CONSUMER UNIT Installation
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- There's nothing more relaxing the tidying a Consumer Unit. Well, I think so anyway.
During the partial rewiring of a small 3 bed home in Carshalton, I started terminating the Wylex 17th edition, amendment 3 Consumer Unit.
It was getting to that point of the job where some of the new circuits could be tested and turned on. Any circuit which wasn't ready would either be locked off or disconnected from the Wylex Consumer Unit after the video. Not just to be extra cautious but to prevent nuisance tripping of the BSEN61008 RCD modules.
My preferred method of consumer unit installation is to bring my cables in from the rear using large PVC trunking. Why? Because it allows extra circuits to be brought into the consumer unit easily at a later date.
I plan my circuit designation before terminating. Once I've written down my circuit layout I will mark all my Line cables using simple tally marks. I space my tally out depending on the number of circuits. Example. If I was working on a 6+6 Consumer Unit and I was marking circuit 8 then the tally would be 6 marks, a gap and then 2 marks. From this I can very easily see that this is the 2nd circuit of the 2nd RCD module. I will wrap my Neutral and CPC cables around my labelled Line cables. From the video, you will see that the last cables to be terminated are the Lines.
Any questions chuck them in the comments chaps 👇
Well done awesome job of only everyone else was like that. Although how do you know which cable goes into which breaker, when they are all stuffed through at once? I don’t see and labels.
Great shame you have to hide such neat installation of the wiring. Perhaps there needs to be a clear cover so the good guys can show how it should be done.
Just came across this video an excellent job dressing the cables. I can't understand the negative comments as I come across about 1 in 500 CUs looking like this. Well done mate !
That install belongs in an art museum and not in someone's house..
Hmmmm, only quarrel i have with it is a couple of his neutral terminations otherwise a masterpiece
A work of art!.. lovely tidy job. If only I watched your video before installing and wiring my first consumer unit yesterday.. an MK Sentry dual RCD board.
it would be good to see a video of how you do the trunking and battens. are all professions the same with regards to stabbing each other in the back regulations say this regulations say that
FUCKS SAKE ITS FINE ITS SAFE !!!! theres houses still out there with 80 year wooden fuse boxes and rewireable fuses if their still standing im sure this will be fine
i think we forget sometimes the real tolerance of electrical systems and how unlikely some situations really are to arise remember it was the people who wrote the regulations which led us to burning houses down by fitting plastic death trap consumer units in the first place but i guess they always know best .Im sure they always sleep well at night with matresses full of bungs they can take from any area of the industry just to write one more regulation call me cynical
alex cantley 😅 there is definitely a lot of back stabbing in this industry 😅
part of the british mentallity probably . have a good day :)
Thank you very much for this video , instantly subscribed , keep up the good work , I have a new found respect for electricians there’s so much information and knowledge you have to know, definitely deserve to be best paid tradesmen
Tidy, nice one... I don't do domestic I only do commercial and my pride and joy is dressing a fuse board, appreciate your professionalism
I enjoyed watching that.
That`s the way; how about numbering all conductors now?
Bravo - very professional - clear that you take pride in your work. Reminds me of when I was apprenticing under my first mentor on site and he insisted everything be perfectly straight and true and if it wasn't made me do it again. At the time I thought he was just being anal but as I got older I realised he was just making me a better engineer and now My apprentice is expected to achieve the same standards.
eddieq1905
I can completely relate. My electrician was very OCD and demanded that I was too. Never really understood why until I had more responsibility.
Tidy job, lots here will just want to be critical. We can all be armchair BS7671 experts when looking at other peoples work, takes balls to post up examples of your own. Torque screwdriver for all terminations , someone as neat as this will be doing that for sure. Keep posting .
MizunoIronMan bought one last month buddy 👍
Which torque screwdriver would you recommend or can you provide links. Thank you
@@SuperKiller374 The Draper Ergo set is a good balance of price and quality and seems to often be on special offer.
