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Plastic consumer units/enclosures etc

whjohnson
I have a job where a small former outside toilet is being converted into a hobby pottery complete with water supply and small kiln.

I propose to fit a small plastic consumer unit with the appropriate IP rating for protection against ingress of water.

This will be a home brew job with a generic enclosure and a RCD main switch and mcbs from my spares stock.

I have seen many metal enclosures rusting quietly away in detached garages/w/shops/outbuildings and thought they would be better served by using plastic.


I think there is still a case to be made for fitting plastic consumer unit enclosures in outbuildings in order to prevent deteriation caused by external influences. Moist atmosphere, unheated spaces and the like.


Any other like-minded souls out there?

Comments welcome.
  • 0
    AZ61 is not really an aluminium alloy fortified with magnesium - it really is mostly magnesium with less than 10% of other elements alloyed in to improve machining process and chip formation. We use it for things like metal laptop lids because of its lightness.

    Certainly as far as the world of (Def Stan) Defence Standards go, it is not considered to be non combustible, I was assuming alloys with a majority of Al, and a bit of Mg for stiffening up such as we use for die casting.

    Are BG really making  a CU out of AZ61 ? I'd like to think it was a mistake.

    I have no difficulty with rules of the form quoted by Rob Davies - 'risks should be considered' yes, not blanket rule in/out.


    edit


    Adding Calcium at 1 to 2% helps suppress  the flammability, but of course not the melting
    flame test. 

    furnace test.
  • 0

    AJJewsbury:




    Actually I have yet to be able to find one for sale. A web search yields plenty of BG consumer units, but not of the alloyed variety



    Good point- the IP65 ones I've seen (e.g. https://www.screwfix.com/p/british-general-5-module-3-way-populated-garage-consumer-unit/1926g) seem to be steel, not Al alloy. We're not being led down a tangential wild goose chase are we?


    I can confirm that the BG unit is non-ferrous, or at least a magnet will not stick to mine.

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