My very old metal consumer unit thingy.. opinions / interest

[tonymillion]

This is the 'consumer unit' in my flat (a 60s/70s ex local authority (hackney) flat). From the looks of it, this metal box was constructed specifically for the flats here. It is embedded in a concrete wall (actually its a plywood fascia on a concrete wall).

The 'fuseboard' is in the top part its made by Wylex, with the electrical supply coming in from behind. The whole system (sockets etc) is earthed through metal trunking.

Interestingly the ring main is wired with 4mm2 twisted strand copper (looks like its tin plated, plastic coated), at first I thought it was one gigantic radial, but the electrician (see below) showed me its a ring (2 sets of wires coming in to the bus bar).

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This is a close up of the 'fuse box' thing.

The 20A breaker, which should be a MCB, but I think is a RCB? was fitted by an electrician, it used to be a 15amp fuse which supplied an immersion heater which had long since (and long before we moved in) been replaced by a combi boiler (fuse 2).

The wiring for the imersion heater had been left in place, and turned into a plug socket in a cupboard by the previous owners. We decided to get it upgraded to 20A (its 2.5mm2 copper anyway) and turn it into a nice radial for kitchen appliances (fridge/freezer and a small dishwasher) (see my previous post about the BCOs only asking for a minor work certificate)

My questions are:

1> Is this whole box thing still ok to have around? (assuming the bus bar is in good condition)

2> Is that actually a MCB or RCD (or maybe a rcbo)? it doesn't look like the ones that often get linked to from this forum http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Images/Products/size_3/XWYB6.JPG (those ones).

3> just interested in thoughts on the whole thing.

Lastlly I think one of those old fasioned wooden handled Y lever things you see mad professors using in 1930s horror movies would really set this whole thing off, and ideas?

 

[Steve]

Its an MCB.

RCDs need live and neutral. These only have Live. These devices all provide overcurrent protection, but there is no earth fault protection,
unless afforded elsewhere.

It could to with replacement, to a CU incorporating an RCD for your sockets. Though an RCD would only be required if you're
on the ground floor, its always a good thing to have anyway.

 

[JohnD]

It doesn't look too bad. It might have been fitted by a housing company or council who had standardised on Wylex years ago (yours does not look especially old). Two points:

Is there an enclosure round the back of the panel holding the fuses? they usually sit in a box recessed into the wall, not a meter cabinet. If not there could be live parts accessible which is very bad.

You really ought to update the fuseway labels. A method I like is to use white vinyl tape and a medium permanent marker. You can write up the circuit names neatly on a strip of tape on the kitchen table, then stick it to the panel. Wipe the panel clean so it sticks well.

If you want, you can convert the fuses to MCBs quite easily. This will make it much quicker to reset if you ever have one trip. Rewirable fuses in particular are frowned on as people often rewire them with the wrong size.

It would be best to have the Main Bonds and earthing arrangements checked as they are probably out of date. You can do this yourself, it is easy. Otherwise I see no urgency in replacing the CU, you could wait until you need some rewiring done. If you have any sockets that can reasonably be expected to be used with equipment outdoors, you ought to protect them with an RCD. You cannot fit one to that panel.

If it was me, I would keep a cheap torch in the meter cabinet in case you ever need to fix a fuse at night.

I believe the thing you are thinking of is called a Knife Switch.

 

[plugwash]

i think i've heared of meter cabinits designed to take a skeleton board before, if it is a setup like that it should be possible to replace it with a modern skeleton board.

Alternatively since afaict the only circuit you have that should really be on RCD is the ring you could mount a RCD in a seperate modular box below the CU just for that one circuit.

 

[streetlighter]

Ive seen that syle of all in one meter cupboard around my area too in local authority houses,though the ones ive seen had porcelain fuse holders and carriers though thy might have been wylex fuses.
When the council did rewires they riped them out and lashed a 7 way Crabtree starbreaker unit in them with all outgoings protected by a 30ma RCCB. And now its a housing association they have installed split load units on the wall above the meter cupboard.

