Practicing a Consumer Unit install
- Thread starter Jupiter01
- Start date
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Oh, ok, carry on
was going to suggest booking yourself on a course or handyman course (if this was the route you were planning on).Look at the good youtube electrician channels, there's half a dozen of them, and you will pick up practical tips. They give a good idea of the better quality CU's, both build quality and the practicality of fitting. There is a fair amount of product placement so be aware of that too.
The target of the videos - if there is one - tends to be the apprentice/college based trainee. Much is necessarily left out so treat them as a learning process rather than a step by step guide. Watching them helps you to think like an electrician e.g. planning cable routes.
I regularly look at these, the best ones are probably from 3/4 years ago now as content changes:
Thomas Nagy, DSS Electrical, Artisan, David Savery.
John Ward's channel is good for understanding the fundamentals of things like testing, and other basics, and probably a good starting point/refresher.
Blup
The target of the videos - if there is one - tends to be the apprentice/college based trainee. Much is necessarily left out so treat them as a learning process rather than a step by step guide. Watching them helps you to think like an electrician e.g. planning cable routes.
I regularly look at these, the best ones are probably from 3/4 years ago now as content changes:
Thomas Nagy, DSS Electrical, Artisan, David Savery.
John Ward's channel is good for understanding the fundamentals of things like testing, and other basics, and probably a good starting point/refresher.
Blup
Will the eBay CU meet my objectives in your opinion?
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That is all the bits for a CU. You will have to buy RCBOs if you want.
Yes, a few things to be aware of though.
1. unless the installation in your house is very old, there will likely be RCD protection for the sockets in your house CU. If you try to do RCD testing in the normal way then you will likely trip both the RCD in your practice CU and the one in your house CU. You can work around this by putting the earth probe of your RCD tester on the incoming neutral conductor instead of on the earth bar.
2. when working on UK fixed wiring with a TN supply, single pole isolation of individual circuits at the CU/DB is generally regarded as adequate. I would not however recommend relying on single pole isolation for anything fed from a plug and socket.
3. obviously readings like earth fault loop impedance will be much higher.
Whoops.
So it does.
I suppose not seeing a space or breakers after the main switch led to believe it was only a dual RCD board.
Sorry Jupiter, I was mistaken.
Ideal for 1 bed flats: ring final, lights, shower, cooker, immersion.
Couple of questions on terminals please.
With this CU, are my red lines pointing to the correct neutral terminals for each of these MCB’s?
I assume that I then wire the CPC in the corresponding number terminal on the CPC bar.
Also, with this configuration of CU, when do the right most neutral terminals ever get used?
Could I move the RCD and MCB’s one over to the left and then slot in a RCBO? This would then wire into the left most neutral terminals? Presumably it will need some adjustment to the bus bar too.
I wasn’t planning to launch into the RCBO in my test rig as I need to do some more research around this. “Clearly” I hear you say!
My initial focus was the current RCD and MCB configuration.
With this CU, are my red lines pointing to the correct neutral terminals for each of these MCB’s?
I assume that I then wire the CPC in the corresponding number terminal on the CPC bar.
Also, with this configuration of CU, when do the right most neutral terminals ever get used?
Could I move the RCD and MCB’s one over to the left and then slot in a RCBO? This would then wire into the left most neutral terminals? Presumably it will need some adjustment to the bus bar too.
I wasn’t planning to launch into the RCBO in my test rig as I need to do some more research around this. “Clearly” I hear you say!
My initial focus was the current RCD and MCB configuration.
Yes.
Yes.
For RCBOs or MCBs not covered by either of the RCCBs.
Yes.
Presumably a typo and you mean RIGHT.
Yes. You will have to configure the busbar to fit whatever and wherever it needs to fit.
Ok.
I know it says RCD on them but they are actually RCCBs (residual current circuit breakers) to distinguish them from RCBOs (residual current circuit breakers with overload protection) which are also RCDs.
As a matter of interest ... is that because you fear that the plug may have been wired with reverse polarity, or for some other reason that has yet to occur to me?
Kind Regards, John
Yes the red lines are correct.
The earths go in order of the mcbs but the numbers can never all match the neutral numbers.
The right neutrals get used if mcbs are fitted that fit between the main switch and the right 1st rcd, they become non rcd protected circuits.
To fit rcbos the busbar must not be fed from the same busbars that exit either of the rcds, they need to be fed from the main switch output, it can get messy, all Rcbos are the way forward really, saves messing with all the Trirated link cables
The earths go in order of the mcbs but the numbers can never all match the neutral numbers.
The right neutrals get used if mcbs are fitted that fit between the main switch and the right 1st rcd, they become non rcd protected circuits.
To fit rcbos the busbar must not be fed from the same busbars that exit either of the rcds, they need to be fed from the main switch output, it can get messy, all Rcbos are the way forward really, saves messing with all the Trirated link cables
Yes. Thanks for all the responses
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