Hi, I just had an electrician over to look at replacing the fuseboard in my flat. He said that the electricity coming into my flat and into the fuseboard will have to be shut off before he can do the work, which seems entirely sensible. However the building caretaker said that in all the years he's worked there, no-one has ever needed to shut of the power into their flat, and am I sure it needs turning off? Surely there's no way to replace the fuseboard when the wires coming in from the outside mains supply are still live?
New fuse board required
- Thread starter gemma1234
- Start date
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To do it legally (and sensibly) he must not work live. Maybe no-one else has had their fuseboard replaced?
But you will require the power off to your flat for the spark to complete the work.
Describe or post a picture of your set up at the moment.
You have a fuse board, where ?
Is the meter in the flat or elsewhere (like near the fuse board)?
What else in near or adjacent to the fuse board ?
Are there any black box units connecting big cables ?
If the caretaker has access to a room that has all the supplies to the flats in, he is duty bound to allow an agent (the sparks) of a lease holder, entry.
If he gets funny about it mention "Health and Safety", and that your be insisting on access via a strong letter to the management company.
Best bet would be for the sparks to turn off for an hour and then fit a suitable isolation switch in the flat.
This will sit between the supply and your fuse board so any further requirements to switch the power off can be done in the flat.
So the caretaker is a once only request and wouldn't be needed again.
Cost of switch £50 + work / tests- done before or when the new fuse board goes live.
You have a fuse board, where ?
Is the meter in the flat or elsewhere (like near the fuse board)?
What else in near or adjacent to the fuse board ?
Are there any black box units connecting big cables ?
If the caretaker has access to a room that has all the supplies to the flats in, he is duty bound to allow an agent (the sparks) of a lease holder, entry.
If he gets funny about it mention "Health and Safety", and that your be insisting on access via a strong letter to the management company.
Best bet would be for the sparks to turn off for an hour and then fit a suitable isolation switch in the flat.
This will sit between the supply and your fuse board so any further requirements to switch the power off can be done in the flat.
So the caretaker is a once only request and wouldn't be needed again.
Cost of switch £50 + work / tests- done before or when the new fuse board goes live.
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Chri5,
Currently (from memory, as I'm not at home) the fuseboard looks like a bit of wood mounted on the wall inside a cupboard. It's got one big black cable coming in from outside, the casing of which stops at the board and exposes the two smaller black cables. Im told these shouldn't be exposed like they are.
There are circuit breakers for four circuits, and one main switch to turn off all four. There are generally two wires, red and black. There is a black box, maybe 10cm square.
The meter is next to the fuseboard. In the cupboard is also a white box/socket with a fuse casing that pops out, the fuse is out permanently as pushing it in causes the ancient burglar alarm to go off...
I wasn't aware that they had to let my electrician in to a supply room, thanks for that. The caretaker claims not to know where it is, he might change his mind if I tell him my fusebox is getting hot and smoky and smells funny (it's not!). Then again maybe not, he wouldn't switch off the water when my sink sprung a leak and my stop valve wouldn't turn. The poor plumber got very wet!
Also fitting an isolater for my flat is a great idea, as I think they have to switch off the power to the whole floor, so a one-off would be far better.
Thanks guys, all very helpful. Much easier for me to talk to the managing agents now that I've got an idea of what is needed.
Currently (from memory, as I'm not at home) the fuseboard looks like a bit of wood mounted on the wall inside a cupboard. It's got one big black cable coming in from outside, the casing of which stops at the board and exposes the two smaller black cables. Im told these shouldn't be exposed like they are.
There are circuit breakers for four circuits, and one main switch to turn off all four. There are generally two wires, red and black. There is a black box, maybe 10cm square.
The meter is next to the fuseboard. In the cupboard is also a white box/socket with a fuse casing that pops out, the fuse is out permanently as pushing it in causes the ancient burglar alarm to go off...
I wasn't aware that they had to let my electrician in to a supply room, thanks for that. The caretaker claims not to know where it is, he might change his mind if I tell him my fusebox is getting hot and smoky and smells funny (it's not!). Then again maybe not, he wouldn't switch off the water when my sink sprung a leak and my stop valve wouldn't turn. The poor plumber got very wet!
Also fitting an isolater for my flat is a great idea, as I think they have to switch off the power to the whole floor, so a one-off would be far better.
Thanks guys, all very helpful. Much easier for me to talk to the managing agents now that I've got an idea of what is needed.
Right.
The caretaker doesn't have to do anything, and there is a distinct chance there isn't a room containing all the supply feed to the individual flats.
Maybe a cupboard on your floor level ?
Reason is that you have a main supply in to your property, the meter proves that.
We really could do with a picture..........
The black box you describe is likely one of these ?
So you have 2 fuse board units- 1 with 4 circuits, 1 with an old alarm.
The main thicker wires feed back to the black box, then the meter and then ?
Is there a unit that somewhere that takes the fat cable from outside the flat and then feeds 2 cables on to the meter.
We're looking for the mains service fuse for your flat- anything outside your flats main door ? Anything adjacent to the meter ?
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So, here we go:
I'm not sure how the burglar alarm connects in, the white wires on the right do seem to connect to the white fuse switch to the bell, but then they disappear into the floor. Also it seems to be earthed to the cold water pipe, is that normal??
Any advice on how to switch off the power would be great!
Any advice on how to switch off the power would be great!
Probably by a cable running behind the wooden board into the fusebox - that FCU for the alarm is not supplied directly by the incoming supply.
We hope.
I wonder what's going on with that white junction box, and why the two cables coming out are smaller than the one going in.
No - it's earthed via the copper sheath of the supply cable. I'm sure RF will be along later to comment on the use of an earth clamp like that.
The connection to the water pipe is bonding the pipework to earth, and it's not only normal but essential.
//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:earthing-supply-types-and-bonding
Your service fuse is not in that cupboard - you need to find where it is - time to go and slap the caretaker about a bit.
as an aside, about the earth clamp on the pipe - my water shut-off valves are further down the pipes. If I had these replaced, i.e. had the section of pipe cut out so the pipe was no longer complete for a short period of time, does this mean my electricity supply wouldn't be earthed for that period? Does this have any implications for the appliances in my flat for that period? Or would he just work on one pipe at a time and move the earth to the other pipe?
ban-all-sheds: I think the white junction box may well be a bell transformer, hence the two bell wires coming out of it.
I hope the burglar alarm isn't supplied from the FCU by alarm cable, because that's what it looks like...
Colin C
I hope the burglar alarm isn't supplied from the FCU by alarm cable, because that's what it looks like...
Colin C
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