Foundation Box

James CampbellFoundation Box Wiring, Service

Foundation Box Wiring

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I’d like to share a recent experience we had at the office. This experience emphasised the importance of gate owners ensuring that their gates are managed by professionals, a company with whom they can build relationships and trust.

 

We received a concerned call from someone we had not worked with before. They got our contact details through a recommendation from an existing client, which is always good to hear.

The customer has faced issues with a gate installation carried out by another company, and she did not receive satisfactory service to fix the problem. She was looking for a second opinion. We visited the site where the other company carried out the installation to investigate the issues that the customer reported.

It wasn’t long before we found the cause of the client’s concerns and the root of the problem and recommended a solution.

It’s easy to criticize others’ work to impress a potential new customer, but this situation is different. The workmanship here is simply poor.

“It seems that the person who did this job didn’t care about their work, the customer, or their professionalism. This is laziness and poor workmanship, which has no place in our profession. I would be outraged if we presented this work as a finished product.”

Bad wiring

 

Problem Identified in the Pictures Above

  • In the picture, the red circle shows where the corner of the foundation box cover lid has been cut away. This has been done to route the motor cable to the junction box—poor workmanship.
  • The blue circle shows the new motor cable that has not been fitted through a gland into the junction box. It also shows the old conduit with the cut-down cable inside—poor workmanship.
  • The foundation box lid is partly there to prevent debris from entering the foundation box, but cutting the corner out of the lid now allows debris inside.
  • Not fitting a gland to the cable allows insects and water ingress and makes the cable insecure.
  • Also, we found the motor cable loose in the connector

Solution

To properly install the new conduit and cable, the area around the back of the foundation box should have been excavated. A hole should have been drilled through the box at a low level from the inside, and a gland fitted on the cable to secure it.

Oh yes, tighten the loose cable in the motor!

It’s not complicated!