How to change a consumer unit fuse board.18th edition upgrade.
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- DIY loft lighting strip out and swapping out an old Wylex fuse wire board for an 18th edition spd rcbo consumer unit.
Took me a while to get this one filmed and chopped together so hope you can show your appreciation by giving it a thumbs up.
INSTAGRAM Cjrelectrical
This video is for entertainment purposes only please do not attempt to copy or recreate this video in any way. If you decide to carry out your own electrical work it is your responsibility.
Always seek professional help and advise.
23:41 oooh, you missed one 😱
luv the idea of drilling out the back and using the wiska grommets. always thought they were missing a trick by not doing a rectangular plate that would fit the knockouts on the boards, and have the fire proof stretchy bits on it that would let you pass the cables through.
also, with liability being an issue, the idea of using those 'void if removed' things is growing on me too.
If I could double-like I would. If you get to the end of a set of pairs and you're saying an *odd* number, something's gone wrong. One of number five is loose.
Which is not to say that giving an even count is right but it should be twice the number of breakers (in this sort of setup), or again something's gone wrong.
RCBO No 5...
Another excellent informative video. I like how neat your finished job is especially how you manage to tame previously mangled cables and make them look like new.
Always nice to have rear entry..!
Mate I’ve read through some of the comments from narcissistic people. What makes them set above the rest I don’t know. But I do know a lot more watching your videos enjoy them, and the content. I dare say it phases you. Keep them coming. 👍🏽
Good pun.
Crabtree device is a voltage operated earth leakage circuit breaker with in and out on the earth and a sense resistor in between. The problem with them was any parallel earth paths on the electrical installation they didn’t operate. Main bonding had to be on the input side and not connected to the c.u. Also that’s why sometimes you come across showers immersion heaters boilers etc with the earth not connected. Excellent videos thanks.
Springs invariably go in them and once they gone they are knackered 😂
"As you can see, the client has kindly cleared the cupboard out for me..." lol
Yep the lazy b.....d 🤣🤣🤣👍
I tell ya what Pablo is rapid and also a gent for being on standby for ya! lol
Love your videos, currently coming to the end of my apprenticeship which has only consisted of industrial/commercial works. Often find myself coming to CZcams to learn more of the domestic side of things, think it would benefit not only myself but many other people in training if you explain a little more to WHY your doing what your doing. regardless keep it up bud!
That’s what I did before I was qualified. Good luck on your journey buddy👍🏼
Hi mate, I've just started my apprenticeship. Did you find any good channels that explained why they're doing what they do ?
Same here!
the music at 21 min is what my Indian Restaurant plays non stop when eating there lol
I wish that professional tradesmen would moderate their DIY criticisms a bit. Hiring out all home improvement would be financially prohibitive for many people and would likely result in more problems being ignored instead of fixed. One big advantage that homeowners have is the thousands of hours of spare time on their hands. Spending a good chunk of that time learning about their homes and the proper way to make improvements and then tackling some projects isn't bad. Proper DIY can make for more educated homeowners that better appreciate quality, safety, and modernization - and can lead to more work for tradesmen, not less.
Homeowners and DIYers should not touch electric or gas in there property. End of story. Stick to decorating and painting
@@adamsharp201 doesn't matter how you feel about it though. Stick to whining about it to your apprentice in your white van. We don't care
Well said that man, we’re not all millionaires who can afford £300 a day contractors. If you feel competent and you have ability, go for it, just be prepared for the consequences if you bite off more than you can chew.
Watching from the US is interesting. All the equip. is so different than ours. Not to mention wire sizing terminology.
Fascinating insight into the world of a domestic spark. I think I will stick to being an industrial electrician!! A lot less hassle.
I started out as a EE and did a lot of hands on industrial work before transtioning into software engineering. Over the past several decades I've worked on a lot of residential stuff in Chicago where we have strict codes requiring EMT. As always, if I run into a situation for which I have questions, I've got friends who are certified sparkys. A big problem I always run into on the old places here are the layers of fuckery people have done. My industrial experience has proven invaluable over the years. Something about having giant and expensive machinery with 480 3ph that hones one's focus and discipline to work clean and proper.
