Of wiring and experience

If you've ever taken the cover off a wiring centre for a central heating and hot water system, you would be forgiven for thinking what a jumbled mass of wires. As I sit drawing out the wiring diagram fro future reference, I know that someone one one day will take the cover off our control panel and see exactly that.

On the other hand it's actually a surprisingly simple thing, it just involves a lot of wires. Twenty four if I'm counting correctly. 

I remember our first flat we had and the heating system there. Someone had done all the work of putting in a heating and hot water system but when it came to the wiring they'd had a mad moment. Their approach was simple: connect all the wires that are same colour together. This meant that things like the room thermostat didn't actually do anything and one or two other things were just plain wrong. 

Which reminds of the time a neighbour came to ask me how to wire up a new light in their lounge. They had bought  new fitting and done the "all the same colour" wiring rather like the heating system. Unfortunately it's a little more of a problem with a light given that every time the turned the power back on the circuit tripped. Again the solution was simple but they took a lot of convincing that you didn't put all the black wires in the same block.

Without the experience of the job at British Gas I'm not sure I'd have known what was what when it came to heating controls, and wiring lights was something my father taught me, but I hope I'd have made the effort of finding out. Anyway we got that one sorted out and I fixed the neighbours lights too. I guess in the end there really is no substitute for learning and experience.