Learning electrics and plumbing basics, with WAMT, the feminist way!

On Saturday, I did electrics and plumbing with Women and Manual Trades. It was *brilliant*. I was particularly looking forward to plumbing and I did enjoy that one most. In part, because if I get plumbing really wrong, the worst that will happen is loads of water everywhere and having to call a plumber. If I get electrics really wrong, no second chances.

The electrics class itself was really safe and I learnt that there are testers for checking if there's a current going through something, as well as RCDs for breaking circuits. (An RCD is like a fuse switch, except it acts much faster – fuse switches exist to protect appliances by breaking the circuit if something goes wrong, RCDs exist to protect people from electricity). It was really helpful to learn that stuff; knowing that there were safety appliances I could acquire myself reduced my resolve to never do anything to the electrics!

The only electrical stuff I'd done before was to fit a plug (at school) and to change a fuse wire. I'd been really impressed with myself for the fuse box one (even though I'd needed help from both my landlord and my then-partner to figure it out). It was really good to get a refresher on the plug fitting and I can imagine myself doing that if required, even though I didn't like doing it because it's so fiddly to get it right. I liked cutting the wires though, that was fun. Oh, and I like tightening screws. Somewhat random little pleasures. :)

ACTION: Practice fitting plugs, if/when the opportunity arises!

TIPS: Electrics

• Use a tester to make sure circuits are dead before doing any work on them. (Make sure you test the tester to make sure it's working first!)
• Earth wires are really important for safety, unless everything's double insulated (i.e. encased in two layers of plastic).
• It's important to do a tidy job, with no exposed wires and with really good connections.

The plumbing class really intrigued me. I learnt loads of stuff that meant I immediately started looking at taps in a different way. "That's a basin, not a sink." I said to myself in the bathroom. (Sinks are for kitchens only). "If that tap was leaking, I would know where the problem was and how to fix it." I added, for good measure. If I hadn't been off to Brighton this afternoon, I would have raced home to work out whether I have a direct or indirect cold water system and to look for all the valves. I'm itching for some plumbing to go wrong so I can fix it. I'm seriously considering going on a longer, more in-depth course. Fatima recommended an excellent plumbing book to us, so that will help.

Unfortunately, we ran out of time. I've just remembered I had lots of questions about why my radiators get barely warm. (The last plumber said the radiators need "balancing", which sounds like some sort of spiritual practice…).

ACTION: Acquire "Heinneman Technical Plumbing L2" and keep an eye out for plumbing tools – in particular, water pump pliers. Look out for longer courses.

TIPS: Plumbing

• Make sure you turn off the water in the relevant place before doing any work.
• Be careful to have a good grip on your pliers so you don't grind down the edges of nuts, rendering them useless.
• WD40 is your friend for loosening stiff and rusty valves.

I highly recommend WAMT; the classes were a good mixture of theory and practice. We each had plugs to wire, light fixtures to fit, taps to dismantle…

My favourite bits were taking the plugs apart and putting the taps together, so if you ever need either of those things doing; I'm your handyperson. Just give me a call!

I would consider becoming a part-time plumber, but it's an industry that's really oversubscribed – with 70 000 people in training for 30 000 places. (Electrics, carpentry, plastering and drywalling are the industries to get into!)

[On a side note, I still owe you write-ups and it's ridiculous that I've not finished them yet. Busy life. This month, I intend to post write-ups of the following: Free School Weekender, London; WLM@40 Conference, Oxford; Anarchafeminist Gathering, Brighton]

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