Incoming meter wiring under-rated?

[Kaymo]

Hi,
Moved into this 100 year old house recently but the other day had an issue where burning plastic smell coming from meter/consumer unit cupboard. I checked it out and found that a now half melted 40amp rated fused connection was being used to split the post meter supply 3 ways to 2 consumer units and a Shower RCD. I have since replaced with a 100amp splitter but noticed another few potential issues that I wanted to get some advice on. In the pics below you can see the set up.

1. There are 25mm tails coming in and out of the meter but the main incoming wiring that you can see coming down in the top right looks more like 10mm. This would not seem adequate to me, given that it connects to a 100amp main fuse. As this is pre-meter is this the responsibility of the electrical utility or the homeowner?
2. At the bottom of the meter, in addition to the 25mm tails there is also red and black wires coming out and feeding the black switch in the bottom right which confusingly looks like a mains switch but is actually being used as a fuse for the light in this cupboard. I presume that the logic here was to have a light on to allow work on the consumer units while the power was disconnected to everything else but I am not sure that this is normal or acceptable practice?

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[5parks]

Hi looking at your set up I would suggest that your mains actually enters the house at some other point and someone has run a sub-main to this location. The electricity board would not run a main supply and twin and earth. Do you now if your house is feed from the street under ground or if your supply comes off a wooden pylon( are you out in sticks?)

 

[5parks]

Sorry thats in twin and earth, and twin and earth

 

[5parks]

Bloody predictive text, in twin and earth, not and twin and earth

 

[AndyPRK]

Hi looking at your set up I would suggest that your mains actually enters the house at some other point and someone has run a sub-main to this location. The electricity board would not run a main supply and twin and earth.

Humm.

But the meter is normally at the other location.

Maybe the supply comes from the neighbours ?

 

[5parks]

Agree meter would normally be at the incoming position, but that lot looks like a weekend DIY job.

Get a local sparks in asap because that set up looks worrying

 

[Kaymo]

Hi all,
Electricity comes in at gable end of the loft from a pylon and the cable runs through the loft and down into this cupboard which is upstairs.

 

[wingcoax]

Can you trace the cable from entry to the building? That lot looks deffo
dodgy. As sparks says there must be another joint somewhere, no supplier would run supplies like that.

 

[RF Lighting]

That t&e 'supply' cable is 6.0mm² which is woefully undersized. As others have said, that is not a DNO supply. There will be a possibly dodgy joint somewhere.

If you find it don't touch it. Get an electrician out to have a good look at this lot asap.

 

[5parks]

This sort of DIY ignorance to wiring really pee's me off, who ever has done this was properly pleased as punch with his efforts. "Look darling I told you I could move all that unsightly meter to the cupboard no problem" trouble is it works for a while or maybe for years and they honestly think it's all ok. Until on day something gives and there's a fire but hey ho he's down the road now pastures new.

 

[Kaymo]

I am pretty sure that this is the cable that comes in from outside, I traced it back to the wall where it comes in but I will double check again tomorrow in case I missed a junction somewhere.

I agree that it looks very undersized, but is it possible, given that this is a 100 year old house that this was an original connection going back to the days that electricity was only used for lighting and has never been upgraded.

If this is a connection coming in from outside to the meter is it not the responsibility of the power company to rectify it?

 

[rebuke]

Normally the connection to the service head (i.e. the bit with the service fuse in) is the responsibility of the DNO, the connection between the service head and the meter (and the meter itself) is the responsibility of the current supplier, and everything post meter is the responsibility of the householder.

As others have said however, that doesn't look like a DNO installed cable, so it seems likely someone has done a bit of dodgy DIY and 'extended' the supply cable - to rectify you'd probably find the DNO likely to charge (potentially a significant amount), but as others have said your best bet is to get a spark in who can take a look at the entire system and see what's going on...

 

[Lectrician]

Pic of the gable?
Pic of the pole? (not pylon! They are huge......and mimic a pyramid).

 

[Kaymo]

What doesnt make sense to me here is that although people are saying that the meter would normally be where the power comes into the house, that wouldnt be possible in this case as the power comes in at loft level and you couldnt have a meter in a loft?

 

[5parks]

That's no original supply you have there, and unless your house is not on the national grid I don't think they would leave it 100yrs before replacing the supplies. There's a join somewhere, be very carful uncovering this cable as over time with this load on it in parts I would not be surprised if the insulation has started to break down. You don't want to become your new main fuse...
You could inform your supplier they may well be compelled to sort this out, with some cost to you no doubt.