Ring Main at Consumer unit

The tails could in some situations be perfectly well restrained by a pair of plastic P clips and achieve the same pull out resistance as a gland or grommet.  If that is the case  or not depends on details we cannot see from here .


I'd not exactly be lying awake sweating over this 'c1', it is not really a C1 of the 'house burns down tonight' kind, more of a 'not quite right, just get it fixed some time'.  To me C3 maybe C2.


Mean while you will all remain safe as long as they can resist the urge to pull hard on the meter tails, or to stab them with sharp knives where the outer sheath is absent, and  do not poke coat-hanger ends up the oversized hole along side them into the consumer unit.


A radial circuit is any wiring layout that is not a ring, and because the text books show the noddy example as a daisy chain of light fittings or sockets, folk of limited imaginative  thinking imagine that is the only radial layout  that is permitted. 

It is not !

There is nothing stopping you having a radial layout that has branches like a Christmas Tree, or is centre fed so there are 2 cables at the fuse board, or combinations of the above. So long as the cable rating is greater than the trip rating that projects it, no regs are broken.


The 'borrowed neutral' problem sometimes seen where upstairs and downstairs lights meet at the stairs in a dual gang switch, and current for one light flows back down the neutral of the wrong circuit.

Easy enouhg to avoid, but a sod to fix if the mistake is plastered in already - so the quick fix is to put the upstairs landing light on the downstairs wiring so it is not the wrong circuit anymore.


Getting an isolator fitted between meter and consumer unit is a good idea, and the company you pay the bills to can advise how much that costs.

Many normal sparks will remove the DNO  fuse and just fit an isolator, and then refit the fuse, and that is also fine, but the DNOs do vary quite a bit with how much they will tolerate that or not, and strictly to cut their seal is tampering with their kit and a civil offence,  so the detail of practice varies by region.

Mike.


Mike.

The tails could in some situations be perfectly well restrained by a pair of plastic P clips and achieve the same pull out resistance as a gland or grommet.  If that is the case  or not depends on details we cannot see from here .


I'd not exactly be lying awake sweating over this 'c1', it is not really a C1 of the 'house burns down tonight' kind, more of a 'not quite right, just get it fixed some time'.  To me C3 maybe C2.


Mean while you will all remain safe as long as they can resist the urge to pull hard on the meter tails, or to stab them with sharp knives where the outer sheath is absent, and  do not poke coat-hanger ends up the oversized hole along side them into the consumer unit.


A radial circuit is any wiring layout that is not a ring, and because the text books show the noddy example as a daisy chain of light fittings or sockets, folk of limited imaginative  thinking imagine that is the only radial layout  that is permitted. 

It is not !

There is nothing stopping you having a radial layout that has branches like a Christmas Tree, or is centre fed so there are 2 cables at the fuse board, or combinations of the above. So long as the cable rating is greater than the trip rating that projects it, no regs are broken.


The 'borrowed neutral' problem sometimes seen where upstairs and downstairs lights meet at the stairs in a dual gang switch, and current for one light flows back down the neutral of the wrong circuit.

Easy enouhg to avoid, but a sod to fix if the mistake is plastered in already - so the quick fix is to put the upstairs landing light on the downstairs wiring so it is not the wrong circuit anymore.


Getting an isolator fitted between meter and consumer unit is a good idea, and the company you pay the bills to can advise how much that costs.

Many normal sparks will remove the DNO  fuse and just fit an isolator, and then refit the fuse, and that is also fine, but the DNOs do vary quite a bit with how much they will tolerate that or not, and strictly to cut their seal is tampering with their kit and a civil offence,  so the detail of practice varies by region.

Mike.


Mike.