Identify this head unit

[leebut]

Hi guys


Came to do the testing on small bathroom lighting job today and I was confronted with this old piece of scrap iron.

I’ve never come across one of these before, so I’m asking you guys for confirmation of what I think what it is I’m looking for the type and BS number and amperage, so I can fill out my certificate, my thoughts are it’s a Bs 3036 semi enclosed rewire able fuses and guessing the fuse wire has been upgraded in the past from 30 amp to probably 60 amp.

I’ve already told my customer that they need to contact Electricity North West to have the head unit replaced as soon as possible for two reasons, the Bitumen has tracked back into the head and the live fuse is fully enclosed in the bitumen at the bottom and cannot be removed and the second reason it’s a fused neutral supply that’s no longer allowed be installed.

Cheers


Lee

 

[Charlie_]

Does your dno have notice forms for such things so you can arrange for it to be upgraded?

 

[leebut]

Does your dno have notice forms for such things so you can arrange for it to be upgraded?

I’ve informed my customer to notify them and arrange the upgrade I’ve now finished on the job, and I’ve noted my recommendations on my certificate to cover my arse

 

[Charlie_]

In this situation I email or phone the dno and submit a form to request upgrade..
I am in a lucky position though as over here in the iom we only have 1 dno and I’m on 1st name terms with all their staff who have a great rapport with the electrical trade..

 

[Lucien Nunes]

You'll probably want to record it as BS3036 but it actually pre-dates that standard by a few decades. I would generally not recommend opening CI cutouts. If anything is loose or broken inside, there is a much higher risk of short-circuiting the incoming service compared with all-insulated units, with resulting nasty arc flash. The supply impedances are often lower now than when they were installed (this one could be 90 years old) so their designers were not anticipating the kind of fireball that can occur today when blowing a 315A substation fuse.

That said, if anyone comes across disconnected / redundant ones, I need them for the collection.

 

[leebut]

In this situation I email or phone the dno and submit a form to request upgrade..
I am in a lucky position though as over here in the iom we only have 1 dno and I’m on 1st name terms with all their staff who have a great rapport with the electrical trade..

Wish it was as simple over here bud I asked if the DNO could put an isolator switch in a couple of months back they said we don’t do that, so my response was how do I perform safe isolation then, they said we’ll get back to you, still waiting!!

You'll probably want to record it as BS3036 but it actually pre-dates that standard by a few decades. I would generally not recommend opening CI cutouts. If anything is loose or broken inside, there is a much higher risk of short-circuiting the incoming service compared with all-insulated units, with resulting nasty arc flash.

That said, if anyone comes across disconnected / redundant ones, I need them for the collection.

cheers for the info

 

[Deleted member 72666]

BS 3036 with asbestos tube for the fuse wire.

 

[Baddegg]

In this situation I email or phone the dno and submit a form to request upgrade..
I am in a lucky position though as over here in the iom we only have 1 dno and I’m on 1st name terms with all their staff who have a great rapport with the electrical trade..

Rung em last week over here for a main fuse upgrade and got told can’t talk talk to you need the homeowner, I had to write the homeowner a script as she had no idea what to say to them

 

[richy3333]

Just mark it down as 'obsolete' else Not verified or not known. Mark the certificate as it needs sorting by customer and DNO. Get paid and walk away.

 

[leebut]

Rung em last week over here for a main fuse upgrade and got told can’t talk talk to you need the homeowner, I had to write the homeowner a script as she had no idea what to say to them

Exactly the problem I had a few weeks ago so I told customer what to say to get it changed ASAP

 

[Charlie_]

Total opposite over here..
Customer only signs the form to pay the bill, we do everything else, saves so much hassle..

 

[Charlie_]

Test cert for dno with every job that needs their involvement

 

[The Ghost]

This happened to me a few months ago neutral fuse. I contacted the DNO immediately and advised the Landlord to shut off the power with a danger notice. The DNO told me to switch off the installation until they arrived. They came within an hour. I never knew what then transpired as the Landlord did not want to pay me to wait for them...

 

[ruston]

BS 3036 with asbestos tube for the fuse wire.

I hope you have got a sick note! Where have you been .
Nice to see you back.

 

[leebut]

Test cert for dno with every job that needs their involvement

Why can’t they all be the same, what’s the rules over there for pulling a fuse to do a board change??

Napit have been trying to get the DNO to agree to let registered sparks pull and temporarily resell a cut out for what seems like years now

 

[Charlie_]

Why can’t they all be the same, what’s the rules over there for pulling a fuse to do a board change??

Napit have been trying to get the DNO to agree to let registered sparks pull and temporarily resell a cut out for what seems like years now

We can’t pull the fuses, I’ve only ever done it a handful of times and that was for real emergencies to avoid disaster.

Our island is only 36 miles x 12 so doesn’t take long for them to attend site..
Trouble with sparks pulling fuses and re-tagging is that it is open to abuse

 

[leebut]

We can’t pull the fuses, I’ve only ever done it a handful of times and that was for real emergencies to avoid disaster.

Our island is only 36 miles x 12 so doesn’t take long for them to attend site..
Trouble with sparks pulling fuses and re-tagging is that it is open to abuse

Can’t see the problem with a registered spark being able to pull a cut out and re sealing using a registered numbered vinyl label similar to what some of the DNO use now, basically a registered installer gets an amount of numbered labels assigned to him and has to send a DNO notification with that seal number on it after the works carried out.

It makes sense for safe isolation of a supply which is in the safety at work act!!

 

[telectrix]

just pull it and be damned. life's too short to wait around sitting on our arses waiting for red tape .

 

[Charlie_]

In a perfect world it makes sense but there are too many rogues out there who could potentially use it to get free electricity..

It’s just too much hassle for them to put a system in place to allow us to pull fuses..
As far as they are concerned, apart from extreme circumstances there is no need for us to pull fuses..
If say we do a board change and you don’t want to do the tails live then we can arrange for them to pull fuse prior to works commencing

 

[Lucien Nunes]

This happened to me a few months ago neutral fuse. I contacted the DNO immediately and advised the Landlord to shut off the power with a danger notice.

Was it dangerous in ways other than having a fuse in the neutral? If that was the main concern, I would not consider it worthy of isolating the system. The presence of a fuse in the neutral as well as the line is only a latent hazard, if someone does not perform safe isolation when the system appears dead due to the neutral fuse having blown, which itself is very unlikely. It is a world away from having fuses in the neutral instead of the line in which case there is no earth-fault protection.

 

[Bobster]

There may already be a solid link installed in the neutral leg.

 

[snowhead]

I thought the fact the cutout was Cast iron with Ceramic fuse holders was a bigger concern.
Weren't they supposed to have been changed years ago under direction of the Regulator?

When the DNO come out to the O.P, depending on how much room there is around the cutout to work it's quite likely they'll dig up outside and cut the service before they touch the Cutout.

 

[driverman]

inform DNO. They will replace it FOC. As for being in a bathroom, meter position will have to be moved.
Note. looks like 1 phase, neutral fused.

 

[PJH2903]

Whenever I come across a problem with a service head I ring ENWL myself, explain I am an electrician on site and tell them what the problem is. I then arrange a date and time with ENWL to attend the property. I make sure I am there and will supply and fit the isolator to the back board before they come (all chargeable to the customer) ENWL will then fit the tails into that and I will then reconnect the CU to the isolator, never had a problem with this arrangement and usually the guys from ENWL are quite accommodating with this arrangement.