RCD CONSUMER UNIT

[Paul_C]

Stupid penny-pinching short-sighted fools.

No doubt some wanted it done as cheaply as possible, but do you think there might also have been some where the electrician quoting wanted to make the price appear as attractive as possible and therefore only quoted for a single RCD? Maybe he didn't bpther to explain how an earth fault on any circuit would plunge the whole house into darkness, and the home owner probably didn't even think to ask.

Most of these retro-fits are replacements for voltage-operated ELCBs, which were used extensively out here in the boondocks and had exactly the same drawback in the event of a fault, so I guess they're no worse off than before.

Personally, I don't particularly like TT systems, and I'm not a fan of main RCDs anyway. I'd like to see PME adopted more widely and individual RCBOs fitted for circuits which need them.

Bit of vicious circle though, as people aren't going to go for them until prices drop and prices won't drop much until they're more widely used.

 

[securespark]

Bit of vicious circle though, as people aren't going to go for them until prices drop and prices won't drop much until they're more widely used.

This applies to all consumer products, though.

 

[larossa]

Is it ok to have a garage consumer unit with a RCD connected to a secondary pair of meter tails - I'm asking because the unit does not have a main DP switch - only the RCD and 2 MCBs.

 

[Paul_C]

I'm asking because the unit does not have a main DP switch - only the RCD and 2 MCBs.

The RCD is double-pole and acts as the main. It's fine.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

larossa - where is the CU in relation to the meter tails? Is it a long run from the meter to the garage CU, or is the meter in the garage?
]

 

[larossa]

The tails are about 18 inches from the meter under the stairs - they supplied a standard 40 amp fuse, but I wanted to change that for a small rcd protected consumer unit to feed the Garage ring for greater safety - the only small units on sale have an rcd and 6 and 16 amp fuse so I wanted to know if this was OK.

 

[Lectrician]

What is at the garage end???

 

[larossa]

Meter and consumer unit is under stairs in the house - Garage is adjacent (ie built onto the side of the house) through the wall. Garage has a small 13 amp ring and 6 amp lighting serving garage and conservatory.