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Replacing a consumer unit

Does what it says on the tin
SteelCamel
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Re: Replacing a consumer unit

#510788

Postby SteelCamel » June 29th, 2022, 11:26 pm

csearle wrote:On the other hand we are not allowed by the DNOs to touch service fuses (I've heard that you are supposed to wear a mask as you replace the fuse-carrier in case it blows as you do it! I have no evidence to back up this assertion).


When I had my meter changed, the installer wore a hard hat with a fairly thick plastic face shield, a thick jacket, and elbow-length thick gloves. Presumably the face shield is in case of the fuse carrier exploding. It's unlikely, especially if you've got a modern plastic unit in good condition, but could happen. Upstream of the main fuse, the only protection is the fuse at the substation, probably 400A or 600A. At one time there was quite a push to get the suppliers to install isolators, but it seems they no longer do this.

DrFfybes
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Re: Replacing a consumer unit

#510816

Postby DrFfybes » June 30th, 2022, 9:10 am

SteelCamel wrote:
csearle wrote:On the other hand we are not allowed by the DNOs to touch service fuses (I've heard that you are supposed to wear a mask as you replace the fuse-carrier in case it blows as you do it! I have no evidence to back up this assertion).


When I had my meter changed, the installer wore a hard hat with a fairly thick plastic face shield, a thick jacket, and elbow-length thick gloves. Presumably the face shield is in case of the fuse carrier exploding. It's unlikely, especially if you've got a modern plastic unit in good condition, but could happen. Upstream of the main fuse, the only protection is the fuse at the substation, probably 400A or 600A. At one time there was quite a push to get the suppliers to install isolators, but it seems they no longer do this.


When I was working on Streetlights, hard hat, shield, and gloves (oddly not rubber) were required, and you were supposed to use a tester on the actual column before touching it.

The fuses could blow, as often they were old and brittle, and 'insulation creep' was also an issue so there was a chance of an unfused 600A incoming live being exposed. Never seen a fuse blow, but have seen the odd live column.

As for the isolator, Outfox are my supplier, they want a rather specific £219.44 to fit an isolator. Rather unusually they don't fit Smart meters, or use them, so I sospect my sparky might be persuaded to pull the fuse. As mentioned above, the concern is that a smart meter immediately reports a loss of power and alerts the supplier/DNO so (illegally) pulling the fuse results can result in the DNO sending someone to investigate.

Paul

DrFfybes
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Re: Replacing a consumer unit

#514290

Postby DrFfybes » July 14th, 2022, 2:42 pm

So, I tried WPD for an isolator, they are nearly £300.

Back to Outfox, livechat died after 20 mins, so tried the phone line, and after a mere 35 mins got an answer, who quoted about a tenner more. Then disappeared off to double check.

Another 10 min and still a tenner more, but all paid.

Just need to wait for the team to contact me to book a slot.....

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Re: Replacing a consumer unit

#514357

Postby AF62 » July 14th, 2022, 6:42 pm

My experience from when I had an EV charger installed last year.

Firstly I needed to get the existing normal meter changed for a smart meter. When the installer came they asked if I would like them to install an isolator in the meter cupboard because I had mentioned it was being installed for an EV charger, and when I said yes, they did and there was no charge.

I had established that the existing main fuse needed to be changed from a 60amp to a 100amp fuse, but that needed to be done separately to the smart meter install.

For the fuse upgrade the meter tails and consumer tails needed to be of the right size - https://innovation.ukpowernetworks.co.u ... h-2021.pdf

It appeared the consumer tails were ok but the meter tails and fuse had to be changed, so I contacted my local DNO who came out and did it for free, changing the fuse and the meter tails.

For the EV charger, although there was a spare slot in the CU and it was on the opposite side of the wall from where the charger would be fitted, the installer declined to use it, instead splitting the supply in the meter cupboard and installing a new single slot CU inside the meter cupboard to feed the EV charger from there.

Their reasoning was twofold. They touch my CU and if anything goes wrong with it afterwards then the customer may blame them. If anything goes wrong with the high powered EV charger then flip the switch on that dedicated CU and the house isn’t impacted and can carry on as normal.

Although there was now an isolator, because everything was a bit tight in the meter cupboard to fit everything (yes there is theoretically a prohibition on installing anything in a meter cupboard other than the meter, there isn’t really) the EV charger installer needed to move the isolator slightly. So they just broke the seals and pulled the main fuse.

When all done and installed, they contacted the DNO to confirm the installation of an EV charger, and a while later someone came out and fitted new seals to the main fuse.


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