Assuming nothing goes pear shaped, and it's not done as part of an illegal abstraction, does anbody ever get prosecuted for it?
And they will be able to be operated remotely too...
Pulling Main Fuse E-Petition
- Thread starter planemad
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In reality no, talking to senior staff it's something that isn't actually on the "radar". it will take a tragedy of some sort to get the authorities asking difficult questions of the DNOs before any action is considered!
That doesn't stop us having words with anyone we catch!!
The difficulty with a lot of this stuff is getting the regulator interested, at the end of the day he is the one that controls the DNO expenditure so would allow monies to be spent on the installation of isolators (or instruct them to do so) (we now are fitting them at every cut-out change)
I'm sure the last I heard was that this facility is not being enabled/installed.
What actually worries me more is that at present it is easy, only certain staff appointed by the DNO can pull the fuse. If the right is passed onto competent electricians it will soon become all electricians as a lot will decided, as now, that they know what they are doing so will pull the fuse. Soon house owners will cotton on and there will be a huge rise in DIY pulling of the fuse.
All leading to a huge rise in the probability of a tragic event. But by this time it will be too late to go back
Indeed, and what more could the petition being asking for than that (which already exists)? It surely is not being suggested that 'electricians' (however defined) should be given a legislated carte blanche to remove cutout fuses without a requirement 'adequate training'? As far as I can see, as far as legislation is concerned, we probably already have what is being asked for!
Exactly - that was my understanding. In other words, who is allowed to do what with the cutout is essentially a contractual matter between DNO and customer (hence any violations would presumably be a contractual/civil matter), not (as far as I am aware) anything directly controlled by legislation. So, again, what are government/legislators expected to be able to do about that?
Kind Regards, John
Being cynical
So how long before some start replacing blown main fuses and charging for it? Something we don't charge for
Deciding that they should replace faulty cut-outs (live!!!!) and charging for it. again something we don't charge for
So how long before some start replacing blown main fuses and charging for it? Something we don't charge for
Deciding that they should replace faulty cut-outs (live!!!!) and charging for it. again something we don't charge for
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Yup.
And the cheque's in the post, I won't c** in your mouth and there are no plans for a 3rd runway at Heathrow.
10 people a day die on the roads, a fair few of them because they can't manage to drive properly. We put up with it. I doubt you'd get 10 tragic events a year, let alone a day.
Put the message out about the dangers, and if people want to behave like t**ts then so be it. Who knows - maybe it could usher in a new era where people actually start to think and take responsibility for their own actions.
Have you an inside track on this Westie? I had heard that the decision was that the SM would not include an isolator on the grounds of cost.
An interesting feature of Smart Meters is that the meter will detect the disconnection of power from the supply side (eg when the fuse is pulled by an unauthorised person).
This will be reported by the SM and highlighted as an unexplained outage.
An onsite inspection by the DNO would then detect the removal of the seal on the fuse carrier and retribution could then follow.
Obviously technologically possible, but they would have to feel pretty strongly about the issue to invoke all that hassle for themselves. Let's face it, if they did feel strongly they presumably already could invoke a low-tech solution, by getting meter readers to report apparently absent seals to them (hence inspections and 'retributions') - but is that ever done on a routine basis?
Kind Regards, John
The reporting of loss of supply may be more about improving our response to faults, often on LV faults it can take a while to find out who actually has no supply by door knocking (not much use late at night or if folk are at work)
That makes sense but it's very different from a situation in which just one consumer's meter loses supply for just a short period (whilst an electrician does something). I find it very hard to believe that a DNO would want to get excited about that! I think some paranoia may be creeping in to some of these discussions!
Kind Regards, John
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As most of you aren’t electricians I suppose it was a bit pointless to ask your backing for something to make the industry safer.
The idea of isolators built in to smart meters is dead and buried, lost out to £sd. But some of you still cling to the misconception they will be fitted.
The idea of isolators built in to smart meters is dead and buried, lost out to £sd. But some of you still cling to the misconception they will be fitted.
I'm not sure that I fully understand. As far as the first part of the petition is concerned, my understanding is that (as far as law is concerned) it is already perfectly legal for any 'adequately trained' person to pull a cutout fuse, so I'm at a bit of a loss to understand what government is being asked to do.
As for the compulsory fitting of isolators, I personally would favour that, even though it's not immediately obvious to me how that could easily be achieved by legislation. However, if it did happen (and bearing in mind the nature of this forum), I would imagine that one effect would probably be to increase the amount of 'working on CUs' and lothermajor work (with or without notification) undertaken by DIYers, and whilst that would not affect 'the safety of the industry', it might have an impact on safety.
Kind Regards, John
i can't see how it is unsafe as long as the present "rules" are followed and cut-out fuses are only withdrawn by authorised DNO or Supplier staff.
No one is making anybody do anything unsafe, they are doing it of their own accord to save the messing of getting (and possibly paying) the appropriate people to do the job.
None of us can think which specific legislation needs changed or do you want to introduce new legislation to force DNOs (private companies) to allow other parties to operate their property??
In that case there will have to be a wave of replacements.
Make no mistake - a gap is going to emerge between generating capacity and demand which will be so large that there will have to be ways to implement controlled rolling blackouts.
I'm a bit confused. This discussion and, indeed, the second part of the seemingly poorly-conceived petition is, as I understand it, all about manual isolators to prevent the need for those working on meter tails or CU from having to pull the cutout fuse. From what you've written, it sounds as if you are now talking about remote-controlled switching within a Smart Meter - is that correct?
Kind Regards, John
The meters will have isolators in them, capable of being operated remotely.
It's one of the reasons they are being rolled out - to allow targeted power cuts.
So if that feature has been dropped as Tony S says, then before long they'll have to replace them with ones which have it.
It's one of the reasons they are being rolled out - to allow targeted power cuts.
So if that feature has been dropped as Tony S says, then before long they'll have to replace them with ones which have it.
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