Hi, I am in Australia, have been trying for a while to get tech books, info on general wiring, basic stuff, not wishing to become a sparky, am 53 but never too old to learn. The Church I belong to has a camp that is hundreds of kms away from any decent electricians, the cost would be outrageous for a call out, just to check or replace some wiring in a van for example, the site has 6 Earths, and each camp site has it's own delegated power source, with each 15amp cord having a RCD plug. My pastors van has had some very poor wiring done, wiring is 20 yrs old. Some lights don't work, as some switches don't work, before our nect camp I am going out there to fix a ladies van that the walls are being pulled away by a solid patio, that will be easy. The wiring needs to be checked, have a digital MM, spare 1.5 cable. Here the colours are E= Green/yellow: Active= Brown/Red: Neutral=Black/Blue.
It's difficult because ppl won't give advice as to safety, the old saying if you don't know what u r doing then get someone qualified, I agree in principle, but as we are so far away, the cost would be just about the same price as the van. thats ok for ppl that were shown how to do it at some stage, how else did they learn in the 1st place if they too are not qualified, someone whowed them, and now they refuse to do the same, sad really. I know all about the safety, OSHW rules etc, am a regular DIY person now, on a carers pension, and love learning, not sooooo bad is it?
Info I am after is Australian 240v basics of electrics, wiring switches GPO's, making sure as I piggyback the switches I am on the right track. Also info on the correct ways of testing wiring on the van using the DMM, resistence etc.
Gr8 site you guys have too, well done.
Cheers from Oz

 

For some reason this thread is not showing properly on the forums. I will bump this item and move it to the General Electronics Chat Forum where it will get better exposure.

Apologies for the problems.

Dave

 

I think the Aussie regs are similar to NZ regs which allows for an unqualified person to do limited work (normally AFTER the switchboard, and just "like for like" replacement) for THEMSELVES, but it MUST be inspected by a registered electrician.
When it comes to Caravans / campers etc I am VERY biased, as an aquantance of mine (a local Camp owner) was killed about 10 years back after wiring up the plug on his own caravan then grabbing the handle of the now LIVE caravan while he was standing on the grass (earth potentual).
Being a Camp ground this has much wider implications when you involve lots of other users, and (if Aus registration/law is the similar to NZ) actually becomes a legal issue.
I suggest contacting a "Decent" electrician from a coupla hundred k's away, or getting some form of applicable limited registration yourself.

 

Thanks for the response, would be hard to lose a friend like that, the camp is not a public one, still the same issues though re, safety etc. You are correct the Aus/NZ codes rules and regs are the same.
Never mind some things are best left alone, it's up to the owners to decide whether they pay huge bucks for what would be minimal time on the job, a good sparky should be able to check and wire a GPO and switch in under an hr. Thanks again