Free Redundant Lights

Decoration be damned- they are a nuisance and I wish someone would dispose of them.

(Hywel - are you reading this???)

I know a lot of people do a lot of guessing and speculating on this site but in some areas such as electrical safety a little bit of googling will answer any questions without misleading information being offered.

There are Australian standards for the sale of secondhand electrical appliances and for the disposal of unsafe electrical appliances. Unfortunately you have to purchase Australian Standards, but the information contained in them is also available on state government web sites such as this SA one http://www.decs.sa.gov.au/docs/documents/1/ElectricalTestProcedure.pdf From the testing and tagging standard : 2.4.1 Non-compliant equipment ( AS/NZS 3760:2003) where in-service inspection or testing identifies equipment which fails to comply with the criteria given in this Standard, the equipment shall be appropriately labeled to indicate that the equipment requires remedial action and warn against further use, and withdrawn from service. The choice of remedial action, disposal or other corrective action shall be determined by the owner or the person responsible for the safety of the site.

Any repairs to faulty electrical equipment has to be done by a person with an appropriate electrical license. If an elctrical appliance is unsafe, it has to be disabled by removing the plug before disposing of it. You should also attach an Out Of Service tag. If the condition of the electrical appliance is unknown and you want to dispose of it, then same action.

Rob has carried this out, so why speculate when you do not know the rules and regulations ? You do not need any form of license to fit a plug to an electrical appliance as set out in DOCEPS web site, see http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/EnergySafety/Content/About_us/Frequently_asked_questions.html "1. What type of electrical work requires a licence? All electrical work requires a licence except as listed in regulation 19 of the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 1991. This generally means that extra low voltage (ELV - below 50 volts AC 120 volts DC - ripple free), communications work, cords and plugs work that is not for gain or reward, supply authority work or other work considered low risk because of the nature of the work or the way it is done. Refer to the electrical installation section for more details."

But you need to be competent to be able to wire the plug correctly and to be able to ensure the electrical appliance is safe for use and the person responsible for your work area/theatre etc has to be satisfied you are competent to carry out the work.

Dont guess or speculate, look it up and inform others or ask if you do not know.

Whats the problem with them Norma?

Those old 'hayburners' lanterns are part of the 'Mills' heritage & a great talking piont for the punters!

What would be great is to display/hang more of the old lanterns to add to the theatre atmosphere, they are up in the air anyway! 

Can't Harbour rejuvinate those lanterns, they are still very usefull & in fact for the most part, work better than a lot of the new breeds around.

Alll it takes is a wee bit of attention & maintance. To have them up & functioning again, either by making a good one out 2 or a few modifcations to bring them back up to scratch.

It can cost a lot less than forking out for new ones.

It's a shame we can't orginise a depository or suppository for old used 'n abuse tech gear?

Rather than just chucking it all down the tip as landfill or whatever?

Maybe if some knows of an old unused shed or building,  available on a peppercorn lease of course, where some of us old redundant techies could fix up old lighting gear or whatever. A lot of this gear can be reused in comeatres, saving costs to groups & even save our greatest reuseable resorces;-  old techies as well?

How can we expect commitees to worry about it, they are hard pressed finding time to attend to the more important things & whatever?  

"That's the techies problem anyway!" .

  What no techies -I wonder why?

Jeff H  could you explain in simple terms, the new set up with the Electrical Licence sytem, that was brought in a short while ago.

I realise you did brush on this during the 'Aunty ITA' Ignite Expo. but I can't remember much about it?

This came up when I was working with Bruce Denny at the Garrick recently. Like me he alowed his Electrical Licence registration to lapse over the years.

Mine elapsed after the 5 year period mainly because of variuos Strokes, plumbing jobs to my dicky ticker & failing to notify them of change of adress.

My 'A' Cllass electrical Fitter & Installer Licences, with Austel/Cat 5 endorsements, aparently are regarded as 'Grandad' Licences these days & have been replaced with a new all encompassing licence arrangemt.

Not that I Have any wish or intentions to apply &/or attend, a Tech school 3 stage refresher course over 18 months  at this stage. But it's not something I would not discount completely & I may even do it one day, before I'm body bagged? 

Only if you have the time briefly to explain, as I'm as thick as a brick & twice as dence! This is only for my general interest & not a burning question as such.

I have been thru the cauntlet with those office flunkies at the Electrical Licensing Department & I have paid out on a few rides on thier department carousel. with little or no out come!

You hit the target Jeff - Thanks. I remember I got my first 'Plug Cord' licence in 1960, I was 13 at the time. The licence cost the rincely sum of half a crown, which was almost a 1/4 of my weekly wage at the time.  Chookas mate!