Consumer units -why metal?

What is the reason that consumer units need to be made of metal rather than plastic as they were a few years ago?

So the IET can continue selling expensive books of regulations that will be increasingly ignored.
 
So the IET can continue selling expensive books of regulations that will be increasingly ignored.
That may be true for some of us but, unfortunately in some senses, self-cert scheme members are generally constrained to comply fully with BS7671.

Kind Regards, John
 
... are generally constrained to comply fully with BS7671.
If only :whistle: My Mum's new house has at least three non-compliances that I can spot easily - and I don't mean esoteric stuff, basics like ignoring the rules on safe zones etc :rolleyes:
But it's OK, they've signed it off :evil:
 
If only :whistle: My Mum's new house has at least three non-compliances that I can spot easily - and I don't mean esoteric stuff, basics like ignoring the rules on safe zones etc :rolleyes: But it's OK, they've signed it off :evil:
These things certainly happen, but it doesn't alter the fact that Scheme members are, as far as I am aware, generally required to work fully to BS7671. The fact that that's what they are meant to do obviously doesn't mean that all of them always do!

Kind Regards, John
 
I would say it is because poor design of some MCB's and RCBO's did not hold open the terminal when unscrewed, but allowed it to flap around between closed and open, where used with restricted room, it was all too easy for the buzz bar to be wrong side of the terminal being just pressed hard against the buzz bar rather than fully clamping the buzz bar. This in turn in time could result in a bad connection, which in turn resulted in over heating and fires. The London Fire Brigade realised there was a problem, however they are not electrical engineers, they are firemen, so recommended non flammable enclosures. Changing design means more units sold, so simply having a metal enclosure generates more money than getting the industry to recall all MCB's which when the terminal when opened don't hold it open.
 
and installers were not ensuring connections were tight enough when inserting the tails or wiring terminals for MCBs etc. which had no design faults. Instead of tackling the problem, we got this regulation.
 
I would say it is because poor design of some MCB's and RCBO's did not hold open the terminal when unscrewed, but allowed it to flap around between closed and open, where used with restricted room, it was all too easy for the buzz bar to be wrong side of the terminal being just pressed hard against the buzz bar rather than fully clamping the buzz bar. This in turn in time could result in a bad connection, which in turn resulted in over heating and fires. The London Fire Brigade realised there was a problem, however they are not electrical engineers, they are firemen, so recommended non flammable enclosures. Changing design means more units sold, so simply having a metal enclosure generates more money than getting the industry to recall all MCB's which when the terminal when opened don't hold it open.

buzz bar ?

DS:confused:
 
Ah, apolgies Eric, not possessing the talents of Mistic Meg i am not aware you use VRS.
John, obvously posesses this skill :notworthy:.

DS
 
Ah, apolgies Eric, not possessing the talents of Mistic Meg i am not aware you use VRS. John, obvously posesses this skill :notworthy:.
Simpler than that - no Mystic Meg needed, since he's written about it on numerous occasions.

Is the spell-checker not working in your Reply box, or do you perhaps just ignore all the words underlined in red?

Kind Regards, John
 
John, have you added typos to your dictionary then?!?! :p:p:p "teh" - from ---> Led Mirror with always on Demister pad
No, but, when I'm posting in haste, I often overlook words highlighted by the spell-checker!

My typing and spelling are both pretty awful, so the spell-checker spares you from most of it. However, on the basis of 'people in glasshouses should not throw stones', I would usually be the last person to mention someone else's typos or spelling mistakes. However, DS moved me to comment on this occasion, since he chose to remark on someone's (in fact, some software's) spelling, in a response which (as EFLI pointed out) contained multiple typos/spelling mistakes - Glasshouses come to mind again :-)

Kind Regards, John
 

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