Great idea with the holes and fire gromets. Pukka job all round, nice one Chris.
I agree. I would have liked to have seen what he used to drill holes of the correct size inside those pre-scored metal punch puts.
FYI; you dont need to be registered on a competent person scheme to change a consumer unit. You just need to be competent and notify your LABC or get a 3rd party certifier.
joe b absolutely correct. My local LABC charge an additional £295+vat to get it certified which in my eyes is a lot more money for the customer to find. Where as a registered electrician has already sucked up that cost. Thanks for the comment.
CJR ELECTRICAL if for example you’re building an extension you’d have to pay the building control fee for other works. Our LABC would charge £175 and it would cover all aspects of construction.
Chris B wow your lucky our building control charge separate fees for everything. They just get a contractor on there books to do the electrical testing.
How do you get a 3rd party certifier joe b? I'm thinking of starting up as electrician and this is what I need advice on, cheers.
@@nulldrone6097 With great difficulty so I hear. Alot of electricians dont like doing 3rd party certification because there will more often then not be problems. There also could be a potential loss of work (as they could have done it all themselves). Also, NICEIC do not allow this on their scheme due to the fact that it is undermineing thier registered electricians.
There are some electricians out there that will do it but I expect the costs will often be more then LABC.
Old Voltage Operated Earth Leakage circuit breaker. The main earth would be taken to one terminal, and the earth rod connected to the other. The trip coil was between the two terminals (labelled E and F). if an earth fault caused the voltage between the two terminals to go over 50 volts the coil would trip the mechanism and disconnect. As others have commented, they have not been recognised as compliant fault protection since a Long time back, but at least it gave a free double pole isolator to make everything dead for the board change.
I’m an apprentice spark been watching your videos for a while... great quality and very informative👍
Hi U.S sparky here I find it very interesting how different everything is across the pond would love to have the opportunity to come over and study sometime
Its crazy to see them smaller “consumer units” vers our masive split phase panelboards. CAFI PON has cleaned up the wireways. Even the smallest new home with gas heat these days has a 200a 120/240 board.
@@hvachacker586 We very really use 2 phase systems. These days in the UK it's 230v single phase for domestic and 230v/400v 3 phase in commercial and industrial settings
Crabtree voltage opperated earth leakage trip, circa 1960's as is the wylex board without the back paxolyn insulator
Interesting , I can see that you are "just a lad" 😂 The breaker you referred to on the left is Voltage Operated ELCB, I have installed them in Ireland some 50 years ago, it was the latest technology ! They did the job but has at least one" big" fault, if you don't know look John Ward's excellent videos on them. As for the PME terminals if you test you may find there is no connection to it from the supply ! I was amused when you said you can't cut the seals on the supply fuse but you cut the seal on the meter ☘️🇮🇪☘️
I have one kicking about somewhere
I haven’t got a lot of faith in this lad.....doesn’t seem very knowledgable. ...
Michael Tye me think he taketh the piss ,he knows you know !!!!
Michael Tye if you know you know. Don’t ask me just saying.
It looks like a VOELCB, however, all the VOELCB's I have ever come across had an earth terminal and that one does not. Could it be an early COELCB? EDIT: Looking again, it does appear to have a bare earth wire connected, and a black one???
Arh Pablo the main fuse puller lol Most sparks have a spare Pablo in the van ;)
Fantastic job, Pablo was quick.
The Crabtree device is a VOELCB, voltage operated electronic circuit breaker. When switched on, an internal coil adds around 100Ohm impedance to the earth, electromagnetically actuating the switch to trip off in the event of a voltage becoming present on the earth. This protects against shorts to the earth conductor, but does not protect against shorts through a person to terra. The device does not detect an imbalance in load between L and N conductors like an RCD.
not seen one of those or an ELCB, for over 30 years.
Pablo, the man, the myth, the myth, the myth, the myth...
Those switch covers at 26:08 with edges covered by the vertical architraves -- use a vibrating saw cutter and cut through the covers by the edge of the architraves. Switch covers can them be removed normally (without the cut-off edges).
