Re: the church getting some solar panels, gb-sol and Ergosun make pv tiles that are designed to blend in with tiles. gb-sol's tiles are specifically designed to blend in with Welsh slate and Ergosun claim to have already done an installation on a Grade 1 listed building in Regent's Park
As a railway enthusiast with a strong gravitation to pre-modern systems (e.g: The TGV) copper theft has been a problem for the railways for years. Network Rail installed _Smartwater_ bio-marking systems on a lot of their equipment about a decade ago, and it really helped convict those trying to cut away signal cabling. NR are now upgrading a lot of signal cabling to fiber optics to put that problem to bed (No scrap value in melted silica, trust me on that! 🏖) but it obviously won't work for traction supply cabling or EV chargers. I'm not all that well up in EV installs (The only EVs I've ever used run on rails! 🚄⚡🙃) but if you have a copper cable rated for 100A at 400v, how big/heavy a cable would it take to carry the same current safely on Aluminium? Could something like that be made usable enough that the average person could still plug it in to their car? 🔌🚗😇
MCS and the accrediting trade bodies don't provide enough scrutiny of their members. A single Nominated Technical Person (NTP) being allowed to be responsible for an unlimited number of installations, coupled with the ease with which the installations can be subcontracted out, is a guaranteed recipe for shoddy and unsafe installation work. MCS was supposed to change the manner in which it operates this summer (following a consultation period last spring/summer), but has decided it can't do so until early 2025 now. The organisation is completely unfit for purpose.
Needs to be included at the start of the design process, but suggest that EV chargers could run a trace current through the cable and use the interruption of that to raise an alarm, use Bluetooth to trigger cameras on the nearby units and so on.
Cameras won't stop the theft. They will just wear masks. Additionally, bluetooth isn't a means to trigger the camera recording, Bluetooth is just a communications protocol to transfer data between two points. And it wouldn't be suitable here given the volume of data in the video recording. In terms of triggering the video recording, many cams themselves are constantly monitoring and start recording when there is a big enough change from one frame of the video to the next. Or they can use PIR detection to detect a person in range.
I wonder how hard it would be to just shunt mains to the cable as a default (through a slow-blow fuse with similar current-time characteristics to what the cable can handle) and then obviously have it shut off and go into its normal controlled charging mode when plugged in 🤔
Given many charge cables I've seen are for DC fast charging; I wonder if having a high (But detectable) resistance between NEG/GND or the cable armour and one of the signalling wires at the connector would provide a usable continuity testing loop? Send a test voltage down it at a very low current (Say,
I don't know about you, but I would be *very* suspicious of someone randomly calling at my door claiming that my appliances required PAT. I've only a lapsed PAT qualification (2003) but my ability to test and assess my own equipment is probably sound enough to meet general safety requirements. What scares me is that - If mandatory PAT was ever bought in for peoples personal appliances (As opposed to buying/selling them, which might be reasonable) - The amount of scams and bad/invalid tests coming up off the back of that would probably _reduce_ overall safety much more than _increase_ it... ⚠
I wonder how much lighting there is around the Instavolt chargers. In general poorly lit or dimply lit sights are more prone to theft. However there are now van theft and thefts from vans is broad daylight. Need more police and harsher custodial sentence
Where I live, 15 Tesla supercharger and 10 none Tesla charging points in a shopping Center car park have just had all the cables nicked. What a pain in the arse, this is just another reason I wont buy an EV.
Some one buys the 'so called' scrap copper wire, I thought they stopped cash pay outs at all scrap metal dealers aka 'fences' You need a bank account to pay in, then this can be traced if some are making a fortune on metal thefts.
It's ok having laws but it's the judges not punishing thieves that cause the problem, there was the case of cat converter thieves were given a few hours community service and a few hundred pound fine, they made many thousands and the ££ damage to cars was huge.
I do hope these underground parking place owners/developers have done more research than just a wonderful busbar that can be tapped into at any point to install EV charging points. I'd like to think that the first installation is that of a fire fighting system capable of dealing with the inferno that is an EV fire. Sprinkler systems commonly installed in these car parks are often inadequate in dealing with ICE vehicle fires. I hope lessons have been learned from the Luton Airport debacle.
Yup the HRR and total energy of a fully involved ICE vehicle fire is insane. An EV is less but you’re not going to fully extinguish it. You’re just going to have to provide enough water that it doesn’t spread to other stuff.
