To resolve having 4 conductors in the MCB where you have doubled up the ring you could have connected one leg of ring 1 to one leg of ring 2 with wagos and then you've got one bigger ring 👍
Some points for future. When using earth leakage meter beware you may not be able to read a value if clamping around the CPC as there are possible other multiple pathways to earth - the gas and water bond, you would have to remove them to see it. Looking at the imbalance on LN was the best approach. On RCD tripping you have to remember the cooker/oven has probably a capacitor built into the electronics which with the long run you had could be causing the tripping. If it was a type AC I would replace with a type A. For EV charging when you have to TT my advice is to carry a soil test kit. This has several benefits in that you put the right type of earth rod in. With soil ph around 8 or more you can get corrosion of a pure copper rod reducing the protection over time in using the charger. Two ways around this either get a copper rod which is anodized with a noncorrosive metal on the surface or get a larger steel rod. I would also surround the copper rod. In concrete as well providing more reliable earthing and reducing the possibility the earth rod resistance would go up in summer. Anyway nice work as always.
You got me going there with your Earth leakage tester, I think I know why when you measured leakage on the pair of meter tails, it registered 11 odd mA leakage, and yet when you measured on that earth wire it measured zero mA, so what that means is the earth leakage current is not going through that yellow green conductor, but is getting earthed somewhere else , directly into ground either through pipe work etc, so that should stop you scratching your head. And of course, you need to enclose both live and neutral in the tester jaws, and any common mode load currents would cancel each other giving you any differential mode current read out, so even if you had a load of 5 amps you would be seeing 5.011A in the live conductor and returning exactly 5.000 amps, whereby 0.011A going into the ground through another earth point and not that yellow green earth conductor.
Fundamental mistake there in trusting a supplier... with such a critical part I avoid booking in a job until I have the part in my grubby little hands because if a supplier or courier can mess up there's a high likelihood that it will happen!
If your 11mA of leakage isn’t returning via the consumer unit earth block, check the bonds and also clamp the water and gas pipes before and after the bonds, as it might be going out via services. You might have a screw somewhere through a live leaking it to the fabric of the building. Clamp the circuits and see if you can track it down.
Earth leakage clamp is always best to put round the tails for an accurate reading as the main earth will probably have abit of diverted neutral current going through it . That’s why it was overloading on the mil amp range.
Is that (unmeasured, but apparently more 20mA) earth current inductively coupled then? It would seem to be much larger than the live-to-neutral imbalance.
You may not have measured anything on the earth cable as that might not be the route the leakage was taking. A conductor leaking due to damp may not show anything on the main earth cable.
When I lived in the UK in Luton worked as a washing machine tech 1966 to 1970 went out to Cambridge , Stevenage , North London all villages around Luton and Bedford even at times Canvey Island most I could do any day was 4-5 jobs 70 thousand miles a year 8- 12 hours Monday to Friday over half the time in traffic lasted before I had a minor heart attack so Jordan I know about stress and frustration with parts not delivered
not a good place to go for him being a business, indemnity insurance might cover a subsequent deformation court case but not worth it. it is only one opinion versus another
@@thesocialhandgrenade8474 yes that exactly. It's not a good idea to be poking the bear. if there's a real problem, i'd contact their CPS (have done it before)
Might have been worth linking out the two ring final circuits to form one ring, to avoid putting four cables away in one terminal. Always enjoy your videos! Hope the job ended well 👍
Instead of adding two rings into the CB - could you of linked the rings in the board? Making one ring? Obviously considering the total length. Love the videos ;)
@@artisanelectrics The previous installer should have just fitted another mantel unit, they're not that hard to come by. The whole stuffing glands on top of the consumer unit is complete gabage. On a side note, I probably would have waited till the EV charger to have been delivered before travelling all the way down to London, did you estimate for 2 days labour?
Metering cupboards are just that...for metering equipment, cut out, meter and DPI when fitted. Now getting more and more crammed with PV isolator and associated wiring but never (yet) found a CU in one! Surprised how the DNO fitted a 100A fuse in an 80A at best cut out.
Why didnt you connect one of the lives from the downstairs ring with one of the upstairs, same for neutral and earth then you would have one big house ring. solves the problem of having 4 cables in a breaker.
Regarding the ring circuit, instead of connecting all 4 legs into the breaker, could you just Wago one leg of each ring together to form one big ring? Also do you have any tips for sizing (visually) meter tails? I struggle so much with this. P.S. You can actually get VDE "Dentist mirrors" lol
For the ring, why not connect one original leg to the other ring leg and vise versa so you only have two cables entering the mcb, but the 2 rings have been extended to 1?
I watch quite a few channels like this, and there seems a trend where when poor workmanship is found that doesn't meet code those who discover it don't want to name and shame or report them to the authorities that govern the installation standards. Maybe if there was some form of reporting, and some for of registration like in the gas industry there would be less cowboys around and installations would be a lot safer as anyone cutting corners would be "struck off" or have to pass some form of exam
The BG garage consumer unit IP65 is the best product they make. The remainder of the consumer unit range is bloody awful! Any attempt to do RCBO’s causes the din rail mountings to fracture 😡 Contactum on the other hand, I do like. I’m glad you said the DNO were going to upgrade the old cable head. I’ve an ace relationship with SP Energy Networks sub contractors IQA. 70% of all EV Chargepoint I fit need the cable head upgraded. Also, came across a new build recently with a series 7 head. Thought it would have an 80Amp fuse, which is standard....Nope! 60Amp! Thankfully, I carry 80Amp Lawson’s in the van.