 

[tonymillion]

It doesn't look too bad. It might have been fitted by a housing company or council who had standardised on Wylex years ago (yours does not look especially old). Two points:

As I said its an ex council flat, I think the whole building has (or had) these boxes.

Is there an enclosure round the back of the panel holding the fuses? they usually sit in a box recessed into the wall, not a meter cabinet. If not there could be live parts accessible which is very bad.

The whole thing is embedded in a wall, the only time you can get access to anything live is if you take off the brown fascia of the fuse array. The whole thing is built together and made of metal. That part worries me somewhat, if a live wire came loose inside the fuse board, it could potentially make the whole thing live

You really ought to update the fuseway labels. A method I like is to use white vinyl tape and a medium permanent marker. You can write up the circuit names neatly on a strip of tape on the kitchen table, then stick it to the panel. Wipe the panel clean so it sticks well.

Theres a big fuse designation sheet on the inside of the door, labelling each fuse number and telling you what they are for. And yes I've updated it for the 20A radial

If you want, you can convert the fuses to MCBs quite easily. This will make it much quicker to reset if you ever have one trip. Rewirable fuses in particular are frowned on as people often rewire them with the wrong size.

It would be best to have the Main Bonds and earthing arrangements checked as they are probably out of date. You can do this yourself, it is easy. Otherwise I see no urgency in replacing the CU, you could wait until you need some rewiring done. If you have any sockets that can reasonably be expected to be used with equipment outdoors, you ought to protect them with an RCD. You cannot fit one to that panel.

Yeah, I was thinking of replacing the whole lot with MCBs at some point , a lot easier than trying to replace a cartridge fuse for the lights in the middle of the night (even if I do keep a torch under the kitchen sink).

One of the first things I did when I moved in was check and fix all the earth bonding in the kitchen and bathroom. The gas and water mains weren't bonded neither was the bathroom raidator The electrician who sorted the 20A radial also went over the bonding, and gave it the A-Ok.

As for using stuff outside, I dont think its an option as theres a 40foot drop to the floor. thats quite an extension cable I'd need

i think i've heared of meter cabinits designed to take a skeleton board before, if it is a setup like that it should be possible to replace it with a modern skeleton board.

Alternatively since afaict the only circuit you have that should really be on RCD is the ring you could mount a RCD in a seperate modular box below the CU just for that one circuit.

Yes I believe this is one of those ( a metal metercabinet fuse box combo), its made by ZedLok metal works (S.E. 15). The fuse part I photographed, has a skeleton board in it, if you take the brown face plate off you can see all the wiring coming in and the bus bar.

I never thought about that before but I suppose it could be possible to have a leccy come out and replace the skeleton with a modern one possibly a split load. For reference I'm on the 4th floor, (about 40 feet up).

I dont really need any other circuits or more capability as most of the flat is taken care of, the only thing I could possibly have is a few more fixed plug points to replace extension cables but thats by the by.
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[DESL]

I found this in an ex council house.

 

[kai]

Do you mean this, when it comes to modernising your consumer unit, you can buy a Wylex replacement insert to fit the old box, and yes, you can even have TWO 30mA RCD's in it just to be on the safe side!

 

[sparkyspike]

That main switch beats the hell out of a Henley block!

 

[comms]

Hows that for a coincidence, my job for today was to rip out just this sort of set up. Customer had meter lowered & put onto outside wall (in a meter cab) then I had to install new tails & a Mk split load board, made for an easy life routing cables with the gaping hole left by the old cabinet, just aswell the cavity insulation wasn't the polystyrene balls it could have got messy
If I remember I'll take some pics next week when i'm back wiring the extension.

 

[kai]

That big main switch is an industrial type main switch, built to handle 125amps at 415 volts duty. At least it's well up to the job, when used as a domestic main switch - it's pretty obvious which switch isolates the whole house.