Anyone know what this is?

[keithsto]

See the light brown box with the vertical slots in the casing?

The earth wire looks a bit puny. Is this OK?

Finally is it ok to have the consumer unit on wooden blocks?

Thanks

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• keithsto
• 19 May 2009
• 2

 

[ericmark]

Not sure what earth wire you are referring to but the single insulated wires going to the RCD where the outer insulation has been stripped back too far does want re-dressing.
I will guess the slots are for cooling and most likely a bell transformer I would expect that the requirements for IP rating may be breached?
But a little hard to work out what is going where form picture other than work is required.

 

[RF Lighting]

That is a bell transformer, but as I can't see any secondary wiring from it, I'd suspect it is now redundant.

Which earth wire are you referring to?

It is acceptable to have a CU mounted on wooden blocks.
If you have an especially eneven wall, it is sometimes the only way to mount the CU without damaging it.

The one thing that concerns me is the wiring for the shower.

You have an RCD for it which is great, but the inner cores should never be exposed outside of the CU like yours appear to be.

Also it appears that the MCB for your shower is too big for your CU, which could overload and damage your CU, but I cant make out the rating of your model.

Underneath the main switch is written in bold something like "total load not to exceed ??A"

Can you tell us what it says?

 

[keithsto]

Bell transformer? Any ideas what they are for?

The mcb for the shower is 45A, is that ok?

I think the whole consumer unit is only rated at 60A......

Sorry the earth wire hasnt been caught by the photo. Thought it had.

 

[securespark]

RF, maybe the OP has confused the bell tranny with the RCD adjacent, which is fed by a cable with too much sheath exposed, showing the cpc which looks like it is wrapped with tape.

The board is not a 100A one, so should not have a 45A circuit fed from it.

The RCD (is this also on the 45A circuit, a shower, maybe?) seems to be fed by 4 or 6mm² cable, which if the former is definitely undersized and if the latter, could well be so.

 

[keithsto]

I guess bell transformer is for a door bell?

The RCD has 10mm cable to a 9.5kW shower.

 

[securespark]

So that earth wire that is exposed is multi-stranded, then?

Still risky feeding a 9,5 off a sub-100A board: it's 60 or 80A, isn't it?

 

[keithsto]

Thanks for all the replies.

Definitely 60A on the label.

I do have a modern 80A with RCD, but obviously I'd need to comply with part p etc etc.

What size should the earth wire from the consumer unit to the earth block be? It looks small to my untrained eye?

 

[keithsto]

Sorry I think I'm confusing people with the earth question. I meant the main earth wire from the cu not the earth in the 10mm shower cable.

 

[securespark]

That I can't see on this photo. If you take a piccy of the supply & the conductors in question, I'll have a look.

Depends upon supply type & possible calculations to determine whether a smaller csa is suitable.

 

[keithsto]

Some more photos of the earth and cutoff (I think thats what its called)

Is it an 80A supply?

Thanks

Untitled

• keithsto
• 20 May 2009
• 1

Untitled

• keithsto
• 20 May 2009
• 1

Untitled

• keithsto
• 20 May 2009
• 1

[/img]

 

[securespark]

It is impossible to say without eyeballing the main fuse.

As for the earth, it looks a bit puny, but if it yields a good Ze, there's nothing the DNO is obliged to do about it, unless you want to pay.

I can't see, however, where the earth wire terminates: it should be attached to the inner sheath of the supply cable(s).

 

[RF Lighting]

Are your eyes on the way out as well Simon?

You can just see the earth disappearing into the sheath about 10mm below the wooden grommets at the bottom of the cutout.

Looks larger than average for round here, so it's unlikely YEDL will do anything about it, unless you pay for a PME upgrade (subject to availability)

 

[securespark]

Are your eyes on the way out as well Simon?

You can just see the earth disappearing into the sheath about 10mm below the wooden grommets at the bottom of the cutout.

Mock ye not the afflicted!

I genuinely can't see it! Can you point out where?

 

[RF Lighting]