@@artisanelectrics Seriously, what's the best way to find an electrician who's going to do a good job? bout to get my place rewired in Derby but these horror videos scare the life out of me 😅
Those red and black tails rising into the consumer unit might turn out to be compliant. I've seen similar ones where there are two layers of PVC, with the sheath using the same colour as the insulation. It can be tricky to be sure without stripping a small section and seeing if it comes off in separate layers. I wonder if the cable can be confirmed as sheathed if it has the usual markings on it like BS6004 6181Y?
As a foreigner I have worked on quite a number of electrical installations in the UK. Most of them looked exactly like this one, so it doesn’t surprise me.
The metal box is original to the house, the consumer box is where the main switch and fuses were. This would have been the rubber cables usually in the wall cavity dating from the 1950s.
This has been a real joy for me to watch. Definitely liking and subscribing. I love the humility and honesty of your commentary. (Electrician in Iceland)
Another issue having this armoured cable wired directly from the mains means there is no discrimination from the other circuits. In other words, you can't isolate it, even if the mains switch is open/off. I really don't like installing load centres (consumers units) under kitchen bench tops, as main switches are meant to be readily available. (Australian prospective)
I really hate these premiers, you click to watch and then realise there’s no content. Pointless and frustrating for subscribers especially as we’re always being asked the subscribe and turn on notifications.
That’s not a pop at you either Jordan it’s just RUclips is infesting my subscriber playlist with these rather than actual content and it’s a disease they need to nip in the bud. I don’t know anyone who actually thinks it’s a good idea
@Ellis The DJ No, it's not a live stream, it's a video he uploaded yesterday and then he told us "hey, I just uploaded a new video, but you won't be able to watch it for another day" And here's why he did that: (Rest of comment will be added at some point in the future. Make sure to check back regularly so you don't miss it before it delete it again.)
The DNO fuse was still in right? But you had the main tails isolated via that low level isolation switch?. But there was no lock off on the switch as far as i could see. Ive had main switches that switch almost with the touch of a feather. I was getting twitchy bum hole syndrome when i saw you working on the tails 💩 I also love the mirror for breaker/bus bar inspection. Absolutely great tip Jordan. You are a real inspiration and a bit above the rest when it comes to sharing your business on social media. Well done, hope i can be as good as you one day
I'm on a looped supply and we managed to get 80amp fuse put in but that's the max (UKPN said as next door had 60 we were clear for the 80). Good news is the main supply comes into our house so any future work will be on her side and drive. Still think that's going to be a big big problem for the power networks in the coming years.
It will only be a problem if people continue to upgrade to 100A "just because". A charger that's limited to e.g. 10A still can charge 12km/h or 120km overnight (10h). For most people who can park in their driveway every night that's more than enough. (Meaning they can charge to the full range of their car on normal days and only run into issues if they need the full range on two consecutive days.) Yes, a nice 32A charger will give you 380+ km/night each and every night, but how many people (aside from taxis and other business vehicles) actually need that? Many people seem to think they need to be able to charge their 600+km battery from completely empty to full in half a night at home. And if they drive 150,000km a year (600km*5days*52weeks) that's even true. But otherwise it's just not needed.
That was an interesting thing I didn't know when you mentioned USB sockets creating a relatively high earth leakage current. Personally I hate the things as I think most of them are cheap and nasty chinesium curtain burners but it's a useful bit of knowledge to have.
any modern device will have some earth leakage. Switching power supplies in modern devices have a class Y capacitor across the transformer to suppress EMI. The secondary side is earthed (class I) or double insulated (class II). The primary is live and neutral rectified. capacitor from live/neutral to earth creates earth leakage. Personally I don't like USB sockets because they're like having the cheapest £5 charger permanently plugged in. They won't have modern fast charging features, so they'll be obsolete almost immediately, they probably don't have great isolation from primary to secondary, and they're probably very noisy and wasteful with their standby power.
It doesn't work around the earth because the leaked current is escaping the property by another path. By putting it over the tails and not the earth you measure what the RCD is actually seeing, which is the total leakage from the property not just what comes back down the circuit cpcs.
Great vid, love your testing and fault finding content. You need to to be sending an invoice to Anderson's Electrical for your lost time due to their incompetence. Glad you called them out though, might make them up their game 👍
The box is original, not an outside box. It was fitted to council houses, I managed to get a consumer unit that was made for those boxes no longer made!!
Hi again Just a thought why didn't you change all mcbs to rcbo plenty of space and contactum are cheaper than most and it could be left as is that would of been my suggestion Thanks
The lack of measured current flow through the earthing conductor would at first sight seem to show current flowing through the equipotential bonding to the general mass of earth, though i would expect something through the earthing conductor. Very low impedance of parallel paths.
Wylex still make skeleton CUs. They are not the best but it would allow you to ‘rescue’ the cables above the current CU and you get a bit more space to play with for more MCBs or RCBO’s, providing the customer wants to pay again. Great video.
15:13 - You have the lovely VDE allen keys there for show and then use the bicycle kit to do the job. Are you always missing the 2.5mm like me? I have three sets in the toolbag and no 2.5mm.
That look like the same original wall box as in our 1960s property... don't think it was ever an outside meter box. Maybe it wasn't "rewired" maybe it was just a new consumer unit put in? That would account for the scruffy wiring.
Didn't untwist the meter tails cores to avoid the immediate settling of the cables causing a loose connection very soon after tightening them to the required torque setting.
It isn't picking up the leakage on the earth wire because the leakage to earth is elsewhere, not back via the main earth wire, yes there's an imbalance on the live conductors but the leakage to earth will be some place else, hope this helps mate.