Alstoms' trains have had an optimal solution in place for dealing with any fires on their EVs for years: It's a bottle of Halon about the size of a telephone box! 🚄🧯🌬 Granted, Halon isn't the _safest_ suppressant out there...But as EV batteries are normally sealed units, I wonder what would prevent them having an internal Halon release system to deplete the oxygen released by burning Lithium? 😇
@@dieseldragon6756 I think you'll find that Halon was kicked into touch 25yrs ago (at least in Brazil). Granted it was great for use in fixed systems in enclosed spaces but not good for the rest of the world. I don't remember the stuff that replaced it. Our vessel went with a mist/fog water system in the engine rooms.
@@sunnybnk In the UK Halon usage in open areas is mostly banned, but new installs are permitted to employ it in specific use cases. The most common being enclosed server and switchgear rooms with suppressant lock-off switches that can be used to prevent Halon release when the room is occupied by technicians. 👍 Historical (Grandfathered) installations are permitted to remain where the use case calls for it or replacement is impractical, so Eurostars older TMST trains still have Halon bottles on them as modern suppressants aren't suitable for use on early 90s TGV equipment. Portable Halon extinguishers must be replaced with CO² or equivalents where there isn't an overpoweringly strong justification for handheld Halon deployment. 🧯✅👍
@@sunnybnkin the UK open air car parks such as the Luton one don't have sprinklers at all, which is the problem. The regulations urgently need to be updated to deal with a world where most vehicles are EVs. You can't put the fire out, but you don't need to. You just need to apply enough cooling to prevent the neighbouring cars igniting.
Well d'oh. Put some copper cables out in public and expect the local crack heads not to steal it? How about jailing all the scrap metal dealers who buy them, and all the other stolen gear? I am surprised cables outside homes don't get knicked, especially those by the pavement. Have scooter, will steal.
@@adrianthoroughgood1191 So, There you are, plugged your car in, and off to the shops, or Starbucks for a few hours. Your phone gives you a message, charging interrupted. Off you go back to the car. Your cable has been stolen. Or maybe you plugged it in overnight at home. Plugged in at night. Off to the land of nod you go, and some scallywag nicks your cable.
EVs should have a charging 'tentacle' (or something like a robot arm) so they can go 'on hook' by themselves. That would make V2V far easier, and also charge-sharing while platooning - if we ever get that going. We don't need so much 'infrastructure' if home-chargers leave their EVs parked publicly in 'supply' mode so that needy EVs can get a topup from them.
I can't understand the problem with solar panels on the church roof. They are fitted to the roof of York Minster, a far more historically significant building than a parish church.
The DNA spray still catches them out, as it transfers from the cable to hands, clothing and anything they touch, and is designed to resist washing out. It's why I would always make sure I had authority in writing before handling any railway cabling, and keep that authority on file as I _know_ I'd get covered in it, too... 📜 That said: Unless my fortunes experience significant change or NR ask me to help out with site clearance in difficult possessions (Being able to drag heavy weights up steep embankments is a useful ability!🐐) the likelihood of me having legit reason to handle NR wiring is quite unlikely. 😇
The easy answer to EV cable theft , is for the manufacturers to make their cables with multi strand ALUMINIUM wire ..... the wires between HV pylons are Aluminium ( with a steel core ? ) ..... ( ? ) ....... DAVE™🛑
My idea for an “anti-theft” EV charger is a standby mode where mains is still present in the cable. Combine it with fusing that has similar slow heating characteristics to the cable itself (eg, for 3/0 have a fuse that can blow within 8-10 seconds at 2.5kA but is able to withstand at least 1 cycle at 40kA.)
I like the way that smackhead has hold of a pair of bolt crops to steel an extension for a 220v 13a lawnmower......try the sissors the handle is insulated
I would say this to EV owners. If you can afford your own charging setup just get CCTV and place your charger in a harder to see area. ALSO if it is a non Tesla EV then replace the number plates too since all EV's have a green stripe on the side of their number plates and have road legal ones made without this stripe
Been watching your channel for sometime. Started watching when we was thinking about getting an EV unit installed. Just wondering why there not something like what they have for gas fitters for electricity. SAFE GAS At least the customer knows that you have the proper qualifications and know how. Is there anything that a customer can ask for to know that the electrician is up-to-date with new legislation and has necessary qualifications to do any work domestic property? I know this site is mainly for qualified electricians, but there must be quite a few people like me who are not value your advice when looking for a qualified electrician
Well a tip to open reach stop being such penny pinchers, replace yout copper infra with fiber, better service fot the customers and lees copper theft headaches for you, allso less long term maintenance
@@deltab9768 it's pretty smart, though it may raise the issue of black markets (like with everything that's been banned relating to criminal behaviour) it will deter a lot of crime at the instance.
