The £1300 AFDD consumer unit

Sparkingchip:

I wonder how many SPD have been checked since they were installed in consumer units?


 

I wonder how many ever will be?


(The majority of folk don`t know what an RCD test button is so never test it)

Stewart Ross:

An interesting video. I had not appreciated that AFDDs available at present use dedicated microprocessors. I have my doubts about incorporating complex technology into a consumer unit whose lifespan should be much, much longer than the typical consumer goods cycle that leads to new releases currently every 18-24 months for phones etc. Will these devices be reliable enough in practice?

Good question. Computers are all over the place in cars now, but at 14 years the only problems that I have with my car are electrical. Nobody knows what the fault is in the sound system; the firmware in 3 out of 4 window modules needs to be updated; the clock no longer updates itself; and worst of all, I think that there may be a poor joint somewhere in the engine management unit. If the car doesn't pass it's MOT on Friday, it has scrap value only. ?

mapj1:

Software is the marketing departments dream - now you can just manufacture one module design and just before you print the case, flash it with the desired RCD sensitivity and delay, and maybe even have a programmable  MCB sensitivity.- after all the big ones already do.


Shortly after that happens a shadowy market emerges of after market modders who will chip it for you to get 40A out of a 32A device, and various attacks to disable or enable features from the original spec - you only have to look at engine management software and the hacks to de-restrict small motorbikes to see this sort of thing. I'd not look forward too it with that great an enthusiasm.  Certainly I know companies that take the tops off chips and bypass the code protection for a living, and I suspect it can be done outside military circles as well - once the algorithm is liberatated, writing a similar but not identical one is not so hard. as this slightly out of date  article describes

Stewart Ross:

An interesting video. I had not appreciated that AFDDs available at present use dedicated microprocessors. I have my doubts about incorporating complex technology into a consumer unit whose lifespan should be much, much longer than the typical consumer goods cycle that leads to new releases currently every 18-24 months for phones etc. Will these devices be reliable enough in practice? If they aren't, will they be directly replaceable on failure or will the latest 'update' force a wholesale replacement of all other devices (as David Savery found he had to do as the bus bar connections on the new AFDDs were not compatible with the other devices in his DB).


Despite his ribald humour, David Savery has put out an interesting series of videos and at least is doing something to advance the discussion. I commend what he has done to move the debate forward.


Anyways, I remain unconvinced that there is any need for AFDDs at all, but that's a view I've already made in a response to the DPC.


-Stewart

I agree with the posting above. I was amazed at the complicated internal construction of an AFDD and wondered what the electrical strength/resistance to surges was. I wasn't successful in tracking down the surge withstand strength information on the internet. It would be ironic if the introduction of AFDDs required the addition of SPDs! 

Regards