It would presumably actually be 'easier' ('less lazy') to buy all of the same make?
However, you seem to be assuming that they were all 'new', which presumably is not necessarily the case?
The second electrician says the first one shouldn't have issued a satisfactory EICR.
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However, you seem to be assuming that they were all 'new', which presumably is not necessarily the case?
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He came back saying:
Visual inspection showed the board was labeled incorrectly and there were over sized and under sized breakers for the circuits wired.
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The DIN rail is a German standard, but where the operation lever comes through the lid, and the height and method of clamping onto the bus bar is not standard.
There have been consumer unit fires, in the main caused by a poor connection to the bus bar, the MCB's where the terminal was not forced open by the terminal screw allowing the bus bar tag to go wrong side of terminal clamp, and the different heights or bus bar increases the chance of an error being made.
Also the consumer unit type testing means only items recommended by the manufacturer can be fitted, otherwise is ceases to be a consumer unit, it is just a distribution unit.
So that's what wrong with mixing makes, however for an EICR we would need to code C3, and recommend correct MCB's fitted, but if they do fit OK then could not be a code C2 potentially dangerous, however since the bus bar is held firm by the other MCB's and the MCB is held firm by the DIN rail it is nearly impossible to tell if the fit OK.
And I know I was called to a new house with a complaint the phones were acting up in the house, but were OK with old house, so sent to reassure the new owner there was no problem, however I was getting odd readings with the loop impedance tester, so opened the CU, and found the bus bar to MCB screws loose.
I reported what I had found and the electrician who fitted it was questioned, and it seems the CU had come populated, so he had never checked those screws, seems the supplier had just slotted the MCB's in so easy to carry, and the manufacturer did say all screws should be checked, however it shows how easy it is to make an error when the DIN rail is holding the MCB firm.
But the second electrician was not it seems doing an EICR, so commenting on another electricians work it seems likely he was looking for more work for himself.
Indeed, and it has always struck me as pretty ridiculous that such a situation has been allowed to arise. It would have been so easy for the product standards to require that all 'devices' (MCBs, RCBOs etc.) were mechanically/physically compatible
Imagine the situation that would have arisen if BS1362 and BS1363 had not defined (amongst other things) the dimensions and spacing of pins - different makes might then not have been compatible with one another!!
Kind Regards, John
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Possibly but ...
The labelling *is* clearly *******s and these sound like the kind of issues that may be immediately obvious from the size of the conductors wired into the MCBs no?
Maybe they are (if the same size) - having all been "type tested" whatever that means.
Perhaps that is why manufacturers make theirs a different size so that one has to buy them..
As we know, devices of different makes do not necessarily have exactly the same size/shape or terminal arrangement.
One can but suspect that such is the reason, but I still don't think that situation should have been allowed to arise (by the Standard). As I said/implied, BS1362 and BS1363 require that all plugs/sockets (and fuses) to those Standards are physically compatible, so why not similarly for the devices one finds in CUs?
Kind Regards, John
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I think the answer is portability.
13A plugs and sockets are made to the same standard to guarantee compatibility with each other around the world.
This is not a factor in consumer unit design.
13A plugs and sockets are made to the same standard to guarantee compatibility with each other around the world.
This is not a factor in consumer unit design.
It clearly would be ridiculous if all makes of 13A plugs, sockets and fuses were not compatible, but ...
... I'm not really convinced that the lack of 'portability' (in the same sense as plugs) is a particularly good excuse for the Standards relating to devices in CUs not defining the dimensions etc. In many/most walks of life, different makes of products are usually 'compatible' with one another.
Kind Regards, John
There were originally competing standards, which were not compatible..
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I'm not convinced!
That was in reply to John.
Edited for clarity.
That was in reply to John.
Edited for clarity.
Last edited:
Not really, look at drill batteries. Each manu has their own standard, and the even change the standard every few years.
That may be true (I have no idea) but that is no reason why the ('unsatisfactory') situation should have been allowed to persist.
Kind Regards, John
As I said, cross-manufacturer compatibility is very common in many (perhaps even most) walks of life.
That's certainly a total pain, but I'm not at all sure that there ever has been a formal relevant p[product Standard, has there?
Kind Regards, John
Only when it suited a manufacturers purpose and profit margin.
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