Consumer unit wiring

[JaneM]

I am having my home rewired by a so called qualified electrician but I am beginning to have my doubts. He has begun to wire up the consumer unit with the flick switches for the various lights, sockets etc. Some of the wiring enters the box from the underneath coming up from the floorboards and some comes up from the floor boards goes up the outside of the unit and enters in through the top so I've got electrical cables on the outside of the consumer unit just left on there. Is this right, am I supposed to get in all covered with a cupboard or something. Sorry for my lack of technical phrasing but as I said he is supposed to be the qualified one.

 

[Qedelec]

Take a picture and post it on here, we could do with a laugh.
When he said he was qualified, did he say in what?
What organisation is he a member of?
Make sure he takes his spurs off when he enters your house to save scratching the paintwork.
oh and don't for get to scoop up the manure from his horse, its very good for the roses.

 

[Steve]

Jane, dont fret, it could be worse, it could look like mine:

(click for bigger picture)

 

[NuttallsSpark]

That picture of the DB really annoys me Lol cant believe anyone could be that bad even a DIYer could do better than that!!!

 

[andy]

id be ashamed of myself if my work was anything like that. ive had a few messy boards before, but that was mainly due to length of old cables. new installs i keep it tidy and in some logical order

 

[NuttallsSpark]

Have you seen the two black cables going very near the top of the MCB have they connected them using the turned off MCB !!!!!!!

 

[andy]

Have you seen the two black cables going very near the top of the MCB have they connected them using the turned off MCB !!!!!!!

nice.... now what happens when a breaker trips and someone just resets all...

 

[Steve]

Have you seen the two black cables going very near the top of the MCB have they connected them using the turned off MCB !!!!!!!

i think not . . . they lead down to the 2 cables that enter thru the bottom of the CU. I will be doing something to tidy all this up in the summer when i get around to renewing the supply to the shed with a 32A supply. Will try to get the MCBs in the right order and will run a seperate radial for the fridge freezer, and if i have space, for the air con unit. If only i could get the meter tails out of the way . . .

 

[andy]

fit an isolator on tails? doesnt look like the fuse is sealed at the bottom

 

[NuttallsSpark]

Easy Move the DB down slightly then take the meter tails out and re-enter above the Main Swiched isolator that will give u more room to tidy them up

 

[NuttallsSpark]

Sorry about that post didnt look at your mains photo

Call your power provider and inform them to upgrade your meter tails then when they come ask them to fit an isolator so you can safely turn off ( May be a small charge)

 

[Steve]

fit an isolator on tails? doesnt look like the fuse is sealed at the bottom

i'm not messing around with the fuse - too many horror stories on here. Will get the DNO out to fit an isolator and upgrade meter tails - they look like a cloth sort of covering on the old ones, the spark we hired just extended them

If i get an isolator fitted, i will henley in a 40A DP MCB for the shed supply, rather than use the house CU, as with the fridge freezer on the non-rcd side, there wont be space here for the shed supply. dont want it on rcd side at the house for obvious reasons.

 

[Adam_151]

But won't you be finding the neutral-> earth fault on your upstairs ring, fixing it, and sticking that circuit on the rcd side? then you'll have room for both the shed and freezer radials on the none rcd side

 

[Steve]

But won't you be finding the neutral-> earth fault on your upstairs ring, fixing it, and sticking that circuit on the rcd side? then you'll have room for both the shed and freezer radials on the none rcd side

you remember????

this is a good idea . . . but i dont know where to start with fault finding . . . i mean, what could cause this?

 

[Adam_151]

you remember????

this is a good idea . . . but i dont know where to start with fault
finding . . . i mean, what could cause this?

Yeah, my memory is weird, it come in usful sometimes, lol

And fault finding, first look in socket boxes for trapped cables, move onto fixings in prescribed zones, and if you still haven't found anything, then (with the ring disconnected from the board) break the ring down into segments and find which segment it lies on. May as well check ring continuity while you are at it as well