What was the year?

RF Lighting · 10 Sep 2020

Following on from the over the years thread I thought I’d ask this one.

A commercial property I’m currently working on has the following:

A brown Bakelite BS 3036 switch fuse supplying a PVC/PVC twin and earth cable.

The cable feeds a flush mounted 6 way Crabtree C50 board.

The final circuits leaving this board are PVC singles in steel tube using the tube as the CPC.

Light switches are white plastic Crabtree grid.

What year do you think this was installed? Do you think the conduit will have metric or imperial threads?

I don’t have a definite answer, but thought it would be interesting to hear your opinions.

I’ll take some pictures tomorrow.

securespark · 10 Sep 2020

Metric 1975.

wundaboy · 10 Sep 2020

I'm wondering if the BS3036 bakelite switch fuse might be a red herring?

Possibly a retained part of an older installation that was used to feed the new installation?

I'll go for metric too, but around 1982.

Adam_151 · 10 Sep 2020

What colour is the writing on the C50s? White, or Yellow?

Metric threads. Somewhere between 75-85

Not likely to be newer than mid 80s, use of the conduit as a CPC was becomming less of a thing. Much before mid 70s and it would have been a re-wireable board. Earth flyleads to the backboxes and sleeving on the submain will tell you which side of '77 it was

333rocky333 · 10 Sep 2020

As above the numbers on the C50 changed from white to yellow and I think theres 2 versions of the style of the yellow numbers.
Also look at the Brass bushes, metric had notches cut into them.
Also the style of crabtree grid switches has changed at least 3 times.

AdrianUK · 10 Sep 2020

Was the brown bakerlite board a Wylex domino?

If so, then brown Wylex, Crabtree C50 & crabtree gridwitch .... its has to be mid to late 1970s.

mattylad · 10 Sep 2020

JohnW2 · 10 Sep 2020

mattylad said:
2006

What does that (very brief post!) relate to? a little context always helps

Kind Regards, John

RF Lighting · 10 Sep 2020

The C50s have white writing.

mattylad · 11 Sep 2020

JohnW2 said:
What does that (very brief post!) relate to? a little context always helps

Kind Regards, John

See post #1.../thread title.
Are we not having a guess the year game?

JohnW2 · 11 Sep 2020

mattylad said:
See post #1.../thread title. Are we not having a guess the year game?

Fair enough.

It was the fact that you mentioned a date some 20-30 years more recent than most/all of the other suggestions we've had which made me wonder what 'question' you were answering!

Kind Regards, John

RF Lighting · 11 Sep 2020

Few snaps from today. Maybe this will help!

AndyPRK · 11 Sep 2020

1970s for switched fuse

wundaboy · 11 Sep 2020

No sleeving on the CPCs. If it was only the badly installed probably later T+Es I'd just put it down to bad workmanship, but the incoming 16mm2 T+E is unsleeved too. Is this an indicator of age - is it actually 7/.064 from the era before sleeving the CPC was commonplace?

Which in turn raises a question I don't know the answer to - when was the C50 range introduced? I know they were around in 1969 because that's when my great uncle, also an electrician, rewired my grandparents' house and installed a C50 board, thermoplastic with a wooden frame - revolutionary in a domestic house for the time!

sparkwright · 11 Sep 2020

Grey tails and green and yellow earthing or bonding conductors seem more recent than the C50 board. These could be later additions.

C50 was all the range around 1970, but not sure how long it was available.

Crabtree accessories around 1970-1985 ish.

What size earth wire in the 2.5mm2 T+E?

Are the reds in seperate metal conduits to the blacks? (Eddy currents and all that rubbish.)

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What was the year?

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