Thats a voltage operated trip on the the mains, the 2 it works by measuring the potential between the main earth and the consumers earth. old school indeed.
Good bit of work mate 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Pablo right on time 😉😉😉
Pablo didn't re-seal the meter, I wouldn't use him again :D
Why did he need Pablo at all? Can't he fit that bit himself? Some reg precluding him or something?
if I have to take that much stuff out a cupboard that the customer knew I needed access to in advance, I just don't put it back when I'm done.
put it in the skip on the way out
Why not? Charge him for the time for it.
I had a hydraulic engineer in my house with 12 years of experience who heated the pipes without cleaning the copper pipes without cleaning them under Flux under the paste later when there was pressure in the pipes he flooded me Neighbors Neighbor of course neighbor calling the insurance company to get money. the founding company requires the purchase of insurance for pipes and radiators to get money from us, I will not write what, I respect your work. but no one respects my hard earned money, there are exceptions.
You missed the left hand screw on breaker no.5 @ 23.40 :D
Seen title and was thinking I might need to go keyboard warrior on you, you proceed to shut me down in the first minute.
Yes a old voltage operated breaker i came across one of the last ones in the late 90s defo a old timer thats for sure
Like the chip munk function on the fast ffw function
You love a back entry
Im abit confused reading the comments, Was Pablo a real person who came and in and did the change of Isolator switch or was he a fictional character and the change was done by Chris?
Pablo did it if course, At he charges Chris day rate. I pay him £2.50/hr
"Ring Final Circuit". I roll my eyes every time I hear that 🙄😂
Me 2, Although Ring main is also a term for HV system wiring.
black was used as an earth colour many years ago, that device is the old voltage operated device, the predecessor to the rcd, but they were not the best, and there could be a fault and they would not trip, and obviously now we cant test them to see if they operate.
I see these quite often. One common problem I find is the yellow button does sod all.
We all know Pablo is James 🤣
A superb job as always Chris well done.may I please ask what is the make of your torque skrewdriver.keep up the great videos and great work sir.well done.
Black unit with yellow button is a voltage operated earth trip ELCB.
Great job again CJR, Can you come to Wales and Fit my new fuse box??
Question is.. did you use a torque screwdriver?
Very good video and nice neat job. Shame you didn’t have several IR neutral to earth issues as I’ve come across on a recent job, id be interested to see an optimal approach to finding the parts of the circuits causing the issue especially as the elderly clients don’t want me to cut open any walls and are not happy for me to move furniture and lift floorboards. I started doing an EICR but came across so many issues with broken rings, incorrect polarity no earth sleepving or grommets etc etc I just started to fix as I went along. They may decide not to have a new board should I say I need to rewire with new cable so will be left with an old 4 way yamex CSU with no RCD protection and signs of overheating on the ring that has all the houses 30 sockets on it. Any advice based on similar experiences would be most appreciated.
22:33 Ooh 'eck the smurfs have landed :-D
Sounds more like Chipmunks...😁
How did you exactly disconnect from the mains supply? Were the wires hanging off live when you disconnected them from the meter going into the smaller crabtree RCD??
omg i just p*ssed my self at the "match stick jammed in".....
YES! your back love your vids.
You #Sparkies always do neat works...
I was a spark many years ago, I know my stuff. I’m quite capable of fitting a new CU. How do I get certification?
Nice job 😀👍
The earth connection on that cut-out is not necessarily a PME one. It could be TN-S. Inside the cut-out is an NE link that can be removed when using on a TN-S supply.
Did anybody else have Pure Imagination from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when the music was playing?
🤣🤣...when you were torquing the outgoings of the RCBOs, you missed what should have been 10 and ended your count on an odd number.😁😁
That old black switch is an old voltage operated RCD which isn’t allowable now.
It’s not a RCD It’s a voltage operated earth leakage circuit breaker. ......
Voltage operated trip hence the earth connection for a reference point as Jordan said ,only fit for the bin 😃
More chance of catching the Corona virus than getting done for dodgy DIY electrical work.
