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Ring Main at Consumer unit

Former Community Member
Former Community Member
My daughter has just had an electrical safety check done and I suspect that the electrician has been over zeleous..

Would anyone care to comment.


There is no grommet where the meter tails enter the consumer unit and the outer insulation stops just short of the knockout.

He has graded this C1.   Now my opinion is that that does not present an  an immediate threat to the safety of personell

It needs fixing but surely only a C2?


More intriguing.  He gives a C3 to the ring circuit because the two legs enter the consumer unit through separate knock outs.  I can't find that in the regs


And finally an old chestnut which has been discussed before.   A C3 because two radial "circuits" are served by a single breaker..  I have always argued that the definition of a circuit is that it is served by a single breaker.  Certainly if both radials were brought to a junction box outside the CU and then connected to the breaker by a single cable it would meet the definition of a radial..


Thanks for your attention

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  • 0
    Sparkingchip:

    What is the code for a lid missing off trunking allowing contact with the single insulated conductors?


    Oh dear, I took a lid off a metal BESA box earlier, but didn't put it straight back on. It couldn't be more than C3, but I think that the consumer's tails about which we have been talking are different.


    The cables in my conduit are secure and cannot be pulled; there are no rough edges; and they have additional protection.


    The problem with the semi-naked tails is (assuming they are just dangling, as is typical) that they could be pulled against the (presumably) rough edge of the CU. In the event of a fault, the only protection is the DNO's fuse. If they have already been pulled out of the CU, even if only 3/4", they do not seem to be very well secured.


    But hang on a moment, we haven't been told whether the CU is metal or plastic!


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  • 0
    Sparkingchip:

    What is the code for a lid missing off trunking allowing contact with the single insulated conductors?


    Oh dear, I took a lid off a metal BESA box earlier, but didn't put it straight back on. It couldn't be more than C3, but I think that the consumer's tails about which we have been talking are different.


    The cables in my conduit are secure and cannot be pulled; there are no rough edges; and they have additional protection.


    The problem with the semi-naked tails is (assuming they are just dangling, as is typical) that they could be pulled against the (presumably) rough edge of the CU. In the event of a fault, the only protection is the DNO's fuse. If they have already been pulled out of the CU, even if only 3/4", they do not seem to be very well secured.


    But hang on a moment, we haven't been told whether the CU is metal or plastic!


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