Upgrade of wylex cu

stl · 14 Jul 2016

Hi,

Am getting some electrical works done and thinking might be worth getting another RCD fitted to the non RCD protected circuits on the cu.

Anyone any thoughts on this, assuming bonding is OK.

Photo attached, cu is approx 20yrs old from when house built.

Thanks

EFLImpudence · 14 Jul 2016

I wouldn't bother. Only the lights and heating are not protected by an RCD.

What do you think it would achieve?

stl · 14 Jul 2016

Ideally RCD protection for lighting circuit cables buried shallow in wall for new works.

Just wondering if feasible or not

EFLImpudence · 14 Jul 2016

Ah. New work will have to have RCD protection.

A lot will probably say have a new CU. You could fit a stand-alone unit but then...

AndyPRK · 14 Jul 2016

keep what you have

stl · 14 Jul 2016

OK, but wondering if anyone had done anything similar or wondered how easy it would be, screwfix seem to sell wylex RCD unit,......

deadshort · 14 Jul 2016

I would advise you to replace your CU while you are getting work done. That particular RCD is of an age and design that starts to become weary!
and begins to trip due to mechanical failure. I have replaced 3 in the past year.

Regards,

DS

EFLImpudence · 14 Jul 2016

You won't get a new one like that:

and new ones won't fit the board.

You can fit something like this with two RCBOs for the lighting circuits:

although that looks like it may not be tall enough.

Edit - have they got the front on upside down???

Iggifer · 14 Jul 2016

I've got one of those on my board change board, and can confirm, you cannot fit an RCBO in it, it sits right up against the top edge leaving you zero space for cable entry. The DIN rail is central, as is the hole for the OPDs. I had to go with an RCD and MCBs in the end - no biggie

stl · 14 Jul 2016

Iggifer said:
I've got one of those on my board change board, and can confirm, you cannot fit an RCBO in it, it sits right up against the top edge leaving you zero space for cable entry. The DIN rail is central, as is the hole for the OPDs. I had to go with an RCD and MCBs in the end - no biggie

Thanks, do you think one of these would fit http://www.screwfix.com/p/wylex-63a-30ma-dp-rcd/82076

Wondering if another RCD could be added to cover the non RCD circuits

EFLImpudence · 14 Jul 2016

stl said:
Thanks, do you think one of these would fit http://www.screwfix.com/p/wylex-63a-30ma-dp-rcd/82076

Wondering if another RCD could be added to cover the non RCD circuits

You can't fit it in the fuse board so it would be awkward wiring.

They must make taller ones for RCBOs.

flameport · 14 Jul 2016

A second RCD cannot be installed in that board. New ones are a different design, and there isn't any space for it either - you only have a single spare way on each side, an RCD requires 2. Even if there was space, the internal layout of the busbars is not compatible either.

sparkwright · 14 Jul 2016

No, it won't work out.

A possibility might be to replace the fuses on the non-protected side for RCBOs.

Though it could be a problem finding RCBOs to fit which are Wylex. It looks like GE ones may fit, but this is poor practice to mix different makes.

Secondhand ones isn't really recommended.

If you are really keen to have proper RCD protection it may be as well just to fit a new consumer unit, for what it's worth. If you do, get a decent make like Hager so it's easy to get spare parts in the future.

stl · 15 Jul 2016

Thanks for all the responses, guess I was thinking that as someone put an MCB previously then an RCD would fit, also including moving everything along to make two spare ways together?

Taylortwocities · 15 Jul 2016

EFLImpudence said:
have they got the front on upside down???

If so, the Hager word would be written in Australian

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Upgrade of wylex cu

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