@@dutchgray86 value licensing brings the value down so much that if they stole plastic piping then the landfill site will chose the plastic its that worthless.
I'm surprised it's taken this long for theft of ev cables to take off.
Yep, always thought it would be an easy target
Re: the church getting some solar panels, gb-sol and Ergosun make pv tiles that are designed to blend in with tiles. gb-sol's tiles are specifically designed to blend in with Welsh slate and Ergosun claim to have already done an installation on a Grade 1 listed building in Regent's Park
As a railway enthusiast with a strong gravitation to pre-modern systems (e.g: The TGV) copper theft has been a problem for the railways for years. Network Rail installed _Smartwater_ bio-marking systems on a lot of their equipment about a decade ago, and it really helped convict those trying to cut away signal cabling. NR are now upgrading a lot of signal cabling to fiber optics to put that problem to bed (No scrap value in melted silica, trust me on that! 🏖) but it obviously won't work for traction supply cabling or EV chargers.
I'm not all that well up in EV installs (The only EVs I've ever used run on rails! 🚄⚡🙃) but if you have a copper cable rated for 100A at 400v, how big/heavy a cable would it take to carry the same current safely on Aluminium? Could something like that be made usable enough that the average person could still plug it in to their car? 🔌🚗😇
MCS and the accrediting trade bodies don't provide enough scrutiny of their members. A single Nominated Technical Person (NTP) being allowed to be responsible for an unlimited number of installations, coupled with the ease with which the installations can be subcontracted out, is a guaranteed recipe for shoddy and unsafe installation work. MCS was supposed to change the manner in which it operates this summer (following a consultation period last spring/summer), but has decided it can't do so until early 2025 now. The organisation is completely unfit for purpose.
I think we all predicted years ago that charging cables would be stolen.
Needs to be included at the start of the design process, but suggest that EV chargers could run a trace current through the cable and use the interruption of that to raise an alarm, use Bluetooth to trigger cameras on the nearby units and so on.
Making the cables from aluminium would help too. It's been used for grid cables in the USA.
Cameras won't stop the theft. They will just wear masks.
Additionally, bluetooth isn't a means to trigger the camera recording, Bluetooth is just a communications protocol to transfer data between two points. And it wouldn't be suitable here given the volume of data in the video recording.
In terms of triggering the video recording, many cams themselves are constantly monitoring and start recording when there is a big enough change from one frame of the video to the next. Or they can use PIR detection to detect a person in range.
I wonder how hard it would be to just shunt mains to the cable as a default (through a slow-blow fuse with similar current-time characteristics to what the cable can handle) and then obviously have it shut off and go into its normal controlled charging mode when plugged in 🤔
@@spankeyfishit’s not very good though,BT used it briefly years ago🤔
Given many charge cables I've seen are for DC fast charging; I wonder if having a high (But detectable) resistance between NEG/GND or the cable armour and one of the signalling wires at the connector would provide a usable continuity testing loop? Send a test voltage down it at a very low current (Say,
Crackerjack & Howitzer 💥
That theft story was bonkers, must've seemed very convincing to the home owner 😬
Crackerjack and Howitzer
11@@davidsawyer9878
I don't know about you, but I would be *very* suspicious of someone randomly calling at my door claiming that my appliances required PAT. I've only a lapsed PAT qualification (2003) but my ability to test and assess my own equipment is probably sound enough to meet general safety requirements.
What scares me is that - If mandatory PAT was ever bought in for peoples personal appliances (As opposed to buying/selling them, which might be reasonable) - The amount of scams and bad/invalid tests coming up off the back of that would probably _reduce_ overall safety much more than _increase_ it... ⚠
I guess we now know how that recycling bin in the studio always seems to be full of scrap wire.
Condolences to the family of fellow Irishman Liam Donnelley’s and loved ones.
R.I.P Liam , gone but not forgotten.
Great news weekly as always Joe .
Crackerjack and Howitzer
I wonder how much lighting there is around the Instavolt chargers. In general poorly lit or dimply lit sights are more prone to theft. However there are now van theft and thefts from vans is broad daylight. Need more police and harsher custodial sentence
Where I live, 15 Tesla supercharger and 10 none Tesla charging points in a shopping Center car park have just had all the cables nicked. What a pain in the arse, this is just another reason I wont buy an EV.
Some one buys the 'so called' scrap copper wire, I thought they stopped cash pay outs at all scrap metal dealers aka 'fences'
You need a bank account to pay in, then this can be traced if some are making a fortune on metal thefts.