I'd definitely have chosen to have a new hole and carefully fill the old one... Hopefully with some sanding of a brick somewhere, some like coloured dust could be used to patch
Great Job!! Good idea to use a circle mirror to see inspection. I am concerned about 100A of the main black box where brown 16ml wire. I noticed Brown 16ml wire on top touched on Natural (yellow) wire. I think you should take out the Natural (yellow) wire from brown 16ml wire then move above near the Main black box. Can you try this? Need a good safety. Thumb up!! Cheer!
for some reason, I can't stop thinking about the light switch cable at our house that has a soldered connection (literally) in the wall, where it is impossible to get to without tearing the wall open, and so the two light switches only have a single 3 core and earth cable going to them (the reason for this bodge was that the light switch needed to be moved from one side of the door to the other, as the door was being re-hinged)
I would have joined the lighting circuits on this one to free up a spare way with it being a single rcd board. Does the ev charger have a type s rcd as I was wondering about the high earth leakage already
Why would you expect the meter to work around the earth cable? I understood that you have a leak if current is leaking to earth anywhere from the circuit. So e.g. in the garden where it directly leaks into the wet ground. It wont take the long way round trough the earth cable right? A leak is detected because not all current leaving the RCD actually returns on neutral.
That's not an old outside meter box. It's an old style indoor meter box. It most likely had an integrated fuse board when first pin in and when there was a CU change they ripped it out (it would have been at the top)
@@elsdonsparks Double insulation does not apply to cables. It's an appliance class defined in IEC 61140. The armoured cable/meter tails should be "insulated and sheathed", which might turn out to be the case here. The three cores of the cable are insulated in XLPE, then the grey stuff is a PVC 'bedding'. Would that be ok as a sheath?
Nice work mate not too sure about the 2 rings off one mcb I would of preferred to of replaced the devices with contactum rcbos which would of left 2 spare ways to use. Obviously a cost but a much better install along side the shiny new charger :)
Why is swa cable being used internally for the car charging circuit when you could run twin and earth to the isolation box and swa connected to it for the outside cable run? Then you could separate the earth at the box.
The sad thing is there was no reason to gland the top of that consumer unit given it's already in an enclosure which you need a "tool" to get into. . Also why didn't you crimp one ring to the other ring then use the 2 remaining legs into the breaker. Edit: instead of using a dentist mirror you could just mount the bus bar into all the breakers outside the unit then clip them all in together and re-terminate the circuit conductors.
You would think in this modern day times the rising clamp terminal that can so easy miss the bus bar , can be significantly improved on. Look how far terminals have come. For example the wago spring loaded terminal design. I often wondered how many fires have started because of a busbar not connecting properly onto a MCB. In my opinion this is a very bad design, we shouldn't have to use a dentist mirror to check the connection. We live in this technically advanced age. Electronics has moved on leaps and bounds. Electrical installation techniques seem very old fashioned.
I've been using these soft tails for a while now. They are so much easier to work with. It's best to untwist them a bit before going into the main switch. Does anybody else not have much faith in those small allen key terminals used for the 100a dp switch. I have tried to get a torque version. I use a Boddingtons T bar at the moment.
Just a question, surely the charging point requires... DC rcd as well as the AC rcd protection - as you note CD charging failure blind the AC rcd . TT earthing - as this supply restricts to the customer to a special charging units with special protection for PME supplies. Also - your earth leakage problem is not measurable in the earth cable as the leakage is not via the earth cable, but likely through porous single insulated wires in walls causing loss to ground - ie damp walls. You already showed the dreadful wiring through the box.
Hi Jordan, love following your channel I have a question for you, why don't you like BG? I've fitted loads of BG boards and never had an issue my wholesaler stocks BG and Fusebox, twice I've used fusebox both times I've broken the lid clips, I've also noticed I have to cut the conductors quite short to fit them into the main switch and rcbo's, however I really like the blank mcb's they supply, keep doing the videos they're very entertaining and make me feel justified in taking pride in my work, there are lots of dodgy sparks in swansea.
At 27.25 - Ref measuring eth leakage current in main earth conductor - but NOT seeing any ? ( although the instrument appeared to show "OL" ie overload - it did show a current dying away to a small value when you manually switched ranges - so -was there in fact any current there? - - a bit vague here since you didnt stop "long enough" on this part to reach a steady reading) And - you said "you were not sure why this was so" when you had actually established there was indeed leakage current - so why is this ? Just prior to 27.25 you measured earth leakage current by clamping the test meter around BOTH line and neutral tails - which showed just over 11mA of earth leakage. This test device essentially works as a "current transformer " in the clamp probe which is "seeing" the "residual" magnetic field of the two line and neutral conductors This is because the magnetic fields surrounding the two conductors (tails) are in opposite phase since the current in the conductors are flowing in opposite directions - and hence the magnetic field will cancel ONLY IF the currents are EXACTLY equal - AND in PRECISE OPPOSITE PHASE ( point worth noting if some of that leakage current is "capacitive" (or inductive) in a final circuit) Because in this case these currents are NOT equal ( or also not in precise antiphase) - there is thus a small residual magnetic field that the probe "sees". NOW the IMPORTANT point here is the probe does NOT "know" whether that field it is "seeing" is from ONE conductor - OR - the sum of many - or - other words - the probe MUST and WILL work just the same on a single conductor carrying a current that produces the "same" magnitude of field So ... The Main earth - why no current ?? - we have established that the measuring device WILL measure current on a single conductor - thus- Since therefore - you saw NO current in the Main earth conductor - it MUST THEREFORE mean that the leakage current of 11mA or so MUST be going elsewhere - and - the only way you could "track" this down is to repeat the "two wire" clamp test for EACH final circuit -and see which one(s) are contributing to the 11mA. My guess is you will find that the current is going via circuits that have "other" external paths to ground of low impedance - so the main earth lead carries little of this leakage current "AT THE POINT" where "you measured" it. Having said all that - I'd like to know how accurate this TIS 560 is - when measuring very small currents of a few mA - This could be a good equipment "test " video for you to do !
