Do you own the house? Most definitely get that fixed looks like a disaster waiting to happen
Save your $$$ - wrap some electrical tape around the connector (dust n all) and put it back in the ceiling.
That is approximately what the wiring looks like at my 100yro house. I think the wiring is from the 1930s.
If you seek to get it replaced, where do you stop? It's a whole house of wires.
My approach was to put in RCDs to reduce the risk of shock (which everyone should do anyway, in my opinion) and sort the wiring as/when we do major renovations on a room.
So far, that has been a kitchen and a bathroom.
If your house has nylon terminal blocks joining the PVC wiring together, I think the sparkie was a time traveler.
Yea its fine all the insulation is still intact.
That looks fine. No exposed wires. All insulated.
Test with test pen and electrical duct tape them or just plasti-dip it.
Except the conductors are exposed — the metal screws in the terminal block. Any exposed part of the copper wire (where it enters the block) or other conductor should be completely enclosed in an insulator like electrical tape. If anything was to fall on an exposed conductor it could short it out and potentially start a fire. Especially with all that crap in the ceiling.
Except the conductors aren't exposed because they are recessed in the plastic. Every single switch in your house uses the same method and isn't wrapped in tape
Except they are exposed. You can see them. If you can see them there is a danger of something touching them. With all the dust and crud in the ceiling and probably some sort of liquid in there as well, foreign objects can fall on the terminal block and fill the void in the plastic and build up over time until they touch, then… bang! Ask an electrician why they are required to wrap such a join in tape when they make them, it's not to keep Nitto in business! My house, built 20 years ago in Melbourne had all the switch mechs wrapped after they were wired, I watched them do it.
If you were to walk around in public with your d..k visible in a tube, you'd be done for indecent exposure.
@endotherm: ….ok am I missing something? Looking up from the light there is the semi modern heat insulation, then the 3 insulated wires, the terminal block and then the co joined house wiring, all insulated.
Where is the exposed copper? I don't think my eyes are that bad?
Not qualified but I did this for 3 yrs part time. Old, very poor craftsmanship(white insulation tape and very messy), dirty - but appears to be in an enclosed limited access roof space and this appears legal.
Based on location, type of load/fittings, an Earth is used and type of insulation, but the rules change and the length of exposed insulated wiring and exposed terminal block may be illegal in some instances. That aspect requires an inspection.
@doctordv8: I thought I saw an exposed conductor on the old "black" wire entering the terminal block on the neutral side. Zooming in, it is covered in crud, but is indeterminate, I'll give that the benefit of the doubt. I perceived the change of shape and the shadow colour as missing insulation. I'll concede that in this case. That wasn't my primary concern though. It was that the screw heads inside the terminal block "tubes" are metal (brass?), and touching a copper conductor, therefore energised. With a bit of misfortune it would be easy for a self-tapper holding up the light fixture to touch the screw head, rather than pushing it aside if it were wrapped and insulated. There appear to have been multiple screws inserted over the years! That was my concern with conductors being exposed. I've seen a lot worse than this though, but I wouldn't describe this as "looking fine" and "all insulated".
You are right about the regulations changing all the time, from location to location. I'm not familiar with Sydney's specifics.
@endotherm: I have seen lots of switches, light fittings and electrical wiring. Over the years I don't think I have seen one wrapped in tape. They use this type of connection for most light fittings and often it is screwed into the base of the light, meaning that you can't wrap it in tape as you can't get underneath it. All electrical joint terminators use the same principle, the screw is recessed into the plastic sheath and AFAIK it isn't necessary to tape those either. There is no point putting tape on top of it, it will not stick and if you fill the screw terminals with something, you then can't undo, check or replace the wiring.
@Euphemistic: True, I've not seen a fixed terminal block attached to a fixture have insulation applied, but I'm referring to inline "floating" blocks used to join a set of wires to another set. Done right, this installation would have the house wiring terminated at the fixture, not part-way along the wiring with metal conductor visible.
Completely fine.
The plaster on the other hand…haha
The wiring itself looks fine. But why is there so much gunk in your ceiling? Does water/moisture get into the ceiling cavity? If that happens sometimes, you may want to consider wrapping the wires/connector part in electrical tape to stop water from getting in and causing a short.
The hard answer is: no. As long as the insulation is holding together, and you have RCDs and breakers installed the potential dangers are not a concern. My house has wiring from the 50's, and the insulation peels off in some parts and crumbles in others. Thats a problem. Yours looks more from the 70s
There is an issue I can, and that's what a shoddy job that is. Busted through with a hammer, jabbed with screwdriver, could quite possibly be DIY, in which case there are probably OTHER instances of DIY which might be dangerous. Still not too much of a worry, but definitely keep an eye out. If there are any circuits which randomly trip, or make strange noises, or if you get a tingle, call an electrician. And don't go under the house or in the roof without turning off ALL the power. As far as DIY, can't depend on anything being done right
It'll be fine. Check the screws are tight and put it back. After fixing the roof.. geez…
I'd probably hose them down with a pressure washer to get all the dust off.
Doesn't look unsafe, but also doesn't look like it's up to the current standard.
Old house: might be time for a sparky to give it a thorough inspection.
Great advice, thanks so much everyone! Yeah I was a little shocked at the state of the plaster and how much gunk is there in the roof. Lived here for about a year and it's an old apartment block (1929).
…I was a little shocked…
I see what you did there.
do you have a full set of breakers at the main box? if so and they are not getting thrown then it must be ok if no breakers start there and work in.
not a sparky so always good to get one trusted or recommended to check stuff if not sure..
And check the light is on the right circuit.
I found my lounge room light was on the same circuit as my oven. Awesome, and people wonder why I turn off (and pull if other people are around) all the breakers.
Looks fine for a 20+ year old house