Time for the British government to impose new laws prohibiting scrapyards from buying STOLEN copper
Handling stolen goods is already illegal, but it needs much more enforcement efforts and much higher punishment to act as a deterrent.
they should pass a law to make crimes illegal
It's ok having laws but it's the judges not punishing thieves that cause the problem, there was the case of cat converter thieves were given a few hours community service and a few hundred pound fine, they made many thousands and the ££ damage to cars was huge.
Crackerjack & Howitzer - perhaps the car charger lead thieves are not scrapping them, perhaps they are selling them as car charger leads.
I do hope these underground parking place owners/developers have done more research than just a wonderful busbar that can be tapped into at any point to install EV charging points. I'd like to think that the first installation is that of a fire fighting system capable of dealing with the inferno that is an EV fire. Sprinkler systems commonly installed in these car parks are often inadequate in dealing with ICE vehicle fires. I hope lessons have been learned from the Luton Airport debacle.
Yup the HRR and total energy of a fully involved ICE vehicle fire is insane.
An EV is less but you’re not going to fully extinguish it. You’re just going to have to provide enough water that it doesn’t spread to other stuff.
Alstoms' trains have had an optimal solution in place for dealing with any fires on their EVs for years: It's a bottle of Halon about the size of a telephone box! 🚄🧯🌬
Granted, Halon isn't the _safest_ suppressant out there...But as EV batteries are normally sealed units, I wonder what would prevent them having an internal Halon release system to deplete the oxygen released by burning Lithium? 😇
@@dieseldragon6756 I think you'll find that Halon was kicked into touch 25yrs ago (at least in Brazil). Granted it was great for use in fixed systems in enclosed spaces but not good for the rest of the world. I don't remember the stuff that replaced it. Our vessel went with a mist/fog water system in the engine rooms.
@@sunnybnk In the UK Halon usage in open areas is mostly banned, but new installs are permitted to employ it in specific use cases. The most common being enclosed server and switchgear rooms with suppressant lock-off switches that can be used to prevent Halon release when the room is occupied by technicians. 👍
Historical (Grandfathered) installations are permitted to remain where the use case calls for it or replacement is impractical, so Eurostars older TMST trains still have Halon bottles on them as modern suppressants aren't suitable for use on early 90s TGV equipment. Portable Halon extinguishers must be replaced with CO² or equivalents where there isn't an overpoweringly strong justification for handheld Halon deployment. 🧯✅👍
@@sunnybnkin the UK open air car parks such as the Luton one don't have sprinklers at all, which is the problem. The regulations urgently need to be updated to deal with a world where most vehicles are EVs. You can't put the fire out, but you don't need to. You just need to apply enough cooling to prevent the neighbouring cars igniting.
Well d'oh. Put some copper cables out in public and expect the local crack heads not to steal it? How about jailing all the scrap metal dealers who buy them, and all the other stolen gear? I am surprised cables outside homes don't get knicked, especially those by the pavement. Have scooter, will steal.
This is why some chargers gave detachable cables. Only leave it out when you are using it.
@@adrianthoroughgood1191 So, There you are, plugged your car in, and off to the shops, or Starbucks for a few hours. Your phone gives you a message, charging interrupted. Off you go back to the car. Your cable has been stolen. Or maybe you plugged it in overnight at home. Plugged in at night. Off to the land of nod you go, and some scallywag nicks your cable.
@@trevornelmes9331 it's better than leaving it there all the time.
@@adrianthoroughgood1191 True.
Should leave the cables live so if anyone cuts them they get their lesson.
I'm disapointed that the church got given a hard time over solar panels. Look up solar roof tiles. They blend in so should keep everyone happy
The link to your outdoor speakers video in the show notes is broken. I can browse your channel page to find it though.
EVs should have a charging 'tentacle' (or something like a robot arm) so they can go 'on hook' by themselves. That would make V2V far easier, and also charge-sharing while platooning - if we ever get that going. We don't need so much 'infrastructure' if home-chargers leave their EVs parked publicly in 'supply' mode so that needy EVs can get a topup from them.
I can't understand the problem with solar panels on the church roof. They are fitted to the roof of York Minster, a far more historically significant building than a parish church.
Crackerjack and howitzer
DNA spray....they burn the cables down to pure metal bundles.
The DNA spray still catches them out, as it transfers from the cable to hands, clothing and anything they touch, and is designed to resist washing out. It's why I would always make sure I had authority in writing before handling any railway cabling, and keep that authority on file as I _know_ I'd get covered in it, too... 📜
That said: Unless my fortunes experience significant change or NR ask me to help out with site clearance in difficult possessions (Being able to drag heavy weights up steep embankments is a useful ability!🐐) the likelihood of me having legit reason to handle NR wiring is quite unlikely. 😇
Crackerjack and Howitzer.
