Historical British Educational Film. Mummy and Daughter Change a Fuse Wire.

Am I the only person with a roll of 60-amp fuse wire on the van, just in case.

There's posh! When I were a lad it was more usual to twist together two lengths of 30A fusewire to make 60A. With a bit of inginuity the old card of 5A/15A/30A wire could be used for just about any common rating.

  - Andy.

Interesting topic love this historical stuff. I remember just about a card of fuse wire with 5 10 and 15 amp wire on 5 was lighting and small plugs 10 was heating and 15 large plugs anyone else remember that?

Kelly Marie:

Interesting topic love this historical stuff. I remember just about a card of fuse wire with 5 10 and 15 amp wire on 5 was lighting and small plugs 10 was heating and 15 large plugs anyone else remember that?

I think I still have some in a drawer in the shed... ?

Lol.


There are some cards of fuse wire in my van as well as the roll of 60-amp fuse wire, just in case!


I would say that at least a quarter of the customers I visit have rewirable fuse boards if not more, last week I went to five jobs across England and Wales; and two out of the five have rewirable fuse boards.


Andy Betteridge

You're clearly not doing a good job of selling the benefits of a nice metal consumer unit with more RCD's that you can shake a stick at and lots of AFDD's and Type1/2 SPD's on board - what a wasted opportunity to save all those people the shock from shock, fire and burns.


You need to learn the line "Can't change the fuse mate - against regs and illegal, innit - you need a new fusebox - I'll sort you out for £1200 (cash)


What a wasted opportunity ?


OMS

Lol.


As the customers will tell you, they have not had any problems with their fuse board despite it being over fifty years old.


However the simple truth is in many cases I am the first electrician to enter them homes for thirty years or more. 


I don't always do the work that has been requested, there are times when you realise the installation is too dangerous to alter or extend.


Adding RCD protection to all or part of the installation is usually a long overdue upgrade 


The typical UK domestic electrical installation is typically badly installed with dreadful DIY alterations and additions, as well as being way behind current standards.


Andy B. 

I have been visit my dad, who is 92, since the last post.


His comment was “Why would people think they need to replace an old rewirable fuse board?”.


Answers please.


Andy B.

Good on your Dad Andy, glad to hear he`s lasted so long and hoping it continues and hope he is well.

He makes a very good point. Fuses rewireable are a pretty tried and tested method by the greater population as we were growing up and works pretty well for most of the time.

I myself have made many installs that consited of a DP switched CU with BS 3036 fuses and the like. I never considered them unsafe.

You definately knew when a fuses blew, even a 5A but over that say a 30A left little doubt, great audible/visual qualities with those fuses and to those present a stark reminder to beware of Electrickery. An MCB thawk is nowhere near as interesting or reminding.

I do not recall great mounds of bodies littering the streets in the days when fusewire was king and everybody knew how to rewire a fuse (often badly though).

However the advent of the MCB probably enhanced some safety aspects from fire and shock but more importantly was less open to operator abuse once installed correctly.

Indeed how often I`d see 5A fusewire replaced with increasing bigger sizes/more strands till the fuse stopped blowing (or the wiring burnt out instead) That cured it then!? .

Along came the proliferation of the RCD and things got safer still (enducing the foolish to become less risk averse though!).

Nowadays we live with more appliances and gadgets then ever before and MCBs/RCDs often (In theory if not in practice) often make us safer than in fusewire days.

Trouble is extra safety causes greater risk taking to the meddlers in our population so the net benefit starts to become lost.

One rewire I did (with a fusewire CU) the old fellah apparently had scorned his wife for wanting to spend his money purely because she got a shock off the washing machine every now and then "don`t be so soft" he kept telling her and it was their 12 year old kids that were insisting on the rewire.

Alasdair Anderson:

. . . My one complaint with the film is that rather than forming the copper strands into a hook shape, I was taught to make a complete ring and twist with the wire to stop it coming loose (wrap round a small screwdriver shaft and give the screwdriver one rotation) which is much more secure - but not needed with modern plugs.

. . .

 

One thing that does not seem to have changed - those wrap-around terminals used by MK, even to this day, when everyone else seems to use pinch-pillar terminals - much easier to wire. Though now that appliances come new with plugs fitted as standard, this is no longer an issue.