Electric Meter Switch Isolator wiring orientation

[telectrix]

with the KMf type switch fused units,s. 1 way isolates the fuse when turned off, the other leaves it live. choice allcomes down to where you can dress the cables in neatly. can't leave something that looks like a ktchen fitter has done it.

 

[timhoward]

he is adamant that a NIC contractor told him that a meter isolation switch has to have the supply go in the bottom and the load out the top, same as a MCB

Think about that a moment, then think about solar installations. None of them would work if that were true!

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Hopefully no-one calling themselves an electrician is trying to claim that it won't work the other way, rather that there is some regulation requiring it to be installed a particular way.

 

[Raptor0014]

Hopefully no-one calling themselves an electrician is trying to claim that it won't work the other way, rather that there is some regulation requiring it to be installed a particular way.

Having seen and had to rectify this guys work previously. It’s clear he’s no electrician. At a stretch he’s done a part P course at some point.

I’m far from perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But I do have some idea of what I’m doing. And if I’m ever in doubt, even in cases like this, I’m not afraid to ask more knowledgeable people and/or consult the BBB.

 

[swaRRR]

Think about that a moment, then think about solar installations. None of them would work if that were true!

When i first started doing solar the fact that the feed fed the MCB which then fed the busbar really confused me.

 

[nicebutdim]

However I think you can just swap it around so the enclosure is up the other way to feed in the top.

They can indeed. The covers are designed to ensure incoming tails are enclosed no matter which side they come in.

 

[mainline]

Having a discussion the other day with a kitchen fitter who “also does electrics” and he is adamant that a NIC contractor told him that a meter isolation switch has to have the supply go in the bottom and the load out the top, same as a MCB. This convo came about as he said the property we were both at was wired wrong as the supply went in the top of the EMIS.

I tried to explain that unless the manufacturer instructions stipulate it only goes one way (like a KMF) then it won’t really matter, if there is any ambiguity it should be labelled which way it is wired and any sane electrician would test it was dead before working on it. Plus it would usually have the larger of the two covers over the supply side.

However he was adamant I was wrong. So I opened up the CU I was working on and asked him to look at the 100A switch and pointed out the supply for that goes in the top and the same 100A type switch is usually found in the EMIS.

I‘ve installed various make EMIS and don‘t ever recall one stipulating which way the supply side must be. But he is adamant that they can only go one way.

Am I being thick?

100 Amp 1 Pole + Neutral Electricity Meter Isolator Switch

proteusswitchgear.com

Facility to seal the enclosure cover and incoming ‘bottom’ connections, allowing the outgoing ‘top’ connections to be
made at a later stage

https://www.NoLinkingToThis/p/wylex...Tab=qaTT#product_additional_details_container

Load /Supply either way.

 

[Simon47]

I've come across some "interesting" "facts" from supposedly competent electricians in teh past. One of my favourites was the one who told me that data had to be in the top section of the dado trunking - because if the power went in the top and data in the middle then they wouldn't be insulated*. Had to re-route some of the cables on that job as the top section wasn't big enough for all the cables.
* No this wasn't about open-back mounting frames, he genuinely believed the PVC divider only insulated one-way.

 

[Dave OCD]

I was once told by an ex navy Electrician that if common and L1 were swapped over in a one way switch it would then operate upside down ?!

 

[Other_Tucker]

I'm sure it doesn't matter if the supply goes in the top or bottom of the isolator, we've had this debate at work. It's a switch which disconnects and reconnects a conductor. Yet we still put supply in the top and load in the bottom out of habit, as it is in a CU main switch. The tiny diagram on the front of a RE2 isolator shows the top as main and the bottom attached to the switching poles, see pic, still sure electrically it doesn't matter