Fire!

[Bas]

I have just discovered a nasty problem on the electrical installation of a old cottage my partner recently bought, on the E7 Consumer Unit inside the main 100A isolator was very very badly burnt and lots of melted plastic suurounded it. The CU is in a cupboard under the stairs and from the outside of the CU no visible problems could be seen. The problem looked like a loose connection or a faulty switch. My point is that it is clearly worth a regular check on Electrical item if fires are to be prevented. The CU is now changed and a smoke alarm placed in the cupboard to warn of any future problems.
Incidentally the surveyor didn't spot it (in fairness as I said you couldnt see the problem with the lid on) but she did comment that she was pleased to see a RCD CU had been fitted, in fact it was only an isolator equipped CU rather than an RCD protected unit!

 

[Millennium_Boy]

Has anyone noticed that modern consumer units only provide a single clamping screw to connections, whilst in the olden days, there were two brass clamping screws to every connection?

Is this a bid to cut costs, as the risk of a bad connection increases as a result?

 

[supersparks]

its not to cut costs, as it costs more to make! the problem was that for single copper cored cables of 'smaller gauge' were cut in half by the screw, you get a better conn with new ones anyway, unless you are not doing them right