Then the local authority should cough up the extra energy bill for the church if objecting to energy saving pv panels.
Crackerjack & Howitzer
The easy answer to EV cable theft , is for the manufacturers to make their cables with multi strand ALUMINIUM wire ..... the wires between HV pylons are Aluminium ( with a steel core ? ) ..... ( ? ) ....... DAVE™🛑
My idea for an “anti-theft” EV charger is a standby mode where mains is still present in the cable.
Combine it with fusing that has similar slow heating characteristics to the cable itself (eg, for 3/0 have a fuse that can blow within 8-10 seconds at 2.5kA but is able to withstand at least 1 cycle at 40kA.)
As soon as the bolt cutters hit the wires, cb will just blow instantly. There is no other way
I like the way that smackhead has hold of a pair of bolt crops to steel an extension for a 220v 13a lawnmower......try the sissors the handle is insulated
I would say this to EV owners. If you can afford your own charging setup just get CCTV and place your charger in a harder to see area. ALSO if it is a non Tesla EV then replace the number plates too since all EV's have a green stripe on the side of their number plates and have road legal ones made without this stripe
Very good.
Anything EV must be resisted.
Ignorant
Krackerjack, Howitzer
Been watching your channel for sometime. Started watching when we was thinking about getting an EV unit installed.
Just wondering why there not something like what they have for gas fitters for electricity.
SAFE GAS At least the customer knows that you have the proper qualifications and know how.
Is there anything that a customer can ask for to know that the electrician is up-to-date with new legislation and has necessary qualifications to do any work domestic property?
I know this site is mainly for qualified electricians, but there must be quite a few people like me who are not value your advice when looking for a qualified electrician
Should be anti theft mode on the EV chargers where you are getting electrocuted if you try to cut the cables...
Does anyone know of a 240vac changeover switch operated by a timer to switch between battery and mains back to battery to power your home
Victron inverters, they also have VE transfer switches
Crackerjack and Howitzer 🤔
Crackerjack & Howitzer! Love your videos 😊
Cracker Jack and howitzer
Crackerjack and howitzer, either too easy or you have thrown many in
Crackerjack & howitzer
Well a tip to open reach stop being such penny pinchers, replace yout copper infra with fiber, better service fot the customers and lees copper theft headaches for you, allso less long term maintenance
New cable... New crime..
Howitzer and Crackerjack
who is saying that cut ev cables are only for the copper ? i guess some are beeing vandalised by ice car enthusiasts
to what end?
@@AnotherPointOfView944 to sabotage the EV transition and make life with an EV less enjoyable
Politically motivated vandalism of some sort
crackerjack and howitzer 😁
I knew this would happen when I first heard of electric cars! 😂
Yep, take all the cables away.
Crackerjack and howitzer 🤞
He is a news reader! This sucks!
That's a bit reductive, I'm a news reader, an electrician, a presenter, a teacher, a father, a husband, a son... I could go on.
Who’d have thunk it eh!
It’s Friday it’s five to five and it’s Crackerjack CRACKERJACK howitzer
Howitzer and Wild West
uncomfortably & howitzer
crackerjack and Howitzer
Idea: copper can only be recycled by licensed persons, otherwise copper has no value, I call it "value licensing"
I like that idea.
@@deltab9768 it's pretty smart, though it may raise the issue of black markets (like with everything that's been banned relating to criminal behaviour) it will deter a lot of crime at the instance.
People with only small quantities of scrap copper would be even more likely to landfill it versus recycling.
@@dutchgray86 value licensing brings the value down so much that if they stole plastic piping then the landfill site will chose the plastic its that worthless.
Bonkers and Hedgehog
Crackerjack howitzer
WildWest and howitzer
Crackerjack howitzer?
Pump and jam
Wild West and Metaphor (as the others are possibly too obvious??!)
crackerjack and howitzer
Crackerjack, howitzer
..some people would steal the smell from your armpits...
Ha ha the race to the bottom by the tories.
Enjoy 😂
crakerjacks and howitzer
I find the thumbnail of the white white guy holding cutters racist and offensive, why does it even need a person to be shown.
Crackerjack and howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack & Howitzer
Howitzer and Crackerjack
Crackerjack & howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack and howitzer
Crackerjack and howitzer
Crackerjack and howitzer
Crackerjack and howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack and Howitzer
Crackerjack & Howitzer
Crackerjack & Howitzer
Crackerjack and howitzer
Crackerjack and howitzer