Incoming power supply dodgy?

[curium]

Hi,

I'm coming up to a year in a house I bought. It's a 1934 semi-detached and needs some attention.

I recently had an electrician round to quote for some work. While here he told me that my incoming power supply looked liked it had been moved and that the supplier definitely would not have installed it like that.

Here a is a photo:



Apparently, he can't touch it so I have to call UK Power Networks.

Can anyone talk me through the issues and what UK Power are likely to do/say?

Cheers

 

[curium]

UK Power haven't been very helpful. They say they can move it but it'll cost around £3k as they may need to access the incoming cable.

I guess it's staying put.

 

[SUNRAY]

My guess is the chipboard is not original for the age of the head, it looks far too new and the round head screws point me to DIY, but the actual electrical bit looks OK to me. The only bit I can't workout is the earth terminal, top right of board, which is totally within your electricians domain but only if it needs looking at. Where do you/he think it's been moved from?

 

[curium]

Where do you/he think it's been moved from?

I've no idea. He said that there's no way the supplier would have installed it like that. He didn't say it was dangerous or anything.

I'd much rather it was mounted on something substantial like the adjacent masonry wall rather than the timber cladding which basically divides the understairs cupboard. The meter is mounted on the other side and the fuse board is mounted further up.

 

[SUNRAY]

I've no idea. He said that there's no way the supplier would have installed it like that. He didn't say it was dangerous or anything.

I'd much rather it was mounted on something substantial like the adjacent masonry wall rather than the timber cladding which basically divides the understairs cupboard. The meter is mounted on the other side and the fuse board is mounted further up.

And looking at the brown and blue tails I'd say the supplier/meter fitter has visited fairly recently so indicates to me they are happy with it.
I think you're right that the chipboard may not be part of the installation but it's not a lot different to 'official'. It appears to have an official seal so has not been tampered with and mounting on a partition is common and the meter being the other side is 'not preferred' but also not uncommon. From this distance Idon't have concerns.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Hard to tell, but are those proper meter tails?

 

[JohnW2]

I've no idea. He said that there's no way the supplier would have installed it like that. He didn't say it was dangerous or anything.

It doesn't look as if that incoming supply cable has been significantly disturbed/moved for many decades, so I doubt that any of it has ever been moved very far. However, the service head (black box with fuse etc.) is very much younger, as, as has been said, are those brown and blue cables coming out of the top of it (definitely 21st century) - so, as has also been said, whoever fitted those cables (probably a 'meter fitter') must have been happy with the situation, as presumably were UKPN (or whoever) when they installed that service head..

I'd much rather it was mounted on something substantial like the adjacent masonry wall rather than the timber cladding which basically divides the understairs cupboard. The meter is mounted on the other side and the fuse board is mounted further up.

I would guess that the electrics pre-dated the installation of that timber cladding/divider and that the service was originally fixed (on an official 'Electricity Company Back Board' to " the adjacent masonry wall".

Why would you rather have it attached to something else? Is it a question of space in the cupboard, or what? As has been said, it looks electrically OK, other than perhaps for that earth terminal (which we can't see too clearly).

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

My guess is the chipboard is not original for the age of the head, it looks far too new and the round head screws point me to DIY,

The 'head' looks not the original one for that lead/paper armoured, it does appear to be sealed and the screws are of a similar age to the head. Brown and blue is post 1990's and the chipboard could date back to the 1960's. So I am not noticing anything which jumps out at me, apart from the expanding foam.

 

[Robin0577]

Yeah, it's really the foam that makes it look wrong, and perhaps the screws too. They look too new, and with that sort of head they look like they belong to expanding cavity wall anchors.

Like everyone else has said, the actual electrical bit looks pretty legit from here.

 

[JohnW2]

Yeah, it's really the foam that makes it look wrong, and perhaps the screws too. They look too new, and with that sort of head they look like they belong to expanding cavity wall anchors.

Indeed. It would be interesting too know when that panelling/division of the under-stairs cupboard occurred. As has been said, the nature of the tails indicates that there has been a meter change (presumably without any concerns about the setup) 'relatively recently' - and, indeed, a service head change (inevitably by the DNO) not all that long ago.

Like everyone else has said, the actual electrical bit looks pretty legit from here.

Indeed so - although, as I and others have said, a closer look at that 'earth terminal' would be desirable.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

They look too new, and with that sort of head they look like they belong to expanding cavity wall anchors.

They appear to be just normal slotted round head wood screws to me, I have several like them in my collection of screws bin. Cavity wall anchors tended to be a pan head type.

The fixings for the cut-out into the blockboard, are internal - under the sealed cover, which means if someone re-fixed it to the board, they had to have access to seals and the seal tool to do it.

 

[SUNRAY]

They appear to be just normal slotted round head wood screws to me, I have several like them in my collection of screws bin. Cavity wall anchors tended to be a pan head type.

The fixings for the cut-out into the blockboard, are internal - under the sealed cover, which means if someone re-fixed it to the board, they had to have access to seals and the seal tool to do it.

They look to me typical of the cavity fixings mentioned or self tappers with a combination pozi/flat head yes agreed about screw hole positions in the cut-out.

Chipboard tends to darken with age which makes me think it was probable fitted about the same time as the cut-out.

 

[Taylortwocities]

My guess is that it’s the original board. The corners are rounded and most people would not go to that trouble if they were fitting a replacement.

The wall fixings probably came loose from the wall over time and the easiest way to fix was to use expanding foam behind.

 

[JohnW2]

My guess is that it’s the original board. The corners are rounded and most people would not go to that trouble if they were fitting a replacement.

Do you mean 'original' at the time the new (current) cutout was fitted?

Although it could just be 'damage (as in the top RH corner), it looks as if the bottom of that board may have been 'shaped' to fit aroiund something (something not present at the current location) ...

As I wrote before, I would suspect that the partition to which the board is now attached may well not be 'original' (in relation to the 1930s), so may well have been added when there was already an under-stairs electricity supply. If that were the case, the board/cutout must have been attached to something different prior to that.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

it looks as if the bottom of that board may have been 'shaped' to fit aroiund something (something not present at the current location) ...

I am not seeing it. I can see what appears to be one of those old, round ceramic insulators, peeping out at the top RH corner, spacing the board away from the wall surface.