Consumer units and equipment outdoors

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What are forum users' experiences with outdoor wiring accessories in damp garages, open car ports, garden sheds, summer houses and greenhouses etc. Are the working parts like R.C.D.s and M.C.B.s corroding and not functioning correctly?

Z.

I have seen that kind of thing in portacabins/containerised units used for construction site offices.

The issue I had with metalclad stuff in my outbuildings is severe corrosion of the boxes themselves after around 5 years or so. The moisture in the air here has a lot of salt in it, and of course a sectional concrete garage is not sealed and in winter you get occasional condensation in there. Standard plastic conduit backboxes and socket-outlets seem to do far better than metalclad, but being near the doors, the light switches I have in there are full outdoor plastic types because the wind has a tendency to drive the rain in when you open the doors. The other issue I had with metalclad, similar to the original tubes (see below) is that the copper conductors were also green. I don't get that with the plastic enclosures.

Standard indoor fluorescent tubes that were originally in there (by others) didn't last long either. Not only were the ballasts and enclosures badly corroded (could put a finger through in places), but the terminals were corroded, and the copper at the terminations was green.

Zoomup: 
 

What are forum users' experiences with outdoor wiring accessories in damp garages, open car ports, garden sheds, summer houses and greenhouses etc. Are the working parts like R.C.D.s and M.C.B.s corroding and not functioning correctly?

Z.

I have seen that kind of thing in portacabins/containerised units used for construction site offices.

The issue I had with metalclad stuff in my outbuildings is severe corrosion of the boxes themselves after around 5 years or so. The moisture in the air here has a lot of salt in it, and of course a sectional concrete garage is not sealed and in winter you get occasional condensation in there. Standard plastic conduit backboxes and socket-outlets seem to do far better than metalclad, but being near the doors, the light switches I have in there are full outdoor plastic types because the wind has a tendency to drive the rain in when you open the doors. The other issue I had with metalclad, similar to the original tubes (see below) is that the copper conductors were also green. I don't get that with the plastic enclosures.

Standard indoor fluorescent tubes that were originally in there (by others) didn't last long either. Not only were the ballasts and enclosures badly corroded (could put a finger through in places), but the terminals were corroded, and the copper at the terminations was green.