Once EVs become the norm electricians fitting charging points are going to be finding all sorts of horrors that will make this existing installation look good, rewires all round I suspect, bonanza time for electricians.
EvVs will never be the norm as there will be thousands of people who cannot afford to buy them or run them. They do not prevent polution as they just leave the polution in another country where the minerals for the batteries are mined. Watch this space lol.....
I found this interesting insights into sparkies. I note the criticism of previous work yet installing against best practise yourself! You explained the rationale for your decision yet didn't apply the same to those that undertook work before you>? Im not a sparkie I just found it interesting that you appeared critical of others whilst installing against your instinct - suggests all parties are driven by cost amd not the acceptable standards? Is there tolerances in the standard that allows both?
You can't test the leakage around the earth only! Must always do a imbalance test, because leakage can happen at other places in the circuit ( eg in ground, wet surface, floors, etc etc) So imbalance will cover your total leaks always! Keep up the good work! Cheers
The reading around the earth is still a valid reading, it just means something different. His meter showed O.L. which means overload on the 2 and 20 mA ranges, so it would appear there is some additional current in the earth probably originating from bonding conductors.
@@artisanelectrics good little charger so👍👍 What’s the problem with Deadlius dough head?? Never heard the likes of it!! Criticised for your opinion and then waffles on about something entirely irrelevant!! Plank!!
@@artisanelectrics Just a warning, the person who calls himself Deadlius is a really loose cannon!! He thinks I have it in for you which I don’t. I enjoy your vids and I think you do good work. This lads not right in the head, loves insulting and putting people down!! Unreal!
@@artisanelectrics thanks, yes, a socket with its own individual circuit - theoretically, can its wires be replaced so we don't have to wire it above the tiles?
As an old school apprentice trained electrician myself this makes me weep modern day training has a lot to answer to and as somebody that is not part P I would not legally allowed. to do this type of work even though I can do a better job with my eyes closed
How do two rings in one breaker work? If it is big enough to carry the load of 2 rings, then 1 ring could be overloaded without the breaker tripping. If it is sized to protect a single ring, then two rings together could trip it without each circuit actually being overloaded.
Subscribe to our RUclips Channel for more great electrical content: ruclips.net/user/artisanelectricsuk
To resolve having 4 conductors in the MCB where you have doubled up the ring you could have connected one leg of ring 1 to one leg of ring 2 with wagos and then you've got one bigger ring 👍
Lovely idea!
True but you may make the circuit to long and then not comply with volt drop 👍
@@TeamSimpsonRacing Rings can cover 100m2 area and those circuits combined only total the upstairs floor of the house
@@carterglover3539 you would think so. Makes you wonder why they did two rings for upstairs 🤔
@@TeamSimpsonRacingGood point, maybe an old extention?
Some points for future.
When using earth leakage meter beware you may not be able to read a value if clamping around the CPC as there are possible other multiple pathways to earth - the gas and water bond, you would have to remove them to see it. Looking at the imbalance on LN was the best approach.
On RCD tripping you have to remember the cooker/oven has probably a capacitor built into the electronics which with the long run you had could be causing the tripping. If it was a type AC I would replace with a type A.
For EV charging when you have to TT my advice is to carry a soil test kit. This has several benefits in that you put the right type of earth rod in. With soil ph around 8 or more you can get corrosion of a pure copper rod reducing the protection over time in using the charger. Two ways around this either get a copper rod which is anodized with a noncorrosive metal on the surface or get a larger steel rod. I would also surround the copper rod. In concrete as well providing more reliable earthing and reducing the possibility the earth rod resistance would go up in summer. Anyway nice work as always.
I was about to say the same thing, earth leakage can be any path to earth and back to the star point on the transformer.
You got me going there with your Earth leakage tester, I think I know why when you measured leakage on the pair of meter tails, it registered 11 odd mA leakage, and yet when you measured on that earth wire it measured zero mA, so what that means is the earth leakage current is not going through that yellow green conductor, but is getting earthed somewhere else , directly into ground either through pipe work etc, so that should stop you scratching your head.
And of course, you need to enclose both live and neutral in the tester jaws, and any common mode load currents would cancel each other giving you any differential mode current read out, so even if you had a load of 5 amps you would be seeing 5.011A in the live conductor and returning exactly 5.000 amps, whereby 0.011A going into the ground through another earth point and not that yellow green earth conductor.
Fundamental mistake there in trusting a supplier... with such a critical part I avoid booking in a job until I have the part in my grubby little hands because if a supplier or courier can mess up there's a high likelihood that it will happen!
@@r.h.8754 Service engineer as well and that happens far too often.
And once it is booked don't bother trying to divert it because it ain't going to happen.
Been let down so many times by deliveries I now only book work when I have the ordered parts in my pocession!
funeral procession? or another kind?
@@alistair1978utube *Possession, illiterate tradie.
If your 11mA of leakage isn’t returning via the consumer unit earth block, check the bonds and also clamp the water and gas pipes before and after the bonds, as it might be going out via services. You might have a screw somewhere through a live leaking it to the fabric of the building. Clamp the circuits and see if you can track it down.
Could you not have joined one leg of each ring to make one big ring, if the earth loop wasn't to high.
Thats what i was thinking. I would have probably done that. I suppose there's not much difference.
Oh dear I can read the details on the WEL Electrical Services sticker at 2:39
I googled the number, same, French yahoo email too.
My pal says most sparkys are frustrated plumbers. Great video again, really enjoyed
LOL
lmao
Plumbers are failed electrician's. Just saying haha.
Im a sparky and I hate plumbing...
Videos like this are really helpful for trainee electricians :)
Earth leakage clamp is always best to put round the tails for an accurate reading as the main earth will probably have abit of diverted neutral current going through it . That’s why it was overloading on the mil amp range.