19:40 Christ these accessories look like there from the 1960’s 😃
Well yes.... could you not tell that at the beginning of the video just by looking at the fuse board and voltage operated trip?
They are!
Hello,
Brilliant video.
I just wanted to know which headlight you have in this video please.
Thank you.
Ahmed
That looked like a earth leakage circuit breaker which needed a fixed earth, when the earth leakage voltage reached 50v if I recall correctly, the device operated.
Yes its an ELCB prone to nascence tripping, if they tripped at all
Voltage operated trip, went out of production about 1963 ( ish ). Effective for protection to 50v touch voltage, but no way of testing them. Obsolete, time to go.
Great content but please keep an eye on the volume difference between clips 👂🏻 💥
Why is it that the circuits start from the right make their way to the left, instead of going from left to right? I thought it would make more sense to do it that way.
It's traditional...
[Edit] Joking aside there are, or have been left-handed CUs. However there's probably some benefit in consistency - if the main switch is always on the on the right then in an emergency you know where it is. Doesn't answer the why right of course, but that's probably down to one market-leading manufacturer choosing it a long time back and others going along with it to avoid being seen as different. Maybe my "It's traditional" wasn't that flippant.
All 8 breakers have earth leakage integrated. Is this an option for new installations? Also I heard these types consume a few watts of power which adds up over a year. ?
Flexible and stranded wires fixed to unprotected screw terminals is a no-go. No ferrules at hand?
VOELCB. Voltage operated. A precursor to rcds. Obsolete now. Surprised you got it to trip tbh.
Beat me to it, I actually said "NOOOOO" when he pressed that test button, I've had them never latch on again!
Hi, what electrical certificate software do you use? Would you be able to do a review on it?
Thanks 👍
Would like to know that too
That software is iCertifi I use the same absolutely fantastic piece of software for iOS devices
What vacuum do you use ? Looks like a Nilfisk which I’ve heard can have crappy motors ( shame as I like the Nilfisk brand ) I’m a keen DIYer and after a decent bagged vacuum that I can use with my power tools.
I have owned 2 Nilfisk wet and dry cleaners and both failed just outside the warranty (2 years) Never again.
@@greyman45 Thanks for your reply, it’s a shame the Nilfisk vacuums have weak motors. There jet washers are decent !
In the end I went with a Charles as they are super reliable, spare parts are easy to get, the bags are tough and cheap plus it’s made in the UK 👍
I’d have told the client, I’ll be back when you’ve cleared the space.
Great job
Out of curiosity how come you didn't use washers when fixing back the CU?
If it was on uneven brick work then I would have but this was a flat surface.
@@Cjrelectrical thanks for the reply 🤙🏻
Awesome video nice insight 👌
The mains service cable appears to be a PILC (Steel tape armoured) this type of cable wouldn’t normally be PME’d. The earth terminal of the cutout wouldn’t have a PME link connecting it to the neutral block and wouldn’t be connected in anyway to earth as the earth is taken from the lead sheath of the cable. The earth terminal on the cut out is no indication whether the earthing arrangement is TNCS (PME) or TNS (SNE) It is pure assumption to say “There is a PME available here”
Nice job apart from wading through the cupboard contents to get decent access. Any reason why you didn't bring the existing earth cables down the back of the mounting board?. Looks odd.... Yes I know the two main cables run on the front.
I dont know if it's possible the the FUSEBox consumer unit as I haven't seen one and I couldnt tell with the video but other manufacturers have square knockouts on the back with fire resistant blanks to fit in to buy separately where the cables could push through instead of drilling, depends which is easier on site.
Maybe fusebox have something similar
What app are you using to log your readings?
How come you got James was it work experience or off your own back
As you can see they emptied the cupboard for me 🤣 Every board change ever!🤦🏻♂️ I do love the way they always clean out the cupboards and the loft for you when they know you’re going to be in there...
Was that light in the loft held up using blue sleeving?
Blue rope 👍🤦♂️
CJR ELECTRICAL 🤦🏻♂️ Nothing seems to phase me as to what we find in the domestic these days!
