New cut out box fitted

[mingmong]

I recently had my incoming fuse up graded to 100a from 60a and the cast iron cut out box replaced with a plastic one.
The earthing also upgraded to 16mm2 from 10mm2!!! from the outer sheath of the supply cable(lead) to the earth block, the to then terminal into my consumer unit.

The contractor however never gave me a test certificate nor did i see him perform a test apart from a polarity check before he inserted the fuse link.
Should he have performed an earth loop test at least?
any help would be great.

 

[dingbat]

Probably not. He'd likely be a cable jointer, rather than an electrician, and might not even know what a loop test is.

All he's done is upgrade the main fuse and, although the rec may be responsible for providing an earth connection, unless you report a fault with it they are probably not in the least bit concerned.

 

[kai]

Well how did he switch off the supply - as it was the service fuse block itself he was replacing???

 

[supersparks]

Well how did he switch off the supply - as it was the service fuse block itself he was replacing???

pretty easly, if they need to they can shut the whole phase off to work on it, they just phone hq for a job number
never seen one replaced live though.....and definatly not the ones filled with resin over the old oil ones

ss

 

[Lectrician]

All done live around here. Or they may drop the crimp on the pole if overhead.

 

[securespark]

Yep. Mine was done live.

Did a rewire in Bristol where they moved the intake and the guy sat there smashing away at the bitumen covered cable with a lump hammer - all live!!

 

[supersparks]

Yep. Mine was done live.

Did a rewire in Bristol where they moved the intake and the guy sat there smashing away at the bitumen covered cable with a lump hammer - all live!!

lol, i wouldent put it past em......
blodey screw loose

 

[kai]

Here's another supply intake arrangement

Can you spot the problems?
Middle unit Red Blue and Yellow Phase Colours mixed up.
What is the plasticine doing around the incoming cable of the middle unit?
All the seals are missing.
The base and the fuse holders on the big right hand unit seem to be working loose.
Earthing cables missing.
Where are the outgoing cables in the left most unit?
Perhaps another botch job was spotted!

 

[securespark]

Kai they've cut the seals, pulled the fuses, and put them back in the wrong order.

Do the earthing cables take a different route off camera? The intake cases seem to be insulated, so no earth needed.

The l/h bank is just not used, that's all.

 

[the trician]

Its probably PME'd so you won't see any earth coming from the Main fuses on the right hand side of the picture.

Don't know about the lack of earths on the left hand side though!

TT

 

[kai]

I've had a guess, the plasticine is stop the oil leaking out of the base unit?
(a leccy board engineer told me they used to fill incoming supply cables with pcb oil - it that true?)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I've had a guess, the plasticine is stop the oil leaking out of the base unit?
(a leccy board engineer told me they used to fill incoming supply cables with pcb oil - it that true?)

I sincerely hope not - PCBs are extremely nasty chemicals....

 

[Lectrician]

Looks like they have lost the grommet/shroud, and are using some of the water proof compound they use to seal cables in door frames etc.

The cable linking the large service head to the smaller heads looks pvc to me - no sealing needed.

Where does the old school large service head go??

 

[kai]

The Big Box on the right feeds the Shop on the ground floor, and the small ones feed the three flats above the shop.

 

[Lectrician]

The large cut-out is usually used on supplies of 150-250amp, with CT metering?? - what type of shop is it??