Anyone seen this before

[JohnW2]

My meter tails are 4m long and I don't have an additional fuse....why? Why? I hear you all ask.....well because I don't need one

Some of my 'distribution circuits' (c.f. 'meter tails' are very long, hence protected by switch fuses of mine, the actual 'tails', from meter to the switch fuses must be about 4m long, and I'm certainly not losing any sleep over that, particularly since my fuses give 'downstream protection to those tails!

Perhaps more 'interesting', my fuses are all 80A (adequate to protect my distribution cables), whereas the DNO's are 60A - so there's certainly no guarantee that mine would blow/operate before theirs

 

[plugwash]

Can the DNO alter physics to get you to install an identical fuse that will protect them?

No, they can't alter physics.

But they can say "anything after the customer's first fuse/breaker is the customer's problem". Whereas if they endorse wiring that is protected only by the service fuse they implicitly take some level of responsibility for that wiring.

Though they don't seem to be consistent about this, I've certainly heard of suppliers/DNOs doing "wirebacks" during meter moves that are many meters long and only protected by the service fuse.

 

[JohnW2]

It sometimes knows if someone puts a drill or nail in the cable, which is less likely if it is short and adjacent to the meter and CU

I suppose that's theoretically true but, even when 'longish' (say 3-4m), meter tails are usually visible for their entire length, in which case it would take more than a slight idiot to put a drill or nail through it!
'Concealed' tails would be a rather different matter.

 

[JohnD]

ISTR that long tails are considered at risk of being used when a new CU is fitted a long way from the meter, and the tails would be unsightly so hidden from sight, thus greater risk of accidental damage.

 

[JohnW2]

ISTR that long tails are considered at risk of being used when a new CU is fitted a long way from the meter, and the tails would be unsightly so hidden from sight, thus greater risk of accidental damage.

As I wrote ....

.... 'Concealed' tails would be a rather different matter.

So maybe any 'rules'/guidelines/whatever from DNOs should really only relate to tails which are not visible throughout their length?

 

[EFLImpudence]

None of these variations explains the need for two identical fuses in the same place.

 

[jelliottelectrical]

None of these variations explains the need for two identical fuses in the same place.

No technical reason but surely it’s just the DNO saying ‘you can’t rely on our fuse for protection of your tails if they exceed 3metres’ therefore just passing the responsibility onto you

 

[EFLImpudence]

No technical reason

End of.

but surely it’s just the DNO saying ‘you can’t rely on our fuse for protection of your tails if they exceed 3metres’ therefore just passing the responsibility onto you

Nooooo!

How does it work for the first three (or two) metres then.

 

[jelliottelectrical]

End of.


Nooooo!

How does it work for the first three (or two) metres then.

The fuse knows at what location the fault occurs. If it’s over 3 metres (or 2 depending on the rules) it decides not to disconnect and your house burns down as result of you not following ‘their’ rules

 

[JohnD]

As I wrote ....

So maybe any 'rules'/guidelines/whatever from DNOs should really only relate to tails which are not visible throughout their length?

"visible they day they were put in."

But the further they run, the more likely they are to get hidden

 

[jelliottelectrical]

"visible they day they were put in."

And DNOs are well known for their blanket rules ‘can’t do that, won’t do that’ that often prevent logical installations

 

[morqthana]

Do you have to sign and promise that only some of your electricity will used their fuse?

Don't be silly.

You have to sign and promise that you will abide by the terms and conditions that THEY set if you want to use THEIR network.

But you know this. It's not that you are so stupid that you don't get it, it's that you don't like it, and you are so childish that you think that if you raise enough stupid objections, and ask enough stupid questions then somehow clauses a company has in its contract with its customers will just vanish.

You're also not so stupid that you don't know that, but nevertheless you keep raising stupid objections and asking stupid questions.

Of course it is.

It is not nonsense that a company can have terms and conditions in a contract which you don't like. What is nonsense is you thinking that somehow you not liking them, or you not seeing a justification for them, means that they can be disregarded.

It's not that you are so stupid that you don't get it, it's that you don't like it, and you are so childish that you think that if you raise enough stupid objections, and ask enough stupid questions then somehow clauses a company has in its contract with its customers will just vanish.

You're also not so stupid that you don't know that, but nevertheless you keep raising stupid objections and asking stupid questions.

But - how does it work

How does what work? A rule which says that you can't have meter tails over a certain length without your own fuse? Probably not very well.

and how does their fuse know.?

It doesn't. But you know that.

It's not about which fuse "knows" to blow. But you know that.

Have you read what I've written above about your stupid questions?

But - how do they prevent it being used?

They don't. But you know that.

It's not about that. But you know that. And yet here you are asking another of those questions.

None of these variations explains the need for two identical fuses in the same place.

And none of your questions and objections have made you look cleverer than any supplier who does have such a rule.

It just makes you look like a petulant child who keeps on asking "Why?" "Why?" "Why?" "Why?" over and over again.

 

[morqthana]

No technical reason

End of.

The end of you asking stupid questions, and raising stupid objections, about technical reasons when you know it isn't about a technical reason?

but surely it’s just the DNO saying ‘you can’t rely on our fuse for protection of your tails if they exceed 3metres’ therefore just passing the responsibility onto you

How does it work for the first three (or two) metres then.

Apparently not.

 

[JohnW2]

"visible they day they were put in."

Why not? Is that materially different from requiring the consumer to provide an additional fuse which "existed on the day it was installed"?

However, to address your hypothetical concern, how about "visible throughout their length the day they were put in, and with both ends within the same room/whatever". In that situation, it's extremely unlikely that that they would ever cease to be available, but ...

But the further they run, the more likely they are to get hidden

I don't disagree with that but, as I've implied above, it's when they travel between two different rooms/locations that the possibility of some parts being hidden increases appreciably.

 

[morqthana]

Simple question for everyone:

If an electricity distributor says to you

"You may NOT use OUR fuse to protect YOUR cables", what do you do?