Replacing one consumer unit with two
- Thread starter raymie
- Start date
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Crafty said:Wheres that then pensdown? what do those panels feed - all that SWAinteresting floor . . .
Looks like a standard setup for virtually every modern office.
I guess the SWAs feed under floor busbar trunking.
The floor is a modular system of metal coated chipboard tiles, with a void of about 300mm below to allow for data / mains cabling, allowing a very flexible office layout with no trailing cables.
Crafty said:Wheres that then pensdown? what do those panels feed - all that SWA
It's a Comms Room with around 60 cabinets. Each cabinet has 3no 16amp supplies, 1 from each board.
After that project our apprentice finally got the hang of terminating SWA
PS....Johnd....good to see you're on good form
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ok some piccies
set number 1 is the supply cabinet.
set number 1 is the supply cabinet.
set number 2 is the consumer unit in the house
and the final set is the bits before the house but after the meter
Aha! So that's the RCD A80HD! Quite an old one, bigger than the current range, I now understand why it needs an adaptor. If MEM have such an adaptor to make the current size of RCD or Isolator fit, it will be very useful as I doubt you could get the old part any more.
The cable from the meter cabinet to the changover looks rather poor. The cores look undersized and appear to have been wrapped in tape Possibly this has been done for colour identification, but there is no proper sheathing on them over the insulation. I can't make out what kind of cable it is, is it Steel Wire Armoured? If so, it has not been properly terminated.
However as there is an 80A switchfuse between the metar tails and that other cable, it could safely be isolated to replace the cable with something larger. What is the distance between the meter cabinet and your changeover switch?
I see you have another rusty switchfuse and an old fusebox next to the changeover switch, what do these do?
The MCB for the cooker is a GE one, not MEM, so should be replaced as it may not be a good fit.
The second MCB from the left is a MEM one, later model than the others, as currently issued. Are its dimensions and fit the same as the old one?
The cable from the meter cabinet to the changover looks rather poor. The cores look undersized and appear to have been wrapped in tape
Possibly this has been done for colour identification, but there is no proper sheathing on them over the insulation. I can't make out what kind of cable it is, is it Steel Wire Armoured? If so, it has not been properly terminated.However as there is an 80A switchfuse between the metar tails and that other cable, it could safely be isolated to replace the cable with something larger. What is the distance between the meter cabinet and your changeover switch?
I see you have another rusty switchfuse and an old fusebox next to the changeover switch, what do these do?
The MCB for the cooker is a GE one, not MEM, so should be replaced as it may not be a good fit.
The second MCB from the left is a MEM one, later model than the others, as currently issued. Are its dimensions and fit the same as the old one?
The power from the supply cabinet (first set of pictures) as you can see goes through the barn wall the switchover box. Only use this for power cuts when I need the generator on.
After that the other pictures in set 3 are for the power to the barn itself and a couple of small outbuildings, no major power usage in any of these at the moment.
The pictures in set 3 are pretty poor cause I forgot to turn on the lights before going to that part of the barn, the box is not perhaps as rusty as it may seem, more grimey.
The CU switch is indeed a funny one, with the RCD being incorporated into the main switch there is obviously no option for a split load at all.
The Cooker MCB as you mention is indeed not identical to the rest but it does seem to fit ok and is only off since after the last trip I have not used it and not bothered to put it back on again (as with another couple of circuits). I will replace it if I keep the MEM box as the main CU in the house, but if I replace it with another make then I would need to get a whole new set of MCB's or whatever anyway.
After that the other pictures in set 3 are for the power to the barn itself and a couple of small outbuildings, no major power usage in any of these at the moment.
The pictures in set 3 are pretty poor cause I forgot to turn on the lights before going to that part of the barn, the box is not perhaps as rusty as it may seem, more grimey.
The CU switch is indeed a funny one, with the RCD being incorporated into the main switch there is obviously no option for a split load at all.
The Cooker MCB as you mention is indeed not identical to the rest but it does seem to fit ok and is only off since after the last trip I have not used it and not bothered to put it back on again (as with another couple of circuits). I will replace it if I keep the MEM box as the main CU in the house, but if I replace it with another make then I would need to get a whole new set of MCB's or whatever anyway.
JohnD said:The cable from the meter cabinet to the changover looks rather poor. The cores look undersized and appear to have been wrapped in tape
Looks like split-con to me
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