Discuss I'm not sure if the Regs allowed separately bare earths. in the UK Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

It'll be ok when the house burns down; the new metal CU will be holding up the only remaining wall. :D
Don’t know so much about that RCDs are used to provide fire protection sometimes so replacing the board would leave the installation in a better condition than it is now as long as the cables test out ok
 
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Don’t know so much about that RCDs are used to provide fire protection sometimes so replacing the board would leave the installation in a better condition than it is now as long as they test out ok

I'm trying to contain myself. In that case, why does the house owner want to replace his perfectly serviceable fuseboard with a modern equivalent CU, but not replace the 70 + year old wiring?

Why shouldn't it be left just as is?
 
Obviously in an ideal world the best way would be to rewire I’d probably explain to the customer why it would be a good idea to rewire but not everyone has the means to rewire etc so as long as the tests were ok sticking in a new board would be better than nothing .
 
I'm trying to contain myself. In that case, why does the house owner want to replace his perfectly serviceable fuseboard with a modern equivalent CU, but not replace the 70 + year old wiring?

Why shouldn't it be left just as is?
Because there are alterations being carried out and as we know anything we do must comply so more than likely RCD protection would be required. How many boards have you replaced without rewiring the whole house?
 
I'm trying to contain myself. In that case, why does the house owner want to replace his perfectly serviceable fuseboard with a modern equivalent CU, but not replace the 70 + year old wiring?

Why shouldn't it be left just as is was the first thing I saw when I walked in. I suggested that it should be replaced as I have heard that breakers do not trip. I he said it would be great if I could, It's not all single earthed, just the lighting. I feel that to exchange when bad situation to a lesser one, even though I know there could be borrowed neutrals.

IMG_20180919_120228824.jpg
 
What type you got them breakers at.
Some of the cables have been moved to another breaker as they have just gone, in the on position the output has no life.
These are old federal Elctric breakers they don’t trip for anything you can have a short and it will blow itself clear before it ever trips what are you talking about coding the earth situation?
Yes please
 
These are old federal Elctric breakers they don’t trip for anything you can have a short and it will blow itself clear before it ever trips what are you talking about coding the earth situation?
Because some are saying that it is a potential hazard, so I'm wondering if they have a compliance code for it.
 
These are old federal Electric breakers they don’t trip for anything you can have a short and it will blow itself clear before it ever trips
An installer from BT found that out a few years ago when he drilled a ring cable, the only thing to stop the arcing was when the conductors burned back into the melted PVC. The MCB didn't trip. The staff said the bang was tremendous and scared the isht out of the bloke.

The contacts often remain closed on these when they have been switched off which is something to watch out for. Truly terrible devices.
 
An installer from BT found that out a few years ago when he drilled a ring cable, the only thing to stop the arcing was when the conductors burned back into the melted PVC. The MCB didn't trip. The staff said the bang was tremendous and scared the isht out of the bloke.

The contacts often remain closed on these when they have been switched off which is something to watch out for. Truly terrible devices.
They did a stab-lok version too they were famous for arcing, overheating and causing the back end of the breaker to melt into the busbar and basically weld the breaker below into the busbar
 
Sham, if you change the boards, I would be interested in these for the museum. They are Federal, rebadged by ECC (Electric Construction Co.) back in the day that UK switchgear makers were cloning or importing US gear. We have a lot of ECC plant but none of their boards. They were one of the four main UK makers of mercury arc rectifiers.
 
After reading all this, should i not change the board If the customer does not want a rewire. And write in my cert why. Departures.
 

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