Tweet
My staff had a call yesterday from the Nelson city council. They reported that a new tenant had reported in a terrible green solution was coming out of a light switch and that we better do something about it or the property would be declared uninhabitable.
I laughed but just ordered an electrician to go and fix the problem.
Then in comes an email as below with names and identifying addresses removed.
Just to follow-up on our brief phone call, the tenant at the above flat phoned up as she was worried about a ”dark green sticky substance on some of her light switches”.
Before I visited I looked up on the internet as to what the substance might be and got this information. There are other references available which you may also want to research yourselves.
I visited the property this afternoon and saw the material which is on two light switches seemingly coming from the rear of the switch.
I may have misled you by saying the material was oozing (an inference taken from the information both on-line and after inspection).
I have advised the tenant that the material may have some toxicity (irritation) but that the indications were that it is produced by some wiring issues which should be referred to her landlord. She then gave me your contact details.
My suggestion is that you engage an electrician to check and test the wiring and have the material removed and some report as to the condition of the wiring for its continued use (to avoid any implications with any future insurance claims).
A copy of this email will be given to the tenant and also placed on the Council’s property file.
Thank you in anticipation of your attention to this matter.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries about the issue although I have to admit to being unknowledgeable about wiring issues.
Kindest regards
Environmental Health Officer
So I looked at the link he had some kindly included and sure enough it tells you what the problem is and that link actually clearly says there is no electrical problem nor is there any health risk.
So I wrote this sharp response.
I aghast at your lack of electrical engineering and English language understanding.
The link you have so kindly included confirms what I and everyone else that needs to know understand already. You have needlessly alarmed my good tenant due to your incompetence.
This is a very common problem with wiring of that age. Actually despite what the report says it can often cause the switches to fail due to the strange gunk that can get between the contacts. I find that the switches that fail are of about the same age and by that time the spring tension of the switch has usually failed also. So actually the switches are normally at the end of their useful life. The cure is simple. You just strip back the insulation and place some electrical sleaving over a short length of the wire. I have seen some enterprising attempts to fix the problem by using electrical tape. This just makes it worse because the sticky backing also starts to run making a worse mess.
That link clearly says that there is no electrical hazard and the level of toxicity is minor. Obviously if anyone sucked and chewed a bit of copper wire then eventually the copper oxide might make you a little sick. But then lots of people put the same stuff on their tomatoes. Is the city council going to forbid the use of copper sprays in Nelson.
I have arranged for my electrician to remedy the problem and hold the old lady’s hand.
My suggestion is to not use goggle search for such matters. Ask a local expert.
Glenn
I laughed but just ordered an electrician to go and fix the problem.
Then in comes an email as below with names and identifying addresses removed.
Just to follow-up on our brief phone call, the tenant at the above flat phoned up as she was worried about a ”dark green sticky substance on some of her light switches”.
Before I visited I looked up on the internet as to what the substance might be and got this information. There are other references available which you may also want to research yourselves.
I visited the property this afternoon and saw the material which is on two light switches seemingly coming from the rear of the switch.
I may have misled you by saying the material was oozing (an inference taken from the information both on-line and after inspection).
I have advised the tenant that the material may have some toxicity (irritation) but that the indications were that it is produced by some wiring issues which should be referred to her landlord. She then gave me your contact details.
My suggestion is that you engage an electrician to check and test the wiring and have the material removed and some report as to the condition of the wiring for its continued use (to avoid any implications with any future insurance claims).
A copy of this email will be given to the tenant and also placed on the Council’s property file.
Thank you in anticipation of your attention to this matter.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries about the issue although I have to admit to being unknowledgeable about wiring issues.
Kindest regards
Environmental Health Officer
So I looked at the link he had some kindly included and sure enough it tells you what the problem is and that link actually clearly says there is no electrical problem nor is there any health risk.
So I wrote this sharp response.
I aghast at your lack of electrical engineering and English language understanding.
The link you have so kindly included confirms what I and everyone else that needs to know understand already. You have needlessly alarmed my good tenant due to your incompetence.
This is a very common problem with wiring of that age. Actually despite what the report says it can often cause the switches to fail due to the strange gunk that can get between the contacts. I find that the switches that fail are of about the same age and by that time the spring tension of the switch has usually failed also. So actually the switches are normally at the end of their useful life. The cure is simple. You just strip back the insulation and place some electrical sleaving over a short length of the wire. I have seen some enterprising attempts to fix the problem by using electrical tape. This just makes it worse because the sticky backing also starts to run making a worse mess.
That link clearly says that there is no electrical hazard and the level of toxicity is minor. Obviously if anyone sucked and chewed a bit of copper wire then eventually the copper oxide might make you a little sick. But then lots of people put the same stuff on their tomatoes. Is the city council going to forbid the use of copper sprays in Nelson.
I have arranged for my electrician to remedy the problem and hold the old lady’s hand.
My suggestion is to not use goggle search for such matters. Ask a local expert.
Glenn
Comment