Service Fuse Removal

[ezzzekiel]

Got wrong today
problem with earthing at property, was splitting tails to install shower db had both a pme and tns setup, had a good ze for tns but also a bad read on the pme.

got leccy board out and he had a go for pulling the fuse, and then he got on the phone to his office and reported me

something really should be done to allow working electricians to pull fuses without the aggravation.

Anyone ever seen a dual pme/tns setup?

 

[nickblake]

i know how you feel about being reported ,by the way as long as its not the meter you can remove the fuse under health and safety , you have to work on a dead circuit and the only way you can do that is to remove the fuse !!! jobs worth are you sure it was both , .8 for tns.35 for tncs ,or was the block on the side of the cut out just connecting the earths and not connected to neutral ,some times TNS have a TNCS cut out but the earth block is not linked to neutral and the outer sheath of the cable is then connected to the earth block , i have found them like this and labled as TNCS but clearly not , as you have said the readings for TNS are good so to me it sounds like a TNS supply not TNCS

 

[acat]

As above EAWR statutory document requires dead test where possible. It wont go anywhere if your work is to BS7671. What are they going to do you for "failing to kill yourself" so dont worry about it mate.


Chris

 

[ezzzekiel]

no it was tns at 0.16 ohms and pme link using piece of 16mm tail from neut at cutout to met reading 0.44 (ish)
had to leave before dno finished, all he said after checking drawings was that the estate was a mishmash with some converted to pme and others not. Either way it looked rough which is why i called it in, next time ill not bother.

guessing that during conversion they left tns earth in - either forgot to remove or because ze was high on the pme or some other spark has come along later and added the tns

 

[nickblake]

No mate next time do bother you spotted a fault it had to be recitfied ,DNO get away with far to much ,I l call them out at a drop of a hat these days , i also insist the put in an isolator switch too ,the more we call them out the safer it is for us sparks to work on the system to

 

[andekoch]

DNO seem to go out of their way to make our lives difficult. I now make the customer call the DNO to get the fuse removed ofr the day I am need it out. If this fails, which it normally does, I remove the fuse myself. To comply with the elec at work regs. Just make sure that all power is off beforeI pull the fuse.

 

[acat]

No mate next time do bother you spotted a fault it had to be recitfied ,DNO get away with far to much ,I l call them out at a drop of a hat these days , i also insist the put in an isolator switch too ,the more we call them out the safer it is for us sparks to work on the system to

Summed up perfectly it is them that has something to hide and worry about at least following the above advice we will all sleep easy at night.


Chris

 

[rocker]

DNO guys are failed electricians, period. Just ignore them as has already been said as long as the meter hasn't been tampered with there's not a great deal they can do. In fact I'm not sure they would be acting legally in impeding you, as a competant person, removing the fuse.

 

[acat]

DNO guys are failed electricians, period. Just ignore them as has already been said as long as the meter hasn't been tampered with there's not a great deal they can do. In fact I'm not sure they would be acting legally in impeding you, as a competant person, removing the fuse.

This was mentioned when I did my training and as you say if the meter is not tampered with if they did try it on the clear message they would be giving out is contempt for the EAWR I dont think any court in the land would go for that and the press would have a field day with them.


Chris

 

[Des 56]

Its time these supply gods got their act sorted out

The litigation culture again
In order not to "condone" the logical act of making dead,they have a policy of saying "no you cant" but, "we know you will" and "we aren't bothered" unless your caught" and then we can try and frighten off others for doing the sensible thing
By warning the person caught, and pretending they are upholding their policy, which is illogical and can be a dangerous or impractical practise to follow,they think they may be sending some sort of message

Have nothing to do with them,ignore their rules,work safely,do your job safely and install safely
No court will entertain punishing that action

 

[acat]

Its time these supply gods got their act sorted out

The litigation culture again
In order not to "condone" the logical act of making dead,they have a policy of saying "no you cant" but, "we know you will" and "we aren't bothered" unless your caught" and then we can try and frighten off others for doing the sensible thing
By warning the person caught, and pretending they are upholding their policy, which is illogical and can be a dangerous or impractical practise to follow,they think they may be sending some sort of message

Have nothing to do with them,ignore their rules,work safely,do your job safely and install safely
No court will entertain punishing that action

Spot on and nicely put


Chris

 

[Spudnik]

Chaps, just to throw a spanner in the works,

It is not necessarily illegal to remove the service fuse in an emergency situation.

