Cable concerns

[BJS_Spark]

As Lectrician has already stated above, the SINGLE feed cable going into 'I' (which is the service head) is the incoming supply. It is Split concentric.
The SWA on the right are your cables I guess going to your CU's?

 

[Adam_151]

Just to clarify, I, A, B, C and (I think) H are owned by the electricity board, the feed from the street main is the concentric to the top of I

F, D, E and G are owned by you

In your postion, I'd probably ask the REC to

i) PME it
ii) Configure A for dual tarrif and take away B, C and possibly H (I'm unsure what H actually is)

Then I'd (or I'd get an electricial contractor to) remove all the stuff owned by you, split the tails through a henley and install an 80/100 switch fuse to feed to the house CU (the existing cable would have to be evaluated and tested, to see if it could be reused, or whether a new cable would need to be installed*) and a new small-ish board to feed anything in the garage (the job done by F atm)

*just OOI, how difficult would it be to get a new cable to the house?

 

[baldelectrician]

H looks like an old radio teleswitch, the grey control wire running to the next meter.

Can you post a close up of H just for curiosity?

 

[Har_vey]

Here's my opinion!

(I) is the cut out

(A) is the main meter feeding RCD (H) which then feeds
Switch fuse (D) which appears to then feed switch fuse (F) and also whatever that SWA goes off to!

Then (I) also feeds off peak meter (B) which feeds the time switch (C) and then an old Chilton type RCD (?) (E) Before my time but have heard stories that they are a bit of a nightmare to reset (known as Chilton non-setters!) so if it is one, don’t touch it! That feeds Switch (G) which in turn feeds another SWA.

Where do those SWA's go to?

If so, isnt all this work undertaken by Leccy board as i thought they were responsible between supply and meter? Then contractors from tails onwards to CU etc right?

I, A, B and C, are the suppliers equipment. All other items are down to you.

You would do well to get someone in to have a look.

 

[festive]

THanks for your advice people, really appreciated. Yep makes sense now DOH i had a mental block about the feed from I yes i remember now, it comes in 'above ground' into the garage.

Whoever asked the SWA cables feed the CU in the house, not sure where the other one goes, as we haven't moved into the house yet.

Will post my local sparkies opinion once im in there.

 

[festive]

Just to clarify, I, A, B, C and (I think) H are owned by the electricity board, the feed from the street main is the concentric to the top of I

*just OOI, how difficult would it be to get a new cable to the house?

Hi Adam, well those two monstrous SWA cables go under the pathway between the garage and house and emerge up inside perpendicular external wall nearest to garage. We were planning on extending the kitchen so it 'could' be done, but what's the point of renewing that cable?

Ill post a bigger pic of H shortly as someone requested. Gonna call leccy board today and see what they say about it.

 

[Adam_151]

Hi Adam, well those two monstrous SWA cables go under the pathway between the garage and house and emerge up inside perpendicular external wall nearest to garage. We were planning on extending the kitchen so it 'could' be done, but what's the point of renewing that cable?

Its its an adequate size and in good condition then none at all, but I expect power demands have gone up since that was installed and also it looks like it was installed by an amater, so its possible that it will be of insufficent size

Though I would cut them back a bit, I don't like the look of those tight bends

Have you moved in now then?

You planning on getting an electrician in as well, I'n not sure theres eactly that much wrong with the boards stuff tbh

Oh, do you storage heaters? and do you plan on keeping them? (sorry if this has been asked before and you have answered, its been a while)

 

[dannyboi2003]

Sorry to awaken a long dead post but aftwer reading it i just wondered if you had moved in yet and if a pic of where those SWA cables go is available.

Cheers
Dan

 

[johnmf]

after reading this post i realised we have one of the talked about ELCB's.

can someone explain why they are dangerous as said?

why dont the regs consider them anymore and how do they work?

what do RCDs have that these dont?

curios now.

 

[Spark123]

A couple of things to note, there were both Current and Voltage operated ELCBs, the Current operated ELCBs being the same thing as an RCD. It is the Voltage operated ELCB which is no longer recognised by the regs, these being outruled as a parallel earth path could render them useless.
http://www.iee.org/Publish/WireRegs...iring_matters_inspection_and_testing_rcds.pdf

 

[Lectrician]

A voltage operated type looked for 'current' flowing to earth via the main earth conductor.

The main earth conductor looped through the ELCB with the tails.

As said, and leakage to earth that did not flow down the main earth conductor wouldn't trip the device - so metal water/gas supplies, common earthed metalwork between buildings, and other earth paths (including you) would render the trip useless.