Thanks
Is that (unmeasured, but apparently more 20mA) earth current inductively coupled then? It would seem to be much larger than the live-to-neutral imbalance.
You may not have measured anything on the earth cable as that might not be the route the leakage was taking. A conductor leaking due to damp may not show anything on the main earth cable.
I use a dentists mirror on the busbar when connecting up, very handy👍
Me too
When I lived in the UK in Luton worked as a washing machine tech 1966 to 1970 went out to Cambridge , Stevenage , North London all villages around Luton and Bedford even at times Canvey Island most I could do any day was 4-5 jobs 70 thousand miles a year 8- 12 hours Monday to Friday over half the time in traffic lasted before I had a minor heart attack so Jordan I know about stress and frustration with parts not delivered
unfortunately work like that seems to becomng the norm, and until someone gets a grip on the industry it wont change
yep fast track courses and no on job experience its only going to get worse.that work is piss poor
Don't be afraid to name and shame, it's good for consumers. Wel Electrical Services (London).
WEL.... That escalated quickly.
not a good place to go for him being a business, indemnity insurance might cover a subsequent deformation court case but not worth it. it is only one opinion versus another
@@thesocialhandgrenade8474 yes that exactly. It's not a good idea to be poking the bear. if there's a real problem, i'd contact their CPS (have done it before)
Customer has reported them
No spares? I see 2 spares---if you replace the all breakers with rcbos. ;)
And extra time involved to segregate the neutrals from the neutral bar.
I love how you big things up what are wrong but it is actually easy fix
Might have been worth linking out the two ring final circuits to form one ring, to avoid putting four cables away in one terminal. Always enjoy your videos! Hope the job ended well 👍
Instead of adding two rings into the CB - could you of linked the rings in the board? Making one ring? Obviously considering the total length. Love the videos ;)
Do love the dentist mirror for checking. A great idea. A phone can sometimes be too big to get in there properly.
Oddly, his dentist uses a continuity tester to check his fillings ;-)
It's not an outdoor meter cupboard Jordan, it's a mantel unit and cupboad, very common in flats and tower blocks in London.
Thanks, you can tell i'm not from London!
@@artisanelectrics The previous installer should have just fitted another mantel unit, they're not that hard to come by. The whole stuffing glands on top of the consumer unit is complete gabage. On a side note, I probably would have waited till the EV charger to have been delivered before travelling all the way down to London, did you estimate for 2 days labour?
The dentist mirror you can get plastic ones. I use a plastic one its really handy
Nice
Metering cupboards are just that...for metering equipment, cut out, meter and DPI when fitted. Now getting more and more crammed with PV isolator and associated wiring but never (yet) found a CU in one! Surprised how the DNO fitted a 100A fuse in an 80A at best cut out.
Consumer unit within 150mm of a live gas supply.......oooops!
Why didnt you connect one of the lives from the downstairs ring with one of the upstairs, same for neutral and earth then you would have one big house ring. solves the problem of having 4 cables in a breaker.
Regarding the ring circuit, instead of connecting all 4 legs into the breaker, could you just Wago one leg of each ring together to form one big ring?
Also do you have any tips for sizing (visually) meter tails? I struggle so much with this.
P.S. You can actually get VDE "Dentist mirrors" lol
Yeah that could have worked
@GarethG, I hear ya man I have same issue! Everyone else seems to have better eyes 🤣, and know instantly haha
For the ring, why not connect one original leg to the other ring leg and vise versa so you only have two cables entering the mcb, but the 2 rings have been extended to 1?
the length of the making it one ring may have been to long for the max Zs ?
@@elsdonsparks it’s on an rcd so Zs will not be an issue, not great relying on the rcd for fault protection but there you go.
No advantage
I watch quite a few channels like this, and there seems a trend where when poor workmanship is found that doesn't meet code those who discover it don't want to name and shame or report them to the authorities that govern the installation standards. Maybe if there was some form of reporting, and some for of registration like in the gas industry there would be less cowboys around and installations would be a lot safer as anyone cutting corners would be "struck off" or have to pass some form of exam
The BG garage consumer unit IP65 is the best product they make. The remainder of the consumer unit range is bloody awful! Any attempt to do RCBO’s causes the din rail mountings to fracture 😡 Contactum on the other hand, I do like. I’m glad you said the DNO were going to upgrade the old cable head. I’ve an ace relationship with SP Energy Networks sub contractors IQA. 70% of all EV Chargepoint I fit need the cable head upgraded. Also, came across a new build recently with a series 7 head. Thought it would have an 80Amp fuse, which is standard....Nope! 60Amp! Thankfully, I carry 80Amp Lawson’s in the van.
Shocking work does not shock me it’s an everyday occurrence. 👍
I know right! 😂
Shocking 😂 bad pun.... (probably not intentional though 😂)
bbzzzzzttt ⚡️⚡️
@@artisanelectrics Seriously, what's the best way to find an electrician who's going to do a good job?
bout to get my place rewired in Derby but these horror videos scare the life out of me 😅
@@JamesSherlouk from learnt experience, get a feel and look at their current work. These RUclips videos were what sold Artisan to me!
Those red and black tails rising into the consumer unit might turn out to be compliant. I've seen similar ones where there are two layers of PVC, with the sheath using the same colour as the insulation. It can be tricky to be sure without stripping a small section and seeing if it comes off in separate layers. I wonder if the cable can be confirmed as sheathed if it has the usual markings on it like BS6004 6181Y?
As a foreigner I have worked on quite a number of electrical installations in the UK. Most of them looked exactly like this one, so it doesn’t surprise me.
