When was your CCTV system last serviced?

CCTV systems are not only essential for the security of your premises but it is also a very useful tool with regards to health and safety in any business or industry. This is why it is very important that your security/safety systems are maintained periodically to ensure that when required they are functioning correctly.

During a recent service visit to a new client by a Veriserv engineer, he noticed that the premises was suffering from a camera fail. Upon investigation, our engineer found that the camera had failed due to a severe water ingress issue. When designing and installing a CCTV system, it is very important that the location of each camera is sited in a position not only to provide the maximum amount of coverage, but also to take into account the surface or infrastructure of the building the camera shall be fixed upon.

External CCTV systems face the brunt of the British weather 365 days of the year. Although the IP (ingress protection) rating of a camera is designed by the manufacturer to keep the elements out; eventually over time if not maintained, the rubber seals and glands can perish. This causes water ingress, potentially taking out the PSU (power supply unit), which supplies the remaining cameras on site, which could result in a complete CCTV failure across the premises.

A failure of this size would be a significant security and safety issue to any business. Keeping your CCTV system serviced regularly, is as important as keeping any of your other security systems (such as your fire alarm) fully functioning.

When was your CCTV system last serviced? Veriserv engineers are very experienced in all aspects of CCTV, whether your premises is either an office complex, or an industrial factory. During a periodic service, we shall advise the client where any possible future failure may occur, and recommend any remedial works to ensure that your CCTV meets your needs.

Our mission is to provide every single customer with an outstanding service that is fit for purpose and delivered by experts to reduce risk. As you can see from our other faults of the week, regular visits from a professional can cut down the risk of electrical faults, fire and disrupted security, to you and your workplace.

So if you know you are due a service, or have some concerns about your premises, please call 01543 225306, or fill out one of our contact forms to arrange a free assessment of your premises, with one of our fully trained engineers.

Intermittent fault on a CCTV camera due to Rodent Rage

As a service company sometimes you can fall foul of similar problems faced by clients. Such as a little rodent rage, that may have cause an intermittent fault on a CCTV camera.

This intermittent fault on a CCTV camera was one that we (Veriserv) experienced in our own building. We had been struggling with an intermittent fault on the CCTV system fitted at the main office, until very recently when the camera concerned failed completely. An inspection quickly identified that the unit had lost power and that the camera was actually okay.

Entering into the roof void we found a power supply that had suffered significant damage, from being gnawed by a rodent. In this case most likely a mouse. All rodents need to chew on harder items to control the length of their teeth. This is usually fine until they choose to gnaw on something in your property!


Ensuring a functioning CCTV system for some businesses is crucial to monitoring processes or shop floor activity. In the case of Pubs & Clubs it is often a requirement of their licensing condition that a fully functioning CCTV system is maintained at all times.

During a routine service, Veriserv engineers will inspect the various parts of the security system and advise the client where possible future failure may occur, or if any little guests have been visiting you. Any recommended remedial action will also be advised and we will identify the most economical route to repair incorporating the latest technologies, all installed by a fully certified engineer.

Our mission is to provide every single customer with an outstanding service that is fit for purpose and delivered by experts to reduce risk. As you can see from our other faults of the week, regular visits from a professional can cut down the risk of electrical faults, fire and disrupted security, to you and your workplace.

So if you know you are due a service, or have some concerns about your premises, please call 01543 225306, or fill out one of our contact forms to arrange a free assessment of your premises, with one of our fully trained engineers.

Male connector fitted with exposed terminals

Can you see a problem with this? Would you spot the dangers of exposed terminals?

The plug, the flex and the three-pin connector all look to be in perfect condition don’t they? However, this lead could quite literally be lethal.

It appears that someone has unwittingly, maybe during a momentary lapse of concentration fitted a “male” connector with exposed terminals on the end of a 13-amp plug, now imagine this plugged into a socket outlet with those exposed terminals at the end and suddenly it no longer looks quite so innocent.

A Veriserv engineer found and removed this from a site this week emphasising the need to be extra vigilant for such seemingly innocent and yet very dangerous pieces of “DIY” equipment.

The IET recommend that formal visual inspections be undertaken periodically by a competent person to identify these hazardous items.

Our mission is to provide every single customer with an outstanding service that is fit for purpose and delivered by experts to reduce risk. As you can see from our other faults of the week, regular visits from a professional can cut down the risk of electrical faults, fire and disrupted security, to you and your workplace.

So if you know you are due a service, or have some concerns about your premises, please call 01543 225306, or fill out one of our contact forms to arrange a free assessment of your premises, with one of our fully trained engineers.

 

 

Information for Reference

IET- Institution for Engineering Technology

Regulations

Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998

Electricity at Work Regulations 1989

 

 

Incorrectly installed Ring Circuit

How can a circuit still be energised when it is clearly switched off? ….Answer ? when it is an incorrectly installed Ring Circuit! This week we have had the not so unusual occurrence of a ring circuit that when installed or modified the conductors have been mixed up with another Ring Circuit. For the circuit to be fully isolated two MCB’s* would be required to be switched off making the protective device ineffective for its purpose.

The Ring Circuit was introduced in the early 1940’s due to its efficient use of copper and its flexibility for installation. It is still the most common circuit used for sockets in the UK to this day! Installed correctly the circuit makes use of two conductors running in parallel for the Line, Neutral and Earth conductors. In the instance of our fault of the week, one single conductor from one leg of the circuit had been mixed up with another leg of a completely different circuit.

A Ring Circuit that has been incorrectly wired in this manner poses a number of hazards. Firstly in the event of a fault to an appliance the circuit protection (MCB) would not operate therefore leading to a possible overload. Also, during maintenance, should **Safe Isolation not be correctly undertaken the circuit would remain live even though appearing switched off to the maintenance personnel.

Veriserv recommend that only competent electricians undertake maintenance work on electrical circuits.

 

Photograph(s)

MCB for the fuseboard that is clearly switched off and the microwave oven that is plugged into the circuit that remains switched on & energised.

Our mission is to provide every single customer with an outstanding service that is fit for purpose and delivered by experts to reduce risk. As you can see from our other faults of the week, regular visits from a professional can cut down the risk of electrical faults, fire and disrupted security, to you and your workplace.

So if you know you are due a service, or have some concerns about your premises, please call 01543 225306, or fill out one of our contact forms to arrange a free assessment of your premises, with one of our fully trained engineers.

References

*MCB- Miniature Circuit Breaker (as shown in the photograph) also referred to as “over-current protective device”

**Safe Isolation- proving dead (not energised) in accordance with Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 regulation 12

Poor electrical connections cause overheating

In this week’s fault of the week, we look at the dangers of poor electrical connections that could cause overheating.

Poor electrical connections have caused internal overheating and burning within a distribution board. This is a major fire risk which could have been prevented with routine electrical testing.

If this distribution board had been tested on a regular basis, melting and overheating would not have occurred, this is because during the test and inspection process all cable connections would have been tightened.

Please keep yourself and others safe by regularly testing your electrical installation, as simple as tightening some wires could save a life.

Our mission is to provide every single customer with an outstanding service that is fit for purpose and delivered by experts to reduce risk. As you can see from our other faults of the week, regular visits from a professional can cut down the risk of electrical faults, fire and disrupted security, to you and your workplace.

So if you know you are due a service, or have some concerns about your premises, please call 01543 225306, or fill out one of our contact forms to arrange a free assessment of your premises, with one of our fully trained engineers.