RCBO lights?

[harrisonline]

Sorry if I am posting too often. I can't help myself!

I have just been reading through some old posts. And I read that the 17th edition requires un-earthed lighting circuits to be RCD protected.

When I had my CU fitted the electrician didn't put the lighting circuit on the RCD side as he said its againsed regs as I would loose my lights in the event of something tripping the RCD in the middle of the night. Or if there was an electrical appliance fire!

Should I get my lights put on the RCD side. Or should I get a RCBO for it so it has its own little RCD protection????

 

[Chri5]

RCBO is better due to it only taking down the 1 circuit, a RCD will take down everything thats on the RCD side.


When did you have the work done ?

Reason I ask is that there was a lot of debate re: 17th and fuse configs in earlier 2008, so he may have been acting on reasonable info at the time.

Generally the 17th CU configs seem to be split / 2 x RCD rails and a direct rail for RCBO's

The daddy of all designs is RCBO's for every single circuit but at £25+ each that can work out as a quote killer job wise.

 

[harrisonline]

Just dug out my Napit certificate.

It was longer ago than I thought. Don't time fly. It was in May 2007.

Can I just swap the MCB on the lighting circuit for an RCBO? Am I allowed to do this myself?

 

[Jaymack]

RCBO is better due to it only taking down the 1 circuit, a RCD will take down everything thats on the RCD side.

An RCBO is an RCD

Regards

 

[Chri5]

RCBO is better due to it only taking down the 1 circuit, a RCD will take down everything thats on the RCD side.

An RCBO is an RCD

Regards

Pedantic- An RCBO has the functionality of a RCD but control only one circuit.
So teaching you to suck eggs, would you care to accept that 6 x RCBO's are better than 6 x MCB's on a RCD rail

 

[Chri5]

Just dug out my Napit certificate.

It was longer ago than I thought. Don't time fly. It was in May 2007.

Can I just swap the MCB on the lighting circuit for an RCBO? Am I allowed to do this myself?

No, it's a major alteration to an existing circuit and you would need to test the operation of the device.

 

[sparkyspike]

Well, you can do it yourself, but as Chri5 says, you need to be able to test the circuit afterwards.

As far as notification is concerned, I think the consensus is that when MCBs are replaced, this constitutes a new circuit. However, on the NICEIC notification website, for example, there is no option for 'replacing an OCD' - only for providing a new circuit or alteration. Unless it's in a kitchen or bathroom, or special location, you could argue that this work is not notifiable.

On this occasion, I would agree that you are significantly altering the circuit, including its disconnection characteristics. However, providing an EIC on an existing circuit, without seeing the installation method, is debateable also.

Still, you need to test and certificate, so it's likely that an electrician will do this for you anyway and therefore notification, for you, won't be an issue.

 

[securespark]

It was in May 2007.

Before the 17th came in, then. So you must have a 16th split board.

 

[harrisonline]

Cheers

Also read on here that its best to use the same brand mcb's ect as the CU. Well mine is a CASTLEC. What pile of s**t is that. I googled it and it doesn't exist?

 

[RF Lighting]

Show us a picture.

It'll be someone elses brand, but rebadged.

 

[Spark123]

RCBO is better due to it only taking down the 1 circuit, a RCD will take down everything thats on the RCD side.

An RCBO is an RCD

Regards

Pedantic- An RCBO has the functionality of a RCD but control only one circuit.
So teaching you to suck eggs, would you care to accept that 6 x RCBO's are better than 6 x MCB's on a RCD rail

To be even more pedantic, RCD is just a generic term which covers RCCBs, RCBOs, SRCDs etc. What is often referred to as an RCD is infact an RCCB.

 

[harrisonline]

Sure. Here's a photo. Can you see who makes them?

View media item 9599
Also you can see the 2 lighting circuits that I want to change to RCBOs as they have no earth.

 

[flameport]

That looks like a CTI unit.
http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en&q=cti+consumer+unit
Current ones have different coloured breakers but the shape and design look the same.

 

[harrisonline]

I know it is very flimsy and in retrospect I wish I had done the job myself. Fitted a tidy board and notified whoever it is you notify to inspect and test it. (someone will bite my head off at this point and point out I cant do it myself and get someone else to test it ect...but then I would know inside that it was a job well done.) As even though he was part-p the board is cr*p and he didn't have a clue. You should have seen him testing the house, it was trial and error to get the right setting on his testing equipment.

 

[GaryMo]

It was a total rewire wasn't it?

I wonder why he gave an interval of 3 years to the next periodic inspection and test? Normally this would have been a recommended 10 years for a new domestic installation.