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EICR - Old Rewireable Fuse boards are these acceptable?

Former Community Member
Former Community Member
Hi, 


I need verification that it is ok to keep old style Wylex rewireable fuse boards to pass the EICR. Initially the electrician said this was ok providing they have a cover for the fuses. However he has now changed his mind and saying they need to be replaced with a new consumer unit. Some of the homes do not have a cover on the fuse board and others have had the cover taken off so plug in mcb's can be accomodated. Is this still ok?
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  • 0
    Fitting Wylex plug in M.C.B.s or G.E. Mini trip M.C.B.s offers better protection as it offers " "Close excess current protection, having a fusing factor of nearer 1.5 rather than 2)

    Different rather than necessarily better I'd suggest. Fusing factor is but one of many parameters.


    For instance fuses can sometimes be better than MCBs for faults on circuits with high Zs - e.g. Max Zs for BS 3036 15A for 5s disconnection time is 5.08Ω, while for a 16A B-type MCB it's just 2.73Ω - so blindly replacing a 15A BS 3036 with B16 MCB might extend operating time from under 5s to something exceeding 40s (if I'm reading Fig 3A4 correctly).


    Certainly for overloads an MCB (or cartridge fuse) should be quicker - but if the cable has been correctly selected in the first place (taking Cf into account) does it matter?


       - Andy.

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  • 0
    Fitting Wylex plug in M.C.B.s or G.E. Mini trip M.C.B.s offers better protection as it offers " "Close excess current protection, having a fusing factor of nearer 1.5 rather than 2)

    Different rather than necessarily better I'd suggest. Fusing factor is but one of many parameters.


    For instance fuses can sometimes be better than MCBs for faults on circuits with high Zs - e.g. Max Zs for BS 3036 15A for 5s disconnection time is 5.08Ω, while for a 16A B-type MCB it's just 2.73Ω - so blindly replacing a 15A BS 3036 with B16 MCB might extend operating time from under 5s to something exceeding 40s (if I'm reading Fig 3A4 correctly).


    Certainly for overloads an MCB (or cartridge fuse) should be quicker - but if the cable has been correctly selected in the first place (taking Cf into account) does it matter?


       - Andy.

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