smart meter cuts off supply (?)

[AndyPRK]

Why should the ELCB-v have been removed with the fitting of the EV charging point?

They don't do any harm, but the install should have a 30ma or 100ma RCD for the house.


Sounds like it would benefit from having an all RCBO board installed

 

[AdrianUK]

I am beginning to wonder if in pressing the test button on the ottermill, my brother simply un-stuck a sticking mechanism which is now keen to be making up for missed fun.

Probably not. My experience of these is that the trip coil is very much 'short time rated'. If it is powered, 'wanting to trip', for any significant length of time then they tend to burn themselves out. Consider that in, normal operation, once the device has tripped then the 'problem' has gone away - the trip coil is only activated for a fraction of a second to release the latch mechanism.

Incidentally, I did read an article a number of years ago that pointed out that the presence of additional bonding & parallel earth paths (such as the the CPC on a immersion heater providing an alternative path to earth) do not 'automatically' make a VOELCB inoperable. I'll try & find it.....

 

[JohnW2]

... Incidentally, I did read an article a number of years ago that pointed out that the presence of additional bonding & parallel earth paths (such as the the CPC on a immersion heater providing an alternative path to earth) do not 'automatically' make a VOELCB inoperable. I'll try & find it.....

Well, a VOELB will, if working as it should, always do what it says on its tin - i.e. operate if the PD between the installation's CPCs and the 'reference earth' is greater than its threshold (50V or whatever).

However, in the presence of bonded extraneous-c-ps (or other incidental paths to true earth) I presume that that voltage may not be achieved with an L-CPC fault (hence the VOELB doesn't trip) if a portion of the fault current is going through the extraneous-c-p. However, the device should still prevent any persisting situation in which the CPC-earth PD is >50V.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ericmark]

I have in one case left the ELCB-v in place, it was as an isolator, the earth wires removed, as could not easy remove, and I simply removed the earth wires, and used an RCD after it with earth rod.

However the question

Why should the ELCB-v have been removed with the fitting of the EV charging point?

answer is the amp rating is only 60 amp, so the DNO can only fit a 60 amp fuse, so it needs replacing so the DNO fuse can be swapped for a larger one. If you didn't need the power then yes could be used as an isolator.

Had the same with this house, when I moved in a Wylex fuse box and a consumer unit, with a henley block, but due to Wylex fuse box DNO fuse is 60 amp, which is ample at the moment, but need an isolator and CU rated at 100 amp before I could ask for larger fuse to be fitted.

 

[AndyPRK]

The Crabtree VOLEB were also a 60A Over current device. Cleaver.

 

[Chunky19]

Can you explain what VOLEB stands for please. Curious.

 

[AndyPRK]

Voltage operated leakage earth breaker

at a guess

 

[Taylortwocities]

Can you explain what VOLEB stands for please. Curious.

Think its his typo. He meant to type VOELCB.

 

[Chunky19]

Hmmm, VOLEB Doesn't flow of the tongue does it?

 

[AndyPRK]

Maybe I don’t have the letters in the correct order


I like this way

 

[Chunky19]

Nobody has mentioned that another very common problem with VOELCBs was that it could operate your neighbours trip if yours was faulty or non-existent. I had a callout every Sunday for ages when someone had their trip go at lunchtime. I visited all the local neighbours until I found an oven with dead short to earth and faulty trip. Reason: the affected house had, as been mentioned before, lead incoming water pipe, immersion heater and more importantly their earth rod within the resistance area of a neighbours. Result was the fault current found it better to go UP the neighbours rod and out via water pipe tripping their supply. I left them fighting who was going to pay.!!

 

[bernardgreen]

I like this way

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Very good explanation, my only critique would be to suggest showing the Neutral to Ground connection at the substation to close the circuit loop

 

[AdrianUK]

Very good explanation, my only critique would be to suggest showing the Neutral to Ground connection at the substation to close the circuit loop

Indeed. Its quite worrying how some believe that the earth fault current 'disappears' into the general mass of 'earth' and don't appreciate that it MUST pop out again at some point & return to the 'source' ie. the supply transformer.

I've had some very long arguments with others trying to get them to understand that the fault current flows up the earth rod (ie. out of the ground) and to the transformer star point in a substation, or on a generator star point earth for that matter.

 

[securespark]

I left them fighting who was going to pay.!!

I had a problem with a blocked pipe leading to the main sewer.
Before the water supplier took responsibility for it, I paid for several visits to unblock it and the neighbours refused to contribute, arguing that because the blocked pipe was on my land not theirs they should not have to pay, despite the fact that their shoite joined into our pipe under our garage.

They soon decided to pay when said shoite backed up their soil stack and filled their toilet pans......

How they thought it wasn't going to affect them, I'm not sure.

 

[JohnW2]

I had a problem with a blocked pipe leading to the main sewer. ... Before the water supplier took responsibility for it, I paid for several visits to unblock it and the neighbours refused to contribute, arguing that because the blocked pipe was on my land not theirs they should not have to pay, despite the fact that their shoite joined into our pipe under our garage.

I had a similar experience a few years ago.

I don't know if it's peculiar to my supplier (Anglian Water) or whether it's true of them all, but it eventually transpired that they were responsible for (and responsible for rectifying and problem in) any part of the drainage system (and, I think, also any part of their water supply system) which is serving more than one property/customer, regardless of where it is physically located.

As in your case, the blockage (in fact, a partially collapsed pipe) was very much "on my land" but, as soon as I managed to jump through all the hoops necessary to get to speak to someone who actually knew what they were talking about, they immediately accepted that it was their responsibility. In a sense I was lucky - the pipe in question did originally serve just 'one property' but, about 80 years ago, it was split into three.

Kind Regards, John