Turned up at a house today: the guy wants it rewired: The supply is an old overhead: two separate cables, but there's a hole in the neutral side of the cutout and an earth going to the existing (old , battered), fuseboard. There's no PME markings, I'm guessing just an earth attached to the neutral. but there's no way of actually knowing for sure. I rang the DNO, expecting them to confirm its TT and send one of their engineers to remove the earth, but was told " we don't know what type of supply it is: its up to you to decide, and tell us" . Thing is somebody has taken the cutout apart and done this, either the DNO, or some wiseguy? I talked to the customer about using earth rods, but what about this "earth"? Its coming out of the cutout, who's to say it can't or won't be used in future? How do I know its not been declared kosher by the supplier and i'm not just doing a load of additional work at the customers cost? I can isolate the earth into a box and put rods in but, solid floors and small concreted yard, it's not going to be simple or cheap, and i'm worried someone will come along and say its unnecessary and I've wasted the clients money. Go easy on me guys, done all my work in a big town for 15 years only ever worked on TNS and the odd PME. Now I'm out in the sticks, banging earth rods in and all, but this is a first for me.in (In the picture I've tried to attach it's the small white cable its a painted 6mm insulated green and yellow.) Any thoughts? I did wonder about ringing up and telling them its unsafe, see if I can get someone out.
Thanks guys, fell asleep after i posted that! I'll ring the DNO this morning and try again: its clear their answer was incorrect so I need to get hold of a different person/supervisor or engineer and sort this properly. As to the other questions, regarding crimps on the incoming neutral, type of floor etc: I've no idea, as further inspection will be required. I'll probably pop along today and have a look, see if i can locate the pole top transformer and look at the cabling, as I'm intrigued by this. But clearly, I need a definitive answer from them (Scottish Power/ old Manweb North Wales region). and I suspect, a site visit. Either that earth wire is OK but requires upgrading to a 16mm or (most likely) it needs removing and I'll need to sort my own earth out, but either way their response was clearly poor. This is their part of the installation and they clearly have a responsibility to make it safet, even if they just remove the "earth". When I ring them back I'll say that there is a dangerous wire sticking out of the cut out, that should enact a response. Asking them whether it is a supposed to be a TT or a TNCS is clearly not the way to go: lesson learned.
Thanks guys, fell asleep after i posted that! I'll ring the DNO this morning and try again: its clear their answer was incorrect so I need to get hold of a different person/supervisor or engineer and sort this properly. As to the other questions, regarding crimps on the incoming neutral, type of floor etc: I've no idea, as further inspection will be required. I'll probably pop along today and have a look, see if i can locate the pole top transformer and look at the cabling, as I'm intrigued by this. But clearly, I need a definitive answer from them (Scottish Power/ old Manweb North Wales region). and I suspect, a site visit. Either that earth wire is OK but requires upgrading to a 16mm or (most likely) it needs removing and I'll need to sort my own earth out, but either way their response was clearly poor. This is their part of the installation and they clearly have a responsibility to make it safet, even if they just remove the "earth". When I ring them back I'll say that there is a dangerous wire sticking out of the cut out, that should enact a response. Asking them whether it is a supposed to be a TT or a TNCS is clearly not the way to go: lesson learned.