Breaking seal on meter.......definitely a no go , break main cutout seal rather than meter.
Is that iCertifi software for the reports?
who is Pablo? how come he is allowed to change the main switch
Guessing Pablo works for the DNO
Here in People's Republic of Northern Irelamd, there is no Part P, so have at it. 😆
Andy D cheers from Co Wexford ☘️🇮🇪☘️
Don’t go too far south or you’ll need bigger cable clips for the insulated cpc t&e!
Hi Chris what hole cutter did you use for when you have cut them holes in back of c.u and put the grommets in. Was is a step out bit or an actual hole saw
Wire nuts give a much larger contact area than Wago connectors.
The Crabtree item is from memory prt number 13000 an elcb. Not sure the difference between an elcb and an rcd.
Whats your head light make please?
Great video. My elderly parents have a fuse board that looks like the old one. What kind of price would I be looking for to have it replaced? Basically I'm asking what kind of fee would be charged for the work done in the video?
Same I’m a level 2 electrician and I’m gonna replace this Board for someone , as this is my first time doing actual work I don’t know how much to quote him , I was thinking 250 so I do his board replace all his sockets and light switches and lighting
Are you part p registered?
Hi mate, great video.
Did you have an issue with opening the suppliers meter, did a tamper switch activate.
I have one myself to do with no isolater installed and power company no help.
Did you do the tails live with no load on
Hey you doing a good job can you do a video of your tools that you use to test electrical
Where does the surge protector wire in to? The bottom of the main switch?
Time lapse music is very cool any links ?
I thought so too, relaxing for a Sunday
Why not use a din mounting bell transformer?
Officially not compatible 🤷🏻♂️
@@Cjrelectrical Fusebox do a bell transformer for the board. It is part ABTR in their brochure
Thats a bit of a mute point, the same could be said of third party SPD's, which it seems are acceptable.
Question : had 2 electricians doing different things so a bit confused foe 18th edition consumer box change do we need smoke alarms aswell to be connected ?
24:00 why did you replace the old double pole isolator/RCD? I mean why not just remove it? You were changing the meter tails anyway.
Yeh ok pablo 😂😂😂
Really enjoy these they ae fascinating and appeal to my inner engineer nerd :D One question: What was the Bell Transformer for...?
Door bell
@@Cjrelectrical Ah thanks
Doooohhh>
Also, I thought Bell was the manufacturer, I didn't realise you meant an actual bell :D That would be me....
I think you will find that it was a voltage operated earth leakage protection device.
Always wonder what percentage of dwellings have these old consumer units, most I suspect which to my mind means the electrics behind them is going to be suspect too and surely they're not going to be up to the job of wiring in a car charger? Have a great relationship with my electrician as he's happy for me to do what he calls the blue jobs of cutting out for boxes, chasing, running cables then he comes along and puts all the bits in, the pink jobs. I was surprised how much testing he did of existing when he replaced my consumer unit, every rose came off, everything was tested. A day of his time which includes certification is probably cheaper than trying to diy and find a third party to certify.
Brilliant idea about the DB seals Chris, where did you get them?
I get the thinking behind the tamper sticker but I think it's a bit much to invalid the warranty if the sticker is broken. If another electrician does some fault finding work on one particular circuit, why should the customers warranty for the work on the CU be invalidated because the other electrician's had to break the sticker to work on one circuit.
You’ve missed the point it’s not the fact I won’t guarantee my work.
It’s just I want to know if someone has been in the board after me.
@@Cjrelectrical I know what the point is, I used to do the exact same thing, for the exact same reason, to have visual evidence that somebody's been in the CU after you but when would you need to know this, usually when there some sort of dispute going on about a repair or work that's been done. A broken seal on the CU cover doesn't mean the installation been tampered with, personally I'd like to see tamper stckers over the terminal recess, that way I know exactly what circuits been tampered with. If it's a circut I've worked on and the seal is broken, take it up with the other guy.
Saludos de España
How does this usually cost as a customer
Just saw the isolation switch 🤣🤣