Really helpful.. possible to show some work with conduit kicks and bends?
looks great, then you have to put the wylex garbage into with the crappy RCCB cables with copper showing... gj wylex.
mate i wish u could do a video on how to add a 30amp wire i got a koi pond and need to add a heater but all the decent heaters are 30amp or more so i need to add it i got room on my unit for another 2 switches but not sure how to i got a better understanding after watching this but not 100% accually i just looked again and there is the 2 breaker switches there but theres nothing wrote underneath and they turn off would i be able to run a 30amp electric cable to it it says that it is 63amp max i thinking is the swiches got power running to them so i would have to connect the wire to the switch then would be running is that write thanks
The da vinci of boards. Were there any bonds or was the incoming services plastic?
lewis boden the gas went to the MET. Water was PVC. Cheers gor the comment 😎
Only Gas but there was a MET available
Hi mate, how do you remember where each line conductor goes after terminating the earth and neutral ?
Many thanks
Hello, may I ask how do you know the order of cable without labelling. And how do you know which live conductor connected to correct breaker ? thx a lot !!!
Excellent info many thanks for the example
Master class... Looking at installing one of these Wylex boards.. Good value.. Need rear panel entry, as your video..bit worried about sharp edges.. Did that grey seal round the cut out come with the board? Welcome any guidance...
Russell Williams - hi mate, that grey seal is a bit of grey grommet-strip although it looks like tape in this video. Incase you haven't noticed, the unit is spaced off the wall and ontop of some pvc trunking to allow future cabling to be brought into the board.
Masterpiece. Love it. I have a 4 way one in my garage and it's messy as my mind after watching Harry Potter.
Nice board thanks for sharing
Very tidy mate. Pride in your work.
This is therapeutic.
Luke very nice and neat job and I love your work and videos
Clean as f**k, wonderful job!
Nailed it. Very nice work indeed.
Excellent job. How long have you been doing this. If you see cu I installed you'll probably shoot me.
muta70 since 2001. I was trained by a big scary sparks who had serious OCD. I think a little of his obsession has rubbed off onto me. Sure it's not that bad mate. I think effort is visible in all installs when it's applied.
Sir your one thing i cud not understand that what is the benefit of using two RCB in one single phase distribution board?? There may be only one RCB and even it was properly worked. And if you wanna break circuit then u can do it via MCB
Ravi Singh - hi, we use 2x 30mA RCD units in a typical domestic consumer unit. It is refered to bythe tradr as a dual split-load boad. The benifit of installing 2 RCD's is that if one was to trip during an earth leakage fault, the customer will still have 50% of his property still live until an electrician can arrive and repair the fault. This can potentially keep them warm, fed and not left in the dark to fall down stairs and have other accidents. We try to mix match upstairs and downstairs circuits so that in the event of a fault a room may still have 50% power. Example - lights but no sockets or sockets but no light.
I hope this helps.
Luke
My Trusted Electrician in Carshalton thank u very much sir for understand me broadly. Sir kindly tell me which MCB and RCD brand is best Like Hager, Legrand? And can we also distribute inverter phase through MCB. Because when main line cut out then only inverter light distribute in the home
My second one question is that like if we set up two electric circuit on two separate MCB's then does the finest circuit load effects the second one? Like when we start our AC or Fan? Because we have only and one common main supply
i would have thought that in this day and age at least one manufacturer would have developed a consumer unit with wago type connections
Ich believe Siemens makes mcbs with spring-loaded connections on the top/output.
Nice install but how did you know which live wire went into which ampere rated breaker? I take it that the different wires were rated for ampage and marked on the outer protective sleeve as I couldn't see any other identification tags.
I'm not an electrician, and a not critising, but was just wondering
I have been waiting for that question to pop up. Each outer sheath of the pvc/pvc is marked with a circuit description. The order the circuits are to be installed is written down on paper (or sometimes just the cardboard box from the consumer unit). For each neutral stripped and terminated, the phase will be marked in tally and the cpc sleeved then wrapped around the phase cable. I'm not a fan of tally marking cables on large units but for a small domestic ccu I will tally in a specific way which makes identification quick and easy. If the consumer unit is for arguments sake a 5+5 split load board. I want to mark a cable for terminal 7. I will make 5 tally marks across the cable, leave a space of about a thumbs width and then do 2 tally marks. I can then see within a second or two that this cpc will need to be unwound from the phase that has the markings on and installed into the 2nd terminal of the 2nd half of the consumer unit (or terminal 7 to be exact).
