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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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  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    mapj1:

    Nice pic, I feel your pain. I fear once open you may find a very good reason the board is there, and not a touch further up, it may  become obvious, as some cable or other thing we cannot see either does not reach,  or fouls the mounting holes...

    Still as the main fuse seal is absent, it is a chance to note it's value, (maybe write it on the wall in felt tip) look in the CU and even  consider to add an in-line isolator  one  Sunday afternoon if one felt the urge. Not sure where in that space though (Tut tut removing fuse is a bit naughty... and joking aside, not to be done if it is so stuck it needs gorrilla force of the kind that pulls the board off the wall or the holder off the board.)

    Equally  unless the wooden base of the cupboard is removable, it is not really credible that anyone could put a finger in the hole so the C2 is now a C3.

    Mike.

     


    What do you mean "note the value of the main fuse seal"?

    Space is a bit tight for an isolator  (which in your link appears to be a switch not an isolator)

    No intention of removing main fuse as it is a smart meter which would report me.  A bicycle chain over the incoming overheads might be safer :-)

    The cupboard is very solid.  The reason for the C1, as explained by the inspector, is that if the tails chafed through the CU would be live until the DNO fuse cleared the fault.  And anyone touching the unit during that five seconds would be subject to a  dangerous shock.  Which is why I issued an advisory not to open the cup board unless a breaker trips.


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  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    mapj1:

    Nice pic, I feel your pain. I fear once open you may find a very good reason the board is there, and not a touch further up, it may  become obvious, as some cable or other thing we cannot see either does not reach,  or fouls the mounting holes...

    Still as the main fuse seal is absent, it is a chance to note it's value, (maybe write it on the wall in felt tip) look in the CU and even  consider to add an in-line isolator  one  Sunday afternoon if one felt the urge. Not sure where in that space though (Tut tut removing fuse is a bit naughty... and joking aside, not to be done if it is so stuck it needs gorrilla force of the kind that pulls the board off the wall or the holder off the board.)

    Equally  unless the wooden base of the cupboard is removable, it is not really credible that anyone could put a finger in the hole so the C2 is now a C3.

    Mike.

     


    What do you mean "note the value of the main fuse seal"?

    Space is a bit tight for an isolator  (which in your link appears to be a switch not an isolator)

    No intention of removing main fuse as it is a smart meter which would report me.  A bicycle chain over the incoming overheads might be safer :-)

    The cupboard is very solid.  The reason for the C1, as explained by the inspector, is that if the tails chafed through the CU would be live until the DNO fuse cleared the fault.  And anyone touching the unit during that five seconds would be subject to a  dangerous shock.  Which is why I issued an advisory not to open the cup board unless a breaker trips.


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