelong we're having an interesting time with the electrics...e.g gone through more lightbulbs in the last 4 months than we did in 5 years at the last place. Plus safety switches going off on a regular occasion, and other electrickery gremlines...so we're keen to get a sparky out to convince me I'm not mad.

Also, I have a humble yet respectable lil home studio - a vanity studio, I think Rick would call it - so I'm keen to engage a sparky who is geared toward domestic works but with an appreciation of what us audio types find important. No idea if the two concepts meet, but then again the removalist we hired to move house last time was a gear whore, so you never know.

So, does any of ya have any good suggestions for an electrician on my side of town?

Cheers peeps

[David W]

PM'd ya.

I've had many light buld problems recently also.
Safty switches going off though sounds serious.

Maybe the place in Haunted, you are in Newton right ....................oooohhhhh.

[bennyboy]

globes blowing and Rcds popping randomly is a dead give away for a bad neutral link hey get it checked asap hey









Ben Pounder

[Roy]

Agreed... a bit of dodginess in the neutral is most probable. Get a sparky that knows what he's doing and inspect the circuits.

[astrovic]

Thanks for confirming my concerns guys...Dave has pointed me in the right direction so all is good and the Turtlerock forum has come through again!

[Alastair Reynolds]

Check the line voltage as well, I had a situation at our old studios a few years back where the line voltage was sitting around 255 volts at times and the incandescent bulbs would blow. We ended up using a Mazda brand bulb rated at 260V (from NZ) Any good electrical wholesaler should be able to get them in.
You may also be on a long run from the distribution stepdown transformer and the voltage will fluctuate with load.This is caused by resistance in power lines and coupling. We have the 3AW Transmitter out at Hoppers Crossing (Not far from you) and are right on the end of a long feeder. Voltages would go up and down by up to 50 Volts and the Transmitters would shut down when it dropped below 190V . Took a while to get the electricity people to change the feed to a shorter run, but eventually we did.
As well, remember that transformers have their taps changed to adjust for loading in different seasons, usually stepping up in winter to cope with voltage sag when everyone has their heaters on.
An interesting experiment would be to check line voltage with no load on in the house then turn on the electric jug, the oven and toaster (anything with a heating element) and observe voltage change under load.
Certainly a good sparky can help here, Neutral link, old fuse wedges, carbonised wiring etc all contribute to voltage problems.Get it checked out. For protecting studio gear as well I'd consider a good UPS or at least voltage regulator. Clean power has big advantages
(1) better sound less noise from mains bourne interference
(2) Far lower failure rate of power supplies and transformers
I run dual 40KVA UPS for our radio station and the instances of power supply failure have dramatically reduced (about 90% reduction)
(3) When the blackout occurs you don't loose that mix you've been working on all day and were just about to save :cry:

best of luck