😂
The metal box is original to the house, the consumer box is where the main switch and fuses were. This would have been the rubber cables usually in the wall cavity dating from the 1950s.
Thanks
Just wondering why the charger wasn’t obtained before installation date? Relying on on-the-day deliveries seems a bit risky.
That’s the first time I’ve seen a pvc gland installed upside down 😂😂😂
Yeh how on earth can you get that wrong.
I spotted that and wondered "WTF" and why do it like that?
This has been a real joy for me to watch. Definitely liking and subscribing. I love the humility and honesty of your commentary. (Electrician in Iceland)
Thanks David! Welcome to the channel!
You make interesting video's... Shame your prices are so high for installing EV chargers.
Another issue having this armoured cable wired directly from the mains means there is no discrimination from the other circuits. In other words, you can't isolate it, even if the mains switch is open/off.
I really don't like installing load centres (consumers units) under kitchen bench tops, as main switches are meant to be readily available. (Australian prospective)
nice work as always - fyi electricians insulated dentist mirrors are available - Boddingtons UK
The weird leakage might be via gas or water pipe. On one of my jobs i found 2Amps running in a water pipe . Even when main circuit breaker was off.
Hello from US (please send help). Thanks for the video; always cool to see interesting differences between US and UK.
👍😁
Same from me here in Germany.
Even though UK wiring is similar, we have 3 phase most of the time over here.
I really hate these premiers, you click to watch and then realise there’s no content. Pointless and frustrating for subscribers especially as we’re always being asked the subscribe and turn on notifications.
That’s not a pop at you either Jordan it’s just RUclips is infesting my subscriber playlist with these rather than actual content and it’s a disease they need to nip in the bud. I don’t know anyone who actually thinks it’s a good idea
@Ellis The DJ No, it's not a live stream, it's a video he uploaded yesterday and then he told us "hey, I just uploaded a new video, but you won't be able to watch it for another day"
And here's why he did that:
(Rest of comment will be added at some point in the future. Make sure to check back regularly so you don't miss it before it delete it again.)
In Holland we have to use a splitter on the rcb when we have more then 1 incoming cable
The DNO fuse was still in right? But you had the main tails isolated via that low level isolation switch?. But there was no lock off on the switch as far as i could see. Ive had main switches that switch almost with the touch of a feather. I was getting twitchy bum hole syndrome when i saw you working on the tails 💩
I also love the mirror for breaker/bus bar inspection. Absolutely great tip Jordan. You are a real inspiration and a bit above the rest when it comes to sharing your business on social media. Well done, hope i can be as good as you one day
Aside from the rising inflection at the end of every sentence - a good video!
Good vid Like your positive attitude am sure your customer will be grateful 👍
I'm on a looped supply and we managed to get 80amp fuse put in but that's the max (UKPN said as next door had 60 we were clear for the 80). Good news is the main supply comes into our house so any future work will be on her side and drive. Still think that's going to be a big big problem for the power networks in the coming years.
It will only be a problem if people continue to upgrade to 100A "just because". A charger that's limited to e.g. 10A still can charge 12km/h or 120km overnight (10h). For most people who can park in their driveway every night that's more than enough. (Meaning they can charge to the full range of their car on normal days and only run into issues if they need the full range on two consecutive days.)
Yes, a nice 32A charger will give you 380+ km/night each and every night, but how many people (aside from taxis and other business vehicles) actually need that?
Many people seem to think they need to be able to charge their 600+km battery from completely empty to full in half a night at home. And if they drive 150,000km a year (600km*5days*52weeks) that's even true. But otherwise it's just not needed.
@@HenryLoenwind overnight cheap rates from special "EV tariff" would suggest wanting the faster charge rates as possible
That was an interesting thing I didn't know when you mentioned USB sockets creating a relatively high earth leakage current. Personally I hate the things as I think most of them are cheap and nasty chinesium curtain burners but it's a useful bit of knowledge to have.
any modern device will have some earth leakage. Switching power supplies in modern devices have a class Y capacitor across the transformer to suppress EMI. The secondary side is earthed (class I) or double insulated (class II). The primary is live and neutral rectified. capacitor from live/neutral to earth creates earth leakage.
Personally I don't like USB sockets because they're like having the cheapest £5 charger permanently plugged in. They won't have modern fast charging features, so they'll be obsolete almost immediately, they probably don't have great isolation from primary to secondary, and they're probably very noisy and wasteful with their standby power.
I really like your videos but the motion sickness is real!
It doesn't work around the earth because the leaked current is escaping the property by another path. By putting it over the tails and not the earth you measure what the RCD is actually seeing, which is the total leakage from the property not just what comes back down the circuit cpcs.
I would of doubled up on the lighting circuit mate
Problem with that is that you lose the whole house with one trip
Great vid, love your testing and fault finding content. You need to to be sending an invoice to Anderson's Electrical for your lost time due to their incompetence. Glad you called them out though, might make them up their game 👍
👍
Looked like you cut off the enlarged stub on the busbar which should be installed into the rcd as the connection its taking all the load?!? 20:36
That is a mantel cupboard, these are used in a lot of council properties or on conduit systems👍
Thanks
Random question... Why was amoured cable used since most of the install was inside of the property. Would standard 10mm be ok?
Great video, keep them coming. Like your way of presenting bad situations and remedial work you have to perform (if you can) to rectify the problems.
The box is original, not an outside box. It was fitted to council houses, I managed to get a consumer unit that was made for those boxes no longer made!!
Hi again
Just a thought why didn't you change all mcbs to rcbo plenty of space and contactum are cheaper than most and it could be left as is that would of been my suggestion
Thanks
The lack of measured current flow through the earthing conductor would at first sight seem to show current flowing through the equipotential bonding to the general mass of earth, though i would expect something through the earthing conductor. Very low impedance of parallel paths.
