How clever I am!

I just thought I would show how clever I am with a new distribution box. Could not get an electrician to touch it. I can even use