r/AusElectricians

Hi guys, I’m a newly licensed electrician looking for some advice on an intermittent fault.

Yesterday, I installed a new AC circuit and relocated a 15 A weatherproof GPO for a hot water system for my mates tiny home. Powered on all fine, no dramas.
He has a sub board in the tiny home and the MSB about 20m away.

This morning, he woke up to the POWER circuit RCBO tripped at the sub-board. After resetting it and the supply, it tripped again, and the 63 A three-phase main breaker at the MSB also tripped. The 63 A breaker has only tripped once; since then, it’s been the same POWER RCBO tripping intermittently.
The circuit supplies the kitchen fridge and laundry power points. I IR-tested active-to-earth and neutral-to-earth at 500 V DC and got over 5 MΩ, but after looking into it, the circuit neutrals were still connected to the neutral bar, not sure if that matters? Also the new AC circuit and relocated GPO aren’t supplied by the circuit that’s tripping.

After IR testing both the installation and appliances with results that pass, I decided to swap the RCBO of the power circuit that’s was tripping with a new one, just in case it was a faulty breaker, then put everything back together and left The washing machine and dryer running for about halfa without issue.
However, later the owner switched on the exhaust fan on a separate lighting circuit and the POWER RCBO tripped about a second later.

What would you investigate first? Could this be an intermittent appliance fault, a neutral issue, or something else? How much confidence would you put in those IR readings given the test setup? I’m at a loss here. Not sure what to test next.

know I'm asking for a really rare thing here but how does one get a dual trade electrical and instrumentation apprenticeship (the 5 year one)? There's only one website that talks about it but it has no steps to obtain it.

Anyone got any tips/experiences?

Afternoon all,

I’m an Electrical and Mechatronics Engineer in NSW, but before finishing my degree I spent a fair bit of time working hands-on on sites doing contracting work.

The more time I spend in engineering, the more I realise I really enjoy the practical, hands-on side of electrical work and would seriously consider transitioning into becoming a licensed electrician.

I’m trying to understand what the pathway would look like in NSW for someone with my background.

Would I still need to complete a full electrical apprenticeship from scratch, including the full trade qualification and hours, or is there any opportunity for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) based on an electrical engineering degree and previous practical experience?

I’ve got experience with electrical systems, control systems, PLCs, embedded electronics, PCB design, fault finding and hands-on installation/work, but obviously understand that electrical engineering and being a licensed electrician are two different qualifications. I also have alot of other experiences, white card construction etc, I was never a desk jockey I am not the typical engineer

Has anyone here made a similar transition, or worked with someone who has?

Would especially appreciate advice from anyone familiar with NSW licensing requirements and whether prior engineering study can reduce any of the TAFE/apprenticeship requirements.

Cheers.

Question for the maintenance sparkies, what pay are you guys getting? On call pay rates? Do you book all your jobs in yourself? Or is it all done by the office staff? Currently a commercial maintenance sparky I’ll go first, $50 hour, after hour call outs get 4 hours double minimum plus $300 week on call allowance. No company phone but $70 month phone allowance. Book all jobs in daily our selfs, ewps wholesalers dealing with FMs tenants etc I assume everyone has a car included.

Edit: forgot to mention, in our line of work what do you do if there’s nothing on? Are you forced to take leave?

Lads they say there short of sparkies on all these big data centre builds in vic, does anyone actually know what companies are hiring for them ? I’m already on union jobs tier 2 doing high rises, however ot doesn’t come around that much if at all, I’m 24 and just wanna work lol cheers boys

I’ll be doing work experience in the residential and commercial side of things for a month. I’m very eager to learn but I know I don’t know much. I’d like to be helpful and avoid being a burden as much as possible. I also want to maximise my learning.

What are some tips or qualities of a good work experience student? Even apprentices because that’s the next step.

Is there anything I should practice or prepare for?

Also open to hearing what makes a bad apprentice/work experience person so I can avoid that.

Looking for a bit of advice, currently a month of the 3rd year of my mature age apprenticeship and have been offered a role doing 3/1 fifo and also a role at Schneider as either a bms tech or a digital energy apprentice

Obviously big financial difference, just looking for some insight into the roles

Cheers 🤙

Hi

What’s everyone using for smart double gpos?? (weatherproof to control pool pumps and lights. Anything a bit cheaper than the SAL pixie units or should I just go with these?
Client wants to control them via their phone.

Cheers!

I'm currently applying at a commercial company that is offering an electrical apprenticeship. I'm almost 30 and all my work experience is in restaurants FoH. I've worked at 4 main places, for a few years each and am now a bar manager.

I personally think that my experience is good for a trade. I have experience following procedures and doing what i'm told. I've always worked long shifts on my feet in high pressure environments. I really love the teamwork aspect in hospo and consider myself a great communicator. I like working with my hands and always volunteer to do the side jobs and random upkeep in the restaurant.

My concern is that a hiring manager whose never worked in hospitality may view it as 'easy' work. I'd had people before ask how hard it is to just make drinks all day. Its pretty common that i'm asked 'when are you getting a real job'?

My only other experience is two seasons winemaking which involved working outside in the fields, heavy lifting and operating machinery and basic hand tools. Should I include this?

What should i add or change in my application? TIA