Thanks
Boddington do a really good insulated mirror
Good video Jordan
Cool thanks
Mantel boxes. A council favorite in Ealing. Usually fitted with Wylex skeleton CCUs
Yeah horrible things
I used to back in the day fit cabtree skeleton units
Wylex still make skeleton CUs. They are not the best but it would allow you to ‘rescue’ the cables above the current CU and you get a bit more space to play with for more MCBs or RCBO’s, providing the customer wants to pay again. Great video.
Can I ask, why no earth rod for this EV charge point? Thanks
15:13 - You have the lovely VDE allen keys there for show and then use the bicycle kit to do the job. Are you always missing the 2.5mm like me? I have three sets in the toolbag and no 2.5mm.
That look like the same original wall box as in our 1960s property... don't think it was ever an outside meter box. Maybe it wasn't "rewired" maybe it was just a new consumer unit put in? That would account for the scruffy wiring.
I use a dentist mirror as well I covered the handle in heat shrink to give me a bit of protection
Didn't untwist the meter tails cores to avoid the immediate settling of the cables causing a loose connection very soon after tightening them to the required torque setting.
It isn't picking up the leakage on the earth wire because the leakage to earth is elsewhere, not back via the main earth wire, yes there's an imbalance on the live conductors but the leakage to earth will be some place else, hope this helps mate.
I'd definitely have chosen to have a new hole and carefully fill the old one... Hopefully with some sanding of a brick somewhere, some like coloured dust could be used to patch
Fit a piece of trunking between the top of the board and the meter box , this covers the single insulation issue
Great Job!! Good idea to use a circle mirror to see inspection. I am concerned about 100A of the main black box where brown 16ml wire. I noticed Brown 16ml wire on top touched on Natural (yellow) wire. I think you should take out the Natural (yellow) wire from brown 16ml wire then move above near the Main black box. Can you try this? Need a good safety. Thumb up!! Cheer!
for some reason, I can't stop thinking about the light switch cable at our house that has a soldered connection (literally) in the wall, where it is impossible to get to without tearing the wall open, and so the two light switches only have a single 3 core and earth cable going to them (the reason for this bodge was that the light switch needed to be moved from one side of the door to the other, as the door was being re-hinged)
I would have joined the lighting circuits on this one to free up a spare way with it being a single rcd board. Does the ev charger have a type s rcd as I was wondering about the high earth leakage already
Why would you expect the meter to work around the earth cable? I understood that you have a leak if current is leaking to earth anywhere from the circuit. So e.g. in the garden where it directly leaks into the wet ground. It wont take the long way round trough the earth cable right? A leak is detected because not all current leaving the RCD actually returns on neutral.
Exactly what I thought when watching this last night. And I'm not a sparky...
That's not an old outside meter box. It's an old style indoor meter box. It most likely had an integrated fuse board when first pin in and when there was a CU change they ripped it out (it would have been at the top)
You could argue that the armoured cable from the Henley block to the BG CU were effectively meter tails...
But not double insulated.
@@elsdonsparks Double insulation does not apply to cables. It's an appliance class defined in IEC 61140. The armoured cable/meter tails should be "insulated and sheathed", which might turn out to be the case here. The three cores of the cable are insulated in XLPE, then the grey stuff is a PVC 'bedding'. Would that be ok as a sheath?
Longer than 2 or 3m (depending on who the DNO is) and the cable would need fusing down.
Undersized "meter tails" when the 100A fuse went in, but that's ok because they were put in when it only had a 63A fuse (eyes rolling)
Nice work mate not too sure about the 2 rings off one mcb I would of preferred to of replaced the devices with contactum rcbos which would of left 2 spare ways to use. Obviously a cost but a much better install along side the shiny new charger :)
Why is swa cable being used internally for the car charging circuit when you could run twin and earth to the isolation box and swa connected to it for the outside cable run? Then you could separate the earth at the box.
The sad thing is there was no reason to gland the top of that consumer unit given it's already in an enclosure which you need a "tool" to get into. . Also why didn't you crimp one ring to the other ring then use the 2 remaining legs into the breaker. Edit: instead of using a dentist mirror you could just mount the bus bar into all the breakers outside the unit then clip them all in together and re-terminate the circuit conductors.
If the swa was connected into the Henley blocks at the mains there would be no means of isolation as well as no over current
You would think in this modern day times the rising clamp terminal that can so easy miss the bus bar , can be significantly improved on. Look how far terminals have come. For example the wago spring loaded terminal design. I often wondered how many fires have started because of a busbar not connecting properly onto a MCB. In my opinion this is a very bad design, we shouldn't have to use a dentist mirror to check the connection. We live in this technically advanced age. Electronics has moved on leaps and bounds. Electrical installation techniques seem very old fashioned.
I've been using these soft tails for a while now. They are so much easier to work with. It's best to untwist them a bit before going into the main switch. Does anybody else not have much faith in those small allen key terminals used for the 100a dp switch. I have tried to get a torque version. I use a Boddingtons T bar at the moment.
My house was on a loop service, the DNO came along and put the connection in the ground at no cost to me
Wow that’s good
@@artisanelectrics I believe they have to?
@@TheChipmunk2008 Seems you have to pay some of it.
www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/internet/en/help-and-advice/documents/looped_services.pdf
Just a question, surely the charging point requires...
DC rcd as well as the AC rcd protection - as you note CD charging failure blind the AC rcd .
TT earthing - as this supply restricts to the customer to a special charging units with special protection for PME supplies.
Also - your earth leakage problem is not measurable in the earth cable as the leakage is not via the earth cable, but likely through porous single insulated wires in walls causing loss to ground - ie damp walls. You already showed the dreadful wiring through the box.
