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Consumer Unit, Flashback, flashback, flashback.

Zoomup
If you remember these you are just too old?


Whilst viewing there is a prize for the first viewer who spots and identifies the mistake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUyjPosp6g8


Z.
  • 0
    Hoy mister! I remember those old wylex, I fitted a few, the white ones threw some folk a bit when the "red rocker" main switch became up for ON rather than up for OFF. I remember one bloke returned one to the wholesalers with the main switch in bits because he had taken it apart to change its orientation thinking it was faulty and he could not get the switch back together.

    Around that time wylex changed the N block from two screws per circuit to one screw per circuit but still leaving the L from fuseways with two screws each.

    Happy days.

    Push button MCBs too.
  • 0

    ebee:

    Hoy mister! I remember those old wylex, I fitted a few, the white ones threw some folk a bit when the "red rocker" main switch became up for ON rather than up for OFF. I remember one bloke returned one to the wholesalers with the main switch in bits because he had taken it apart to change its orientation thinking it was faulty and he could not get the switch back together.

    Around that time wylex changed the N block from two screws per circuit to one screw per circuit but still leaving the L from fuseways with two screws each.

    Happy days.

    Push button MCBs too.




    Good morning ebee,

                                       yep and we didn't hear about many consumer unit fires with the old "plastic" Wylex fuse boards/consumer units or even with the wooden framed ones. It was a fire resistant hard wood after all. A good reliable product range back then. The two push button M.C.B.s were very reliable. One button to turn the device ON and the other to trip it OFF. A nice decisive confirmatory click could be heard as well............... I liked the double screws per terminal, they made for a very reliable connection.


    Edit. I have just remembered. When the Wylex main switches used to be up for OFF they were mechanically biased to the OFF direction. One little touch used to turn the switch OFF. When the position was changed to up for ON, the mechanical bias stayed the same, it was not altered, so a brief brush to the switch by hand or finger tended to turn the switch to the ON position. I didn't like that.


    Z.


     

  • 0
    In the 1960s I fitted many of the Wylex boxes with a full set of MCBs.

    It wasn't difficult getting older people to pay more money for the MCBs when you told them they'd never have to rewire a fuse again.

    You had to be careful knocking out the fuse lid.

    Compared to almost every other fusebox on the market at that time Wylex were the bees knees, Crabtree had a good reputation but their fuseboxes were awful to wire up.
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    kellyselectric:

    Anyone else spot the 5 amp fuse in a 30 amp position? Ive no doubt it was correctly rated for the circuit but is still definitely WRONG Ide definitely fail it for that. Also he said something about cats I never saw any cats did I miss them?




    I missed that Kelly. I know that the smaller sized fuse carrier fingers can go into higher rated insulated bases, but not higher value fuses into lower rated bases. So a 5 Amp fuse carrier can fit into a 30 Amp way, but a 30 Amp carrier won't fit into a 5 Amp way as the fingers are too big to go through the base holes. I was thinking of another small error.


    Z.

  • 0
    How NOT to replace a fuse wire element in a Wylex fuse carrier. They never came like this from the Wylex factory when new.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuTkB_VGALY


    Z.
  • 0
    I noticed the cream coloured consumer unit had an unofficial rectangular hole made in the fuse cover for an "R.C.D" he said, but R.C.D.s were never made for this type of consumer unit. I think that it was just a slip of the tongue and he really meant M.C.B. I saw no cats either.


    Z.
  • 0
    For those long in the tooth. On the front of the brown coloured Wylex consumer unit there are two holes, one above the other. Does anyone know what the top hole was used for?


    Z.
  • 0
    Zoom,

    was that one for the normal fuse cover and one for the larger version to accomodate MCBs but nobody ever used them so the wholesalers never stocked them? ?
  • 0
    Good morning ebee,

                                    I was told years ago that the top hole was to affix a Wylex small spare fuse container for B.S. 1361 cartridge fuses. I seem to remember seeing one once, perhaps in a catalogue, but never in real life. Perhaps the additional cost limited their appeal.


    A link to the old classic vintage Wylex fuse box range.

    https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/wylex_fuse_boxes/index.cs4


    Z.
  • 0
    It would hold two cartridge fuses - spares in case the customer didn't smoke abd have a bit od 'silver' paper to wrap round the cartridge. It was so annoying that the 5A was different size to a standard 13a, but not to worry some of my customers managed to them in!

    They also made special 13A sockets which did have standard 13A fuses ( so staff didn't nick them for the new fangled 13A sockets being fitted.)

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