Standalone RCD question

[efiste2]

Can you still buy standalone RCD units to go in between the meter and the CU I have a few 100ma ones in my garage, that i inherited from work but i need a 30ma one for a job in a house.

 

[securespark]

Yes! Just by an RCD and mount it in a stand-alone enclosure.

Wylex make one ES 14 or MEM do one. I prefer the Wylex, there's more room in them.

 

[bongos]

You can still buy them, yes. But they are not considered complaint if fitted between the meter and the CU as there will be a 'single point of failure' in the installation.

 

[efiste2]

Good info thanks chaps........

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[RF Lighting]

Would you care to expand a little on that statement?

 

[securespark]

He should have written "compliant", but other than that it seems accurate.

A single RCD protecting all the circuits in an installation does not comply with regs, either 16th or 17th Ed.

 

[kai]

He should have written "compliant", but other than that it seems accurate.

A single RCD protecting all the circuits in an installation does not comply with regs, either 16th or 17th Ed.

In the Eighties, when the Fifteenth was out, best practice often required that a single 30mA RCD protected the entire consumer unit, as a shock prevention measure!

 

[securespark]

He should have written "compliant", but other than that it seems accurate.

A single RCD protecting all the circuits in an installation does not comply with regs, either 16th or 17th Ed.

In the Eighties, when the Fifteenth was out, best practice often required that a single 30mA RCD protected the entire consumer unit, as a shock prevention measure!

In the Eighties, when the Fifteenth was out (when I first commenced electrical work - 1983/4) CU's did not tend to have RCD's. Instead, best practice was to fit SRCD's adjacent to each external door.

 

[securespark]

From the 15th Ed. 1981:

471-47

Where an installation incorporates socket outlets rated 32A or less which may reasonably be expected to supply portable equipment for use outdoors, at least one such socket outlet shall be:

(i) placed in a position suitable to supply portable equipment outdoors, and

(ii) marked in accordance with Reg 514-8 ("FOR EQUIPMENT OUTDOORS"), and

(iii) provided with supplementary protection to reduce the risk associated with direct contact by means of an RCD having the characteristics specified in Reg 412-14.