Unknown Circuits!

L

leeweedon

Good morning.

After looking at my loft lighting and trying to really know what is connected where before I add a light I have come across a mystery!

Here is my CU.

"Fuse Box"

"Fuse Box"

  • leeweedon
  • 1

I have no external lighting on my house, so 2 is not used.

As for '1' and '5' nothing is connected to them, turning them on/off changes nothing.

Any ideas why they are there? As you can see, the cooker, shower and sockets have there own circuits.
n.b. The boiler plugs in to the mains socket....

Any help or pointers would be great.

Thanks

Lee
 
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Probably just fitted there instead of blanks or were left over and fitted as goodwill to enable future additions or the installer couldn't be bothered to take them away.
 
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If you have an electric shower fitted - the maximum rating is limited by the size of the cable and MCB.
It looks like the MCB is 32Amp so your shower should be in the region of 7.0kw maximum - and your cable a minimum of 6mm² T&E.
 
riveralt said:
If you have an electric shower fitted - the maximum rating is limited by the size of the cable and MCB.
It looks like the MCB is 32Amp so your shower should be in the region of 7.0kw maximum - and your cable a minimum of 6mm² T&E.
Click to expand...

Hi riveralt.

Not sure what you mean or what relevance this has to the unused breakers. The shower has it's own 32A MCB. Also, the unlabbled breakers are off and the shower still works fine. :?:
 
leeweedon said:
riveralt said:
If you have an electric shower fitted - the maximum rating is limited by the size of the cable and MCB.
It looks like the MCB is 32Amp so your shower should be in the region of 7.0kw maximum - and your cable a minimum of 6mm² T&E.
Click to expand...
Hi riveralt.
Not sure what you mean or what relevance this has to the unused breakers. The shower has it's own 32A MCB. Also, the unlabbled breakers are off and the shower still works fine. :?:
Click to expand...

While you may have focussed in on the 'mystery', as a practical electrician I look at all the information presented to me.

Given the poor installation practices displayed in your other photograph of the outside 'shower' cable, I would be concerned that the person who fitted the electric shower itself was not aware of or ignored the manufacturer's instructions.
Protection by the RCD is good and a 32Amp MCB is also okay for an electric shower around 7kw in power - if the shower is rated higher than this then it highly likely that you will need a higher rated MCB and an appropriately sized cable.
 
riveralt said:
leeweedon said:
riveralt said:
If you have an electric shower fitted - the maximum rating is limited by the size of the cable and MCB.
It looks like the MCB is 32Amp so your shower should be in the region of 7.0kw maximum - and your cable a minimum of 6mm² T&E.
Click to expand...
Hi riveralt.
Not sure what you mean or what relevance this has to the unused breakers. The shower has it's own 32A MCB. Also, the unlabbled breakers are off and the shower still works fine. :?:
Click to expand...

While you may have focussed in on the 'mystery', as a practical electrician I look at all the information presented to me.

Given the poor installation practices displayed in your other photograph of the outside 'shower' cable, I would be concerned that the person who fitted the electric shower itself was not aware of or ignored the manufacturer's instructions.
Protection by the RCD is good and a 32Amp MCB is also okay for an electric shower around 7kw in power - if the shower is rated higher than this then it highly likely that you will need a higher rated MCB and an appropriately sized cable.
Click to expand...

I can see the link (o: and yes the electrics in this house never fail to amaze me, so expect the unexpected everywhere!

The shower itself is 100% on the shower MCB, it pulls 8kw when on.

Slowly but surely I will be able to map everything out and get it labeled and documented so no accidents can happen.

(o: Thanks again for the advice.
 
Love this comment, although unsure how that can make anything safer...

Slowly but surely I will be able to map everything out and get it labeled and documented so no accidents can happen.
Click to expand...
 
Lectrician said:
Love this comment, although unsure how that can make anything safer...

Slowly but surely I will be able to map everything out and get it labeled and documented so no accidents can happen.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

(o:


Safer in the way of no "unknown" cables or unclear wiring...

Remove the mystery so it's obvious what goes where and what is on what circuit...
 
leeweedon said:
As for '1' and '5' nothing is connected to them, turning them on/off changes nothing.

Any ideas why they are there?
Click to expand...
Good chance the CU was a "package" and came preloaded with a selection of breakers - so the sparky just used the ones he needed to and left the rest "to fill the gaps".
 
I would advise getting a qualified electrician to carry out an Electrical Installation Condition Report, this will identify all the circuits and show any potential issues with the wiring
 
D

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