Steel container below the fusebox?

[SUNRAY]

... "You can`t have two circuits on one fuse!" is one.

Well you blatanly can't.

"A connection inside a metal enclosure must be bolted down securely and not left floating!" is another.

I thought that one was atually in the regs at one point, or possibly OSG

then you get the ordinary person totally misquoting a comment such as
"This cable only needs to be 2.5 but it has been done using 4.0 conductors" then becomes misquoted to "The inspector says the wrong cable has bee use so we have to rewire it all!"

When I rewired my home in early 80's I advised I was breaking the seals and moving the meter to a temporary position for timber/damp treatment. As requested I let them know when I was done, they sent out an inspector with his tickbox sheet, several thing caused him problems such as:
I used singles in steel tube and trunking so I didn't sleeve the earth wires, additionally I didn't use capping,
I'd used yellow 16mm² for the main bonding and added green marker tape - his sheet had no mention of the colour so that wasn't an issue but it did state 10mm²,
I'd used 4mm² for the 15A power circuits & 30A rings,
I'd positioned the meter higher up the wall and the CU's off to one side - I ran the tails in trunking to tidy/add protection form the predicted detritus generated by a young family as this was in the cupboard under the stairs (I did conceed that point and removed the trunking for him)

 

[chivers67]

Looks like the supply cable is only Single insulated so maybe whoever installed the Trunking did it to provide an extra layer of protection but does seem a bit extreme, unless there are other cables entering the DB from below but it doesn't look that way.

 

[JohnW2]

.... So, many myths became folklore.
"You can`t have two circuits on one fuse!" is one.

That statement is obviously moot (aka 'ridiculous') since it refers to a situation which is literally impossible,by virtue of the BS7671 definition of "a circuit".

"A connection inside a metal enclosure must be bolted down securely and not left floating!" is another.

I suppose that view makes some sense up to a point (although I can't think of any reg which says that), but it rather depends upon what one means by "a connection" - how, for example, would/could one "bolt down" a crimped or soldered 'connection' ?

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I took a closer look based on your comments and made some more pictures....

No-one seems to have yet commented on the fact that the cables (presumably 'singles') going into the CU appear to be coloured yellow, blue and red (and one other - black?), which would seem to suggest that it's a 3-phase supply ?

 

[ebee]

I didn't sleeve the earth wires

No too sure what your getting at with this one? I assume it was not bare conductor?





Fostair.

 

[ebee]

Well you blatanly can't.

?

 

[ebee]

I thought that one was atually in the regs at one point, or possibly OSG

not that I`m aware of

 

[ebee]

That statement is obviously moot (aka 'ridiculous') since it refers to a situation which is literally impossible,by virtue of the BS7671 definition of "a circuit".

Exactly that - it is now one circuit, regardless of what is was before , ten radial legs outwards from a fuseway is likewise one circuit - how you might get 10 in and still maintain good electrical and mechanical properties is a different question.

 

[JohnW2]

Exactly that - it is now one circuit, regardless of what is was before , ten radial legs outwards from a fuseway is likewise one circuit - how you might get 10 in and still maintain good electrical and mechanical properties is a different question.

Indeed. Even if we work on the basis that "we know what people who say that actually mean", they are still wrong ...

... there's nothing wrong with having, say, a "lighting circuit", an "alarm circuit", a 'doorbell circuit' and a "TV amplifier circuit" all originating, separately, from the same OPD. Quite apart from the fact that all those things, together, constitute just 'one circuit' as far as BS7671 is concerned, there is no prohibition on having different parts of that one circuit swerving ;'different purposes'.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

?

... because, as I've said, it is literally impossible (per BS7671 definition) for multiple circuits to be protected by a common fuse.

Kind Regards, John

 

[securespark]

Had the "can't have two 'circuits' in one fuse or MCB way" argument a few times. Most of the complaints came from sparks or inspectors force-fed NIC "rules".

It's quite perverse, really, because those same NIC people have tried to convince me that the NIC only use 7671 as guidance in electrical installation and nothing else.

Yet they have their own rules (like said "two circuit" rule).

Other rules I have been told I have breached are a non-pullcord switch in a downstairs toilet. A 13A socket adjacent to a mirror in the same (not near the sink), and non fire-rater down lighters in a lounge of a detached dwelling.

My response to the toilet comment was "Has that room got a bath or shower cubicle in it?"
As for the downlights: "Do you see that massive breach in the ceiling between ground and first floors?" (pointing to the stairwell).

The response was a blank stare and "Yeah, so?".

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Prohibit what? - electrical connections within an earthed metal enclosure?

Do they have metal-cased CUs/DBs in that country and, if so, are they not allowed to have 'electrical connections' within them (and if not, how on earth do they use such things?) ?

Using a short section of trunking, specifically for jointing cables - is fine, so far as I am concerned. What is not acceptable is joints tucked in with multiple cables, in a run of trunking.

 

[JohnW2]

Using a short section of trunking, specifically for jointing cables - is fine, so far as I am concerned.

... and as far as I am concerned

What is not acceptable is joints tucked in with multiple cables, in a run of trunking.

Would you regard it as acceptable if the joints were within some (earthed) metal enclosure that was not called 'trunking'? If not, what enclosre would you regard as acceptable?

 

[JohnW2]

Had the "can't have two 'circuits' in one fuse or MCB way" argument a few times. Most of the complaints came from sparks or inspectors force-fed NIC "rules". It's quite perverse, really, because those same NIC people have tried to convince me that the NIC only use 7671 as guidance in electrical installation and nothing else.

Quite so - as you go on to say, and contrary to what they claim, they seem to make up all sorts of rules' of their own, relating to things which are not required by BS7671!

 

[foxhole]

A half turn of the screw on the face will allow you to reveal why it’s there.
Now back to the arguments.