We love supporting local businesses! Each issue, we have a yarn with a customer from one of our wholesale members.

Meet Chris Barnett from Les Barnett Electrical Services (LBES) who is a customer at Gordon Macdonald Electrical, Lighting and Data Supplies in Wollongong.

What do you like most about your local wholesaler?
They can source any products from all around Australia and Europe, at a competitive price.

Is there a standout moment they’ve helped you out?
Yes. John Van Eck (Gordon’s son-in-law), drove the 60kms from Wollongong to Sydney to pick up spare parts from a supplier in order to assist us to complete an urgent breakdown repair the following day.

What’s the most difficult job you’ve ever had?
It was for a health fund, and the difficulties included learning how to install internal computer network cabling in a six-storey, concrete building– from the mainframe on the sixth floor to all desks on all six floors – long before wiring information for network cabling was written.

What has been your most memorable day at work?
We were involved in rewiring a local club following a fire, and were asked to repair, restore and test a portable stage-follow spotlight unit. To test the spotlight operation we needed a live show, and the next available live show was none other than Jon English. It was an exhilarating experience testing the repaired spotlight. I followed Jon English on stage without either of us missing a beat!

Who’s the worst apprentice/ colleague you’ve had?
We were rewiring a two-storey, 100-year-old residence that had chandeliers in every room. An apprentice was borrowed from another electrical contractor locally, and he connected the active to neutral wires incorrectly. When we tested the light switches at the end of the job, all the light circuits blew at once. It took three of us more than half a day to identify the error caused by the apprentice, who was oblivious to the effect of his handiwork!

What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened on a job?
We were called by a customer whose lower ground floor lights were not working. We found a burnt area around a light and noticed there was a liquid oozing from the fitting. Upon inspection, the fault was located– there was a dead, smelly and decaying possum. We called a possum removal company who advised that they did not remove dead possums, to which my reply was: “Your Yellow Pages ad doesn’t state that!” Eventually, the possum removal team complied and removed the unfortunate decaying possum (in a dozen pieces or so!).

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever encountered?
At the same property, a light circuit kept tripping the fuse. The house was wired with a 50-year-old Vulcanised Indian Rubber Cable (VIR) in metal conduit. A fault on the outside wall light fitting was identified (an incandescent 60 watt globe in a waterproof fitting, connected to metal conduit).When the light was turned on, the globe worked, however, there was a small amount of water in the base of the globe. When the light was switched on, the water boiled, tripping the fuse. Water had entered the conduit via the cable down to the lamp, through the crack in the base of the globe and into the glass globe! I still have this globe and use it for demonstration purposes.

What’s the biggest %&$* up that someone else made that you’ve had to make right?
This is what most of our work entails! We were contacted to repair lights in a half-completed renovated house. The lights at the back of a house were not working after the job was ‘completed’. The house had a skillion roof, with walls and ceilings that were completed with sheeting and paint finish. We found there was no active and neutral circuit installed at the rear of the house, so we needed to install a new light circuit from the front to the rear of the house, about 20 metres in length. Also, 10 downlights needed to be removed to install the new circuit. A plasterer needed to fix the multiple holes that were created!