The Andersen has a type A RCD with 6mA DC protection built in to it
@@artisanelectrics Apologies missing that.
Old trusty BG 😩
Same weather here in Singidunum as well
Hi Jordan, love following your channel I have a question for you, why don't you like BG? I've fitted loads of BG boards and never had an issue my wholesaler stocks BG and Fusebox, twice I've used fusebox both times I've broken the lid clips, I've also noticed I have to cut the conductors quite short to fit them into the main switch and rcbo's, however I really like the blank mcb's they supply, keep doing the videos they're very entertaining and make me feel justified in taking pride in my work, there are lots of dodgy sparks in swansea.
At 27.25 - Ref measuring eth leakage current in main earth conductor - but NOT seeing any ?
( although the instrument appeared to show "OL" ie overload - it did show a current dying away to a small value when you manually switched ranges - so -was there in fact any current there? - - a bit vague here since you didnt stop "long enough" on this part to reach a steady reading)
And - you said "you were not sure why this was so" when you had actually established there was indeed leakage current - so why is this ?
Just prior to 27.25 you measured earth leakage current by clamping the test meter around BOTH line and neutral tails - which showed just over 11mA of earth leakage.
This test device essentially works as a "current transformer " in the clamp probe which is "seeing" the "residual" magnetic field of the two line and neutral conductors
This is because the magnetic fields surrounding the two conductors (tails) are in opposite phase since the current in the conductors are flowing in opposite directions - and hence the magnetic field will cancel ONLY IF the currents are EXACTLY equal - AND in PRECISE OPPOSITE PHASE
( point worth noting if some of that leakage current is "capacitive" (or inductive) in a final circuit)
Because in this case these currents are NOT equal ( or also not in precise antiphase) - there is thus a small residual magnetic field that the probe "sees".
NOW the IMPORTANT point here is the probe does NOT "know" whether that field it is "seeing" is from ONE conductor - OR - the sum of many - or - other words - the probe MUST and WILL work just the same on a single conductor carrying a current that produces the "same" magnitude of field
So ...
The Main earth - why no current ?? - we have established that the measuring device WILL measure current on a single conductor - thus-
Since therefore - you saw NO current in the Main earth conductor - it MUST THEREFORE mean that the leakage current of 11mA or so MUST be going elsewhere - and - the only way you could "track" this down is to repeat the "two wire" clamp test for EACH final circuit -and see which one(s) are contributing to the 11mA. My guess is you will find that the current is going via circuits that have "other" external paths to ground of low impedance - so the main earth lead carries little of this leakage current "AT THE POINT" where "you measured" it.
Having said all that - I'd like to know how accurate this TIS 560 is - when measuring very small currents of a few mA - This could be a good equipment "test " video for you to do !
Once EVs become the norm electricians fitting charging points are going to be finding all sorts of horrors that will make this existing installation look good, rewires all round I suspect, bonanza time for electricians.
EvVs will never be the norm as there will be thousands of people who cannot afford to buy them or run them. They do not prevent polution as they just leave the polution in another country where the minerals for the batteries are mined. Watch this space lol.....
I found this interesting insights into sparkies. I note the criticism of previous work yet installing against best practise yourself! You explained the rationale for your decision yet didn't apply the same to those that undertook work before you>? Im not a sparkie I just found it interesting that you appeared critical of others whilst installing against your instinct - suggests all parties are driven by cost amd not the acceptable standards? Is there tolerances in the standard that allows both?
Couldn’t you join the legs from each ring together making a bigger ring with only 2 cables in the mcb? Return leg of front to outward leg of back?
MM I always thought meter tails are not double insulated, the grey is for mechanical protection only.
am I wrong or is the supply providers isolator two seperate switches as apposed to one double pole isolator ?
You can't test the leakage around the earth only!
Must always do a imbalance test, because leakage can happen at other places in the circuit ( eg in ground, wet surface, floors, etc etc)
So imbalance will cover your total leaks always!
Keep up the good work! Cheers
The reading around the earth is still a valid reading, it just means something different. His meter showed O.L. which means overload on the 2 and 20 mA ranges, so it would appear there is some additional current in the earth probably originating from bonding conductors.
Does the Anderson not have DC leakage protection?
Yes it does
@@artisanelectrics good little charger so👍👍
What’s the problem with Deadlius dough head?? Never heard the likes of it!! Criticised for your opinion and then waffles on about something entirely irrelevant!! Plank!!
@@artisanelectrics Just a warning, the person who calls himself Deadlius is a really loose cannon!! He thinks I have it in for you which I don’t. I enjoy your vids and I think you do good work. This lads not right in the head, loves insulting and putting people down!! Unreal!
Garage BG consumer unit is very nice in my opinion. The bigger ones are nightmare
thanks for the insightful videos. quick question, is it never possible to just use an existing, nearby socket and pull new wires through it?
No. An electric vehicle charging point has to be on its own individual circuit.
@@artisanelectrics thanks, yes, a socket with its own individual circuit - theoretically, can its wires be replaced so we don't have to wire it above the tiles?
Potentially yes if the wires are big enough to cope with the heavy load of an EV charging
As an old school apprentice trained electrician myself this makes me weep modern day training has a lot to answer to and as somebody that is not part P I would not legally allowed. to do this type of work even though I can do a better job with my eyes closed
Sad but true
Why didn't you wago opposite legs of the 2 rings and put the other 2 legs in the mcb instead of four cables in an mcb. 🤠
I just bought a 110 v transformer so I can power American items but it trips my rcbo is that normal
How do two rings in one breaker work? If it is big enough to carry the load of 2 rings, then 1 ring could be overloaded without the breaker tripping. If it is sized to protect a single ring, then two rings together could trip it without each circuit actually being overloaded.