So what do I expect to find in this cutout & having an isolator fitted

[SimonH2]

While searching for people selling that, I found someone selling 6381Y in Brown and Blue
http://www.gemcable.co.uk/products/Power-Cables-6381Y-Double-Insulated-Wire/c7_80/index.html
Dunno how much they charge yet ...

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Iggy - I must admit I've only used it in the sizes you get inside CUs.

"it doesn't stay how you bend it either" could be rephrased "easy to route from A to B without stressing the terminals"

 

[JohnW2]

Plus, it doesn't stay how you bend it either

That was, of course, essentially the same point as I was making when I wrote...

Working with 6181Y >10mm² certainly is a bit of a fight, particularly for those of us who only have to do it very occasionally. However, is not one of the reasons for using it (in favour of more flexible cable) perhaps the very fact that it is very non-flexible - so that, once one's fighting has got it to where one wants, it usually stays there, without any need for clipping?

Kind Regards, John

 

[Iggifer]

Iggy - I must admit I've only used it in the sizes you get inside CUs.

"it doesn't stay how you bend it either" could be rephrased "easy to route from A to B without stressing the terminals"

You could say that! I like to do my bending before I even cut meter tails. If you cut them first you have to trim the ends because the copper ends up being all different lengths from the different bend radii.

Bend it first - no stress on any connectors

The tri-rated stuff in CUs is much easier to work with than the bigger stuff - the press welded ends are obviously a big bonus but I do hate how that stuff makes a CU look. I prefer the old MEM where they had solid pre-formed copper from bar-RCD (not often I don’t prefer the new way of doing things)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You could always make your own - copper is easy to work, and heat-shrink tube easy to apply...

Type-testing? Wozzat?

 

[SimonH2]

Following up on this ...

We shall see if anything happens.

Nope, nothing happened, 6 months on there's been no further contact and the cutout is still "sealed" with a bit of white tape.

While searching for people selling that, I found someone selling 6381Y in Brown and Blue
http://www.gemcable.co.uk/products/Power-Cables-6381Y-Double-Insulated-Wire/c7_80/index.html
Dunno how much they charge yet ...

Well they quoted £5/m for 25mm² blue/blue as they had that in stock. The others (25mm² brown/brown and 16mm² green-yellow/green-yellow) they didn't have in stock when I enquired and they only buy it in if they need it for work they are doing. So basically, if it isn't in stock, they don't sell it.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, my local wholesalers either point out that it would be a special order, or cannot understand why I wouldn't use 6181Y like everyone else

 

[TheKeymeister]

There's some flappy people on here...
That's a bog standard Henley 'biscuit tin' cutout, usually found in ex council houses, once upon a time it would have looked like one complete unit with cutout, meter, and consumer unit all butted up next to each other. As bits have been replaced, it doesn't quite fit together like it used to, so a bit of bodgery is needed. Nothing wrong with the original tailing setup, other than what looks like 10 or 16mm single insulated on the feed side of the meter, and space is tight. Agree it looks a total mess now though - I expect the meter man did it expecting the cutout to get changed fairly quickly and that they would have to re-do the tailing anyway. No idea how he came to the conclusion that the sealing point is broken as its next to impossible to break on one of those, you just need to get the cover screw in the right place and the wire fits through it. As for exposed uninsulated conductors, nearly all old cutouts give you that to some extent when you drop the front off to change tails, thats why they carry shrouding! Also, that pilc is fine with the bend, if it was going to go it'd have gone by now, they bend quite well when new it's just trying to manipulate an old one that causes problems.

I suspect it wasn't properly reported to the DNO by the meter operator, and also that it would need cutting outside to reterminate into a new plastic cutout. They might be able to remove the top half of it and reterminate the tails from the bottom chamber into the top half of a series 5, but other than gaining a bit of space it's not much different to what's already there.

I'd go down the route of reporting it to the DNO saying that the meter operator said it was dangerous or something and they'd reported it so it could be changed, and that you haven't heard anything

 

[SimonH2]

Yeah, there's nothing broken, he just couldn't line everything up - and I didn't feel like doing it for him

 

[SUNRAY]

Didn't notice this earlier. The isolator is EATON branded (EMS1001N), dunno about the enclosure but the whole thing came assembled in one box - and with a removable plate for access to the outgoing side terminals only (so I assume the enclosure is made specifically for that application).

Interesting. But then leads onto the obvious question .... where on earth can one buy it, given that no-one seems to mention how many strands there are in the cable they are selling I suppose it's a bit like the mythical stranded 2.5mm² T&E I've occasionally seen mention of

We used to get Batt Cables to make 2.5mm7x twin for loudspeakers then quite by chance one of their guys said they keep stranded T&E in stock which was cheaper. Eventually lack of demand stopped them stocking it. 1.5mm7x twin is supplied for festoons.