I’m Darren at Gray Logic Electrical — a NICEIC-registered electrician covering Colchester and North Essex. This isn’t a sales page. It’s a running log of what I see on real jobs: EICRs, consumer units, fault-finding, and the occasional horror show.
Short, straight write-ups from real work around Colchester — written in between call-outs and getting the power back on.
Earthing · EICR · Outbuildings · EV charging
Why an intake can present TN-S while guidance still says “treat it as PME” for exported earth. Covers hybrid networks, EICR recording vs outdoor touch risk, metal outbuildings and EV charging.
Meter boxes · EV charging · BS 7671
Why meter boxes aren’t accepted as customer wiring spaces (industry guidance), where BS 7671 becomes relevant (basic protection, terminations, enclosure use), and the clean fix: fit a separate adjacent enclosure.
EICR · Colchester
“We just need an EICR.” Here’s what I actually do on site: the walk-through, safe isolation, proper circuit testing, and how the codes get decided in older Colchester properties.
DMX lighting · Public building
Fault-finding “possessed” stage lights: intermittent DMX, lost addresses and a control desk that kept forgetting its show. Includes the control-side fixes and the BS 7671 segregation issues found in the AV wiring.
Fault finding · Terraced house
A “just change the breaker” call-out in a typical Colchester terrace: one 30 mA RCD covering most sockets, with outside loads tipping it over. How we tracked down the real leakage source — and why the RCD itself wasn’t the villain.
Consumer units · EICR · Colchester
A fuseboard can look tidy and still be flagged (sometimes with a C2). What the EICR codes actually mean, common board-related reasons, landlord implications, and when a replacement recommendation is genuinely justified.
Coming soon · RCDs · Older properties
When a split-load board starts becoming a nuisance, what RCBO upgrades actually change, and the practical/realistic outcomes people notice day-to-day.
Coming soon · EICR · Bonding
A plain-English run through of gas/water bonding on an EICR, common fail points, and what a tidy, compliant fix usually looks like.
Coming soon · Outdoors · RCD protection
Water ingress, shared neutrals, borrowed feeds and DIY joins — the patterns that keep turning up, and how we test safely without guesswork.
Coming soon · EV charging · Earthing
A practical overview of the earthing and safety considerations that make EV installs different, especially around exported earth and outdoor touch risk.