ISOLATOR SWITCH

[carmel60]

Hi everyone,
I am getting a property rewired and have been told that I need to contact Scottish Power to get an isolator switch fitted. However when I called them they said they only do this for their own customers and that I would need to contact my elec suppler, scottish hydro to get an isolator switch fitted!
Called Scottish hydro and have been given the runaround with various customer "Service" people clearly having no clue what I was talking about.
Any advice would be appreciated, also does anyone know how much this should cost and the turnaround time for getting the job done?
Thank you

 

[Lectrician]

Advice?

Just don't bother get one fitted. I personally hate the things and see no point in them.

 

[carmel60]

Thanks for that,
I take it that it is not essential to have one fitted, if not, why have I been advised to get one?

 

[riveralt]

Advice?

Just don't bother get one fitted. I personally hate the things and see no point in them.

My advice differs from Lectricians and he must just be saying this to provoke a debate so ..

I think you should get one for two reasons.

Firstly, electricians are taught to minimise the instances where they have to work on live installations. Given the situation you describe, the only way to replace your consumer unit (as part of the rewire) is to either work live or remove the suppliers fuse (a dangerous and I believe an illegal task)
Secondly, without an isolator your installer will have to arrange for the DNO to come out and remove the fuse and then return to reconnect the supply when it is safe to do so. The is time consuming and invariably adds to the cost.

I would speak to your electricity supplier again - asking for a supervisor if necessary. Most will fit the isolator free of charge.

 

[Wontdothatagain]

You have been advised to get one fitted probably by your electrician as he wants to carry out the work safely and that means isolating the supply. The way to do this is to either pull the service fuse or to use an isolator.

I find it amazing that electricians complain that they are hindered in their work because they have to get a DNO out to isolate a supply but for a few pounds, (some suppliers don't charge) and some foward planning, they can minimise the inconvience to the customer and work safely.

I fit between 3 and 4 isolators a week and have never known one to cause a problem, i have seen loads of burnt out consumer units though.

 

[carmel60]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Thank you also to Riveralt.
Whilst I appreciate Lectrician is clearly not an advocate of the use of an Isolator switch, I think I will err on the side of caution and get one fitted.
I do not want to provide an unsafe environment for my electrician to work in.
I will persevere with my provider and hopefully will manage to speak to a more informed employee!javascript:emoticon('')

 

[Wontdothatagain]

Who is your supplier???????? not your DNO. I may be able to give you a number to contact.

 

[carmel60]

Scottish Hydro Electric

 

[Wontdothatagain]

Call the engineering dept on 0800 0483515, they are open, Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 4.00pm

It may be a 6 on the end of the number, i spilt coffee on my clip board

 

[RF Lighting]

Seperate isolators are a complete waste of time.

All they are is an unnecessary point of failure in your installation.

I fit between 3 and 4 isolators a week and have never known one to cause a problem

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No, me neither

 

[Wontdothatagain]

Please note that the damage is on the out going side of the isolator probably caused by the electrician not tightening the terminals properly. Everything before the isolator looks ok.

To just say they are a waste of time does not make sense. They are no different to any other joint within the electrical instalation, if the terminal is overloaded or left loose, it will fail.

 

[RF Lighting]

They are a joint which does not need to be there.

If it wasn't there it can not fail.

Simple.

 

[Wontdothatagain]

So you are saying that a safe form of isolation and working safe is not required??????????????

Customers main swith inside the CU fails, "sorry, i will have to call the DNO and get them out, they will charge so i will have to add it to the bill, not sure when they will be here so i will have to wait around, will add that to the bill, they wont want to wait whilst i fit the new tails and switch and do a Ze test so i will have to wait till they come back, will add that to the bill.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Seperate isolators are a complete waste of time.

So without doing any of the following:

• Incurring delays waiting for the DNO to attend.
• Incurring costs for DNO attendance.
• Illegally pulling the supplier fuse.
• Working with live conductors.

How would you replace a CU, or add an extra CU, or install a switchfuse to supply an outbuilding?

All they are is an unnecessary point of failure in your installation.

So did those isolators fail like that because they are isolators?

I can't work out why they should be any more prone to failure than, for example, CU incomers (to which some bear a spookily close resemblance), or Henley blocks.

 

[Wontdothatagain]

I can't work out why they should be any more prone to failure than, for example, CU incomers (to which some bear a spookily close resemblance), or Henley blocks.

Untitled

• Wontdothatagain
• 9 Jun 2011
• 1

[/img]

Made by Wylex, exactly the same as what goes in their CU