However, if you require isolation, then the DNO should be contacted for them to come and either pull the fuse and reinstate after you are done, or you can request an isolator to be fitted, prior to works commencing, both of which could incur a charge.

Having said that, i have never known any electrician to be prosecuted for removing the fuse, however, they do get a bit shirty sometimes.

My local DNO is quite lenient, especially when one has established a trusting relationship with them, especially the person doing the work.

 

[mechelec]

DNO guys are failed electricians, period. Just ignore them as has already been said as long as the meter hasn't been tampered with there's not a great deal they can do. In fact I'm not sure they would be acting legally in impeding you, as a competant person, removing the fuse.

Thanks for that. After working as an electrician for 23 years and now working for a DNO (last 2 years) i dont feel I have failed at all. The money is very good, the hours are steady, it is secure and you never know what the next call will bring. It could be a cutout fuse to replace, LV underground cable fault to get a fault location on or an 11KV feeder fault to sectionalise to restore supplies. Yes it is differerent but it is still electrical work.
For your information we never report anyone for cutting seals unless they have bypassed the meter!!!
There is no procedure for us to report missing seals so relax. Anyway after 23 years cutting seals I am in no position to reprimand anyone.

 

[rocker]

Well the chick I was speaking to a few weeks ago who came out to change a meter said she had been on a two day training course and previously worked in a call centre. Sorry if I've put your nose out of joint but I'd say you are certainly in the minority. Do you go round people's houses being a jobsworth about poxy seals? You sound to me like you're doing a more worthy job than that, and to be fair I was referring to the monkeys who habitually install meters and reverse polarity/report you for cutting a fuse seal (it does happen as has been demonstrated here)/start slagging your work to the customer and filling their heads with rumour and heresay they got from Terry behind the bar RE regs and etc.

So I retract my sweeping generalisation and apologise to you.... but the fact is a hell of a lot of DNO guys are failed electricians and shouldn't be doing what they are doing.

 

[mechelec]

Apology accepted. I do know what you mean about meter fitters we have to go and sort out what they leave sometimes. My job is the restoration of supplies due to faults etc and of the guys in my department two of us are ex electricians and the other two have about 50 years of network experience between them and none of us report missing seals. I turn up on site and electricians are working with our fuse removed SO WHAT its not our problem.

 

[ezzzekiel]

ha ha your a failure - only kidding obviously very experienced.

will keep posted if any update, but doubt ill hear anymore about it

 

[brucelee]

hi guys
a quick question as you say to comply with eawr
what is the process if the tails need upgrading
pull fuse connect old tails to new in a henley block then tell dno of tenp connection

or ask them to upgrade first and fit a isolator switch then wont need to pull fuse sorry if this sounds dumb still learning
and dont want to end up dead or reported for doing it wrong

 

[JamesBrownLive]

hi guys
a quick question as you say to comply with eawr
what is the process if the tails need upgrading
pull fuse connect old tails to new in a henley block then tell dno of tenp connection

or ask them to upgrade first and fit a isolator switch then wont need to pull fuse sorry if this sounds dumb still learning
and dont want to end up dead or reported for doing it wrong

It would seem that some DNOs are prepared to install isolator switches and some aren't.
Mine (Southern Electric) are only prepared to come out and isolate the circuit, then re-enegize it once you have completed your work. God only knows why they have decided to adopt this approach

 

[Guest123]

http://www.electriciansforums.net/e...ctrical-regulations/18052-suppliers-info.html


Check link in thread.

 

[Risteard]

I think you may find that you are indeed in breach of the Electricity at Work Regulations if you were to pull the main fuse(s) without having conducted a proper risk assessment and using appropriate PPE.

As well as being in breach of other statutory documents.

No-one is saying that you should be working live - however this does not mean that you can legally pull the fuse. The correct (and lawful) procedure is quite clear.