Fulgora Electrical Limited excellent answer. I just installed a garage consumer unit with two breakers and that wasn't too bad but yours looked like a maze. But like I said I'm not an electrician! Thanks for your response. Excellent video.
garage is only light & socket what we have been watching is a complete household consumer unit being wired, the wiring thickness is important & like one says every cable is marked, one thing that didn't get mentioned is the breakers are amperage marked
marks get scored Into the outer sheath or colour coded pvc tape is used
My Trusted Electrician can you show me how you mark out your tally
Would you be kind enough to do a video on how you mark up the cables as someone new to the industry this would be really helpful. Thanks for the video 👍🏻
onefortheroad1 we are currently working on rebranding the company and we have a few videos with much more information and commentary. We are planning on releasing this from January. We will post a link/video when everything is live so that any subscribers can swap channels.
onefortheroad1 ps, you are not the first to ask this question. The answer is below on another comment 👍
Fulgora Electrical Limited yeah I noticed the reply you gave but it would be great to see it in practice with commentary. Thanks for the reply and I'll look forward to future videos
A lot of guys use some form of marking on the cables, each to their own. My way is to put a bit of masking tape on the line conductor (and other conductors if need be, for instance if it's difficult to see which cable they come out of) and just write on it what the circuit is, takes a little more time but if there's any alterations to the plan after marking the cables there's no potential to get confused.
how to you keep the fire rating of the fusebox by knocking out the hole on the back?
s m - not the first time this question has been asked. I like future-proofing consumer units so that additional cabling can be installed at a later date if necessary. I do this by running 2x2 or 4x2 PVC trunking behind the consumer and lining it up with the hole. At the 'very' end of an installation after all testing has been completed I will fill any small holes still remaining (such as screw holes and any hairline gaps between the trunking and consumer unit) with a fire seal caulk 👍
I hope thats answer your question.
I take it that you mount the board on 2 x wooden battens, then place 1 length of trunking at the rear top intake position and side? I am not sure from the video how you secure the board to the back wall. Thanks for a great video.
Who would dislike a video of CU of that quality!🤔
Very neat but at what point do you do your testing? In particular the ring final circuits continuity without messing up all that neatness?
I do it last. I know a lot of chaps do it prior to replacing the db but i feel it proves you've terminated all the cables correctly if you do it at the end.
here in qld australia i think we need a MEN connection.. can't see this being done in this example (??) guess it's not required in the UK/this type of installation?? (i'm not a sparky.. go easy on me everyone)
What is an MEN connection? We have a MET (main earth terminal). It's not visible in this video but is in simple terms a junction point where the incoming supply earth is connected to the customers outgoing earth. It is then labelled M.E.T.
It stands for multiple-earth-neutral. I think that in qld all earths (ie the earth bar) must connect to all neutrals (ie the neutral bar).. which apparently speeds up/makes the rcd safety system safer (this is only done on the main board.. not sub-boards.. i think) i understand that the uk ring system or other differences may be why MEN isn't used.
@@firstnamelastname7476 Any connection between Earth and Neutral can only be done by the network in the cutout . It is prohibited on the installer side ...
To be fair I would say 7 out of 10. No fire protection on back entry. Never fold cables with the blade of you side cutters.😉
Sean McNeill only ip rating needed .
Nice! One question tho, why did you miss way 4 out and go to way 5?
Do you just mark the two lives that are part of the same ring or is it just that they are 2.5 mm you know??
I mark the Lines with tally marks.
@@MyTrustedElectrician
I was going to ask that same question. I tried to do neat CU but can never get it looking great. Do you mark the live cable with a marker. And that's how you know which MCB it should go in.
@@phantom2737 yup, I draw tally marks on the lines a term all other cables first.
Does wylex have a different type of din rail?🤔
this may be a crap question but how do you know which circuit is which. Obviously there is 1.5, 2.5 and 6.0mm which can be seperated. But how do not mix up all the wiring and inadvertly seperate a ring main one leg on one side of a Rcd and the other leg
on the other Rcd in a split board. Like I said crap question.
After all that you did a nice board.
I have just scrolled down the comments and low and behold you answered the question from a previous comment.
Nice video thanks for helping others.
With 3 phase power what size does the neutral conductor have to be going to the consumer unit, when its used to supply single phase loads only. . For example: Your main incoming 3 phase is 63 amp per phase and you want to use each of the phases to supply single phase loads, so you use a board with 3 rows , each row is using a different phase. The single phase load is close to 63 amps per phase. Just say your tails are 16 mm what size should the neutral be ?
Do you need to apply any torque to the incoming meter tails or can you get away with getting them as tight as you can? I don’t know if you get asked this question a lot but it would be helpful, thanks!
Hi, I've just had my old consumer unit replaced to the 18 Edition RCD unit. I was not issues with a Electrical Certificate nor was the two spare slots unlocked. Is this normal?
Neat job. When you brought through the cables and stripped back any labelling. How do you know what each of your lives do? Are they subtly marked with tally marks and a legend did you say? I normally write or label on the out grey sheathing . I am not an electrician just interested.
nice board, nice to see a wylex board actually complying with the regs, for years certain manufacturers wylex included were selling insulated boards branded with the british standard, yet they did not comply with it, they failed the hot wire test, but no one mentions this, its been swept under the carpet by the governing bodies, the british standard and probably the government, no recall or anything, there are hundreds of thousands of these boards and most people will not know about them.
Agree with you Anthony. The reason (or main reason) we have to install these non combustible (metal) units now, is to enclose the "still - not fit for purpose" main switches and the rest of the shoddily manufactured crap, so that when they fail, the potential fire might be held back. Seems odd that with this change, the manufactures weren't forced to produce deep tunnel terminals with two screws (main switch) and include fire retardants within there products to avoid the combustion in the first place. Oh and if plastic units are/were so dangerous, why were the manufactures given a 6 month period to sell off there remaining stock?
Yeah true, but we all know plastic ones are ok, of installed correctly, it's only because of the limp wristed idiots can't install them and make sure the connections are tight, and mainly because of London. It's was their fire brigade that made the fuss, I read that they were going to 4 or 5 a week.
Hi everyone. What sort of consumer unit is the best to use if your going to install electric in out-house bigger than a shed smaller than a garage please. Thankyou great video.
You ignored the connection of the two RCD neutral
Neutrals at RCD a bit untidy, bare conductors showing - otherwise neat job. (I am not an electrician).;-)
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
Norman Boyes that's wylex for you.
Parece muito com nossas instalação brasileiras parabéns ao eletricista instrangeiro e por sua publicação 😉
Nice work Mate.
Very nice! But to comply with amendment 3 you should have put fire stop at the point of cable entry but a lovely neat install👍👍👍👌👌
10/10 only thing i didn't like is the naked copper showing you could've cut down a bit more.
Call test
Nice boy
I've always worked with the mcbs in my way, next time I'm fitting one I'm pulling out the bar first. Thanks for that buddy.
Neat job but the protection for fire element has been broken and not adequately sealed..... The big hole in the back of the CU
Naveed Mushtaq hi, have a look at what's behind the consumer unit 😉 thanks for the feedback.
Naveed Mushtaq its on trunking any way but you don't have to seal the hole up Reg. 421.1.201 only requires the CU to be non combustible and you just have to maintain its ip rating which is ipX2 for any where but the top so there is nothing wrong with it any way as ya cant get ya finger through it haha just saying
My bad... I tend to use an intumescent fire seal on holes on the back of the consumer unit. But thanks for pointing that out 👍🏻
Naveed Mushtaq not a bad shout. May start incorporating a little intumescent from now on. Every little helps. What's the drying time for that stuff?
Usually tack free in 15 mins depends on usage but does dry quick... Another tip is attach an emergency light next to the consumer unit especially near a staircase avoids dangerous situations especially with the elderly..
Gnun pla mg install ng wiring nkakalito mrming wire
Thanks mate. Very useful. I'm starting my C&G Level 2 this September.
What do I need to study to become a qualified domestic installer?
Zippy Mo hello hope this isn't late, but i just did my level 2 C n G and the only way i could find to be fully qualified is either an apprenticeship or you can pay for a course which gives you portfolio, part p ect (don't know how reliable) best bet would be applying for apprenticeships or even a mate to gain on site experience
Firstly you need to study the IEE regs 18th edition
Why have you got 2 neutral wires to the first rcd, cant to you just put one back to the Main isolator switch? why are there 3 neutral bars, and why is one neutral bars empty?
Islam future high integrity board
Very tidy, a joy to watch!
Looked amazing till you fitted the guts of the board. They need to design these boards to make them look tidy
very neat and professional. I can use this for lectures to students. Would have preferred a printed label on CU and cables too.
Now that's a job I want to do.
Beautiful
Hi my man, did I miss you toque up the MCBs and neutrals, maybe 17th not needed, let me know.
That is so tidy
0:59 - entrance of the Triffids!
Nice install. Are there any strict rules as to where a consumer unit should be positioned? Ive always found them to be either encased in a wooden box or high up near the ceiling out of reach. A new build property i am buying has it smack in the middle of the entrace hall where even my kids access it easily. Should that be allowed?
Part m suggests that the breaker switches be between 1350mm and 1450mm off the finished floor level
That, my friend, is art. Beautiful job.
Lovley
Why would any house need so many different circuits? My fuse box has three, the ring, the cooker and the lights, and that’s perfectly adequate.
All eggs in one basket. How will you stop your fridge from defrosting if the socket circuit is damaged and needs repair? By having multiple circuits you lose a smaller percentage and can still plod along until the problem is fixed 👍
My Trusted Electrician - Carshalton, Wallington and Coulsdon - Okay I understand the theoretical benefits, but how would a circuit be damaged in practice? If you’re drilling/nailing into a wall or floor you’d check for buried cables beforehand. The fuses or MCB protect the circuit from damage by overloading. How else would the circuit become damaged? And with the usual ring circuit it’d still work, albeit with some danger in the unlikely event it was loaded between 27A - 32A.
@@Benzknees faulty appliances tripping rcd. Lose neutral melting and tripping rcd. Imtermittent rcd faults are a nightmare sometimes. If you only have one ring then your not going to have an alternative to plug in important items. When on call i carry 20 amp mcbs so i can atleast split the ring and get some power on.
Steven Walker - Thanks. The ‘melting’ bit sounds worrying! Do you mean that the loose neutral wire/sheathing melts due to arcing, or the RCD itself melts? Why wouldn’t the RCD detect the imbalance & trip before any such melting took place? And when you put in that 20A MCB, would you temporarily bypass the RCD from that circuit to stop the constant tripping?
As my fuse box has no RCDs, such tripping is not something I’ve got any experience of. Maybe I’m better to hold onto my trouble free old installation as long as possible!
With electrical design, more circuits the better within reason. This not only makes the system easier to maintain but provides 'selectivity' when there is various types of faults. Ideally your downstairs and upstairs lights are separated out not only by different fuses (over and short-circuit protection) but also different RCDS (earth leakage protection) and the same for socket outlets. RCDs don't detect arcs unfortunately but the rules surrounding arc detection will be changing January '19. The mentality that you better hold onto your "trouble free old installation as long as possible" is simply foolish.
That was beautiful :'-(
outstanding work
sad that RCD natural had live wires exposed :(
Very nice
Simply amazing!
Are u from the UK? You dont have three Phase alternating curent there?
James My hi, yes from the UK. We do indeed run on 415v 3 phase in some larger installations. This however is just a small 230v single phase domestic installation.
Well im happy that i dont have any RCD i dont like them at all
James My - I can relate to your disregard for RCD's. They are very prone to the occasional nuisance trip. However they do serve a purpose. Thanks for the comment.
Hoping to do a few more videos in the new year on a new channel with a little cometary. I'll send a link when all is up and running. Luke
of course the UK has 3 phase . There is no need for it in an average domestic house .
Nice work
Nice job I always use bootlace ferrules on cable ends it makes the job look neat
tanveer khan bootlace? For CU’s? Your work must be very neat bro lol
a proper job
رائع جدا
Spot on
Quality!
No bus bar ?
Hi Dave. It goes in at 2 minutes, 40 secs.