Auxiliary supply within LV switchboards

Auxiliary supplies within LV switchboards, to serve a power monitoring meter, for example, are commonly taken from the main busbars via DIN or Red Spot fuses. However, the installation between the main busbars and these fuses is in no way rated for the prospective fault current. Is this practice recognised/formalised in regulations or codes of practice, somewhere? Ta!

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  • It would in my view be preferable to fit relatively large fuses such as 32 amp, as close as possible to the bus bars, and then much smaller fuses such as 6 amps closer to the auxiliary equipment. The wire between the bus bars and the 32 amp fuses would be very short and and short circuits almost impossible. The wire downstream of the 32 amp fuses would be protected against faults by the 32 amp fuses. These 32 amp fuses would probably last for the life of the installation.  The 6 amp fuses would be readily replaced if needed.

    I do not like several meters of unfused small wire connected to large supplies with a FLC of hundreds of amps, and a prospective fault current of many thousands of amps. Just because you CAN do this does not mean that you should.

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  • It would in my view be preferable to fit relatively large fuses such as 32 amp, as close as possible to the bus bars, and then much smaller fuses such as 6 amps closer to the auxiliary equipment. The wire between the bus bars and the 32 amp fuses would be very short and and short circuits almost impossible. The wire downstream of the 32 amp fuses would be protected against faults by the 32 amp fuses. These 32 amp fuses would probably last for the life of the installation.  The 6 amp fuses would be readily replaced if needed.

    I do not like several meters of unfused small wire connected to large supplies with a FLC of hundreds of amps, and a prospective fault current of many thousands of amps. Just because you CAN do this does not mean that you should.

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