Hi pychicwarrior. Wylex has stopped making them, so they’re rare as hen’s teeth. And online sellers know that, so they jack up the prices like there’s no tomorrow. It’s a seller’s market, and you’re the buyer. Good luck with that.

I bought a B20A one from my wholesaler around this time last year - cost me £21! I couldn't believe it! I have 5 of them here on my desk right now! Golden!

This triggered me to check and I see from looking at surprising prices on-line I think perhaps I should blow the dust off my collection of 'pre-loved'  Wylex re-wirable fuses and bases and try and sell them. For one reaosn or another I have a few left over from jobs in  years past, and to me they are so much dead weight.

Mrs MAPJ1 is always complaining I keep too much junk, maybe I should be selling it  !

M.

The irony for me is that it wasn't too many years ago that I spent an afternoon breaking them apart for the brass blades and copper braid inside for scrap!

I have a quite few of the old 1361 fuseholders and a smaller number of 3036 rewireables - all with their base covers too. Must check out prices - I haven't looked yet. Apparently since immediate -post-covid, the tax man is now monitoring all ebay transactions, especially those posted by those registered for self-employment, so be careful how much you make - you may get an unexpected tax bill as a consequence if you do too well!

Would anybody care to date one of these? I found a couple under the floorboards. I think that they were removed in the early 1980s. Some refurbishment may have been carried out in the mid 1960s, but they look older than that.

ETA: BS 3036 dates from 1958.

this ancient relic is still functioning. 

AMK said:

this ancient relic is still functioning

So am I. :-)

Haha. Im glad you’re still functioning, Chris. You’re a living proof that old things can still be useful.

The distribution board is the subject of concern for the electricians working on the site. They have declined to work on the DB as shown and have asked for a new one. The carrier of the DB has a flash guard made of asbestos, which poses a health risk. How do you evaluate the risk of taking out the fuse and replacing the fuse wire in this case? Is this an acceptable practice considering the asbestos exposure?

In another life, I had some dealings with claims concerning mesothelioma. In essence, objects made of asbestos are dangerous only if damaged or disturbed. So being a stoker in (then) one of Her Majesty's ships and walking past asbestos lagging several times a day was not a risk. By contrast, being in the engine room when the ship was in refit and there was white dust everywhere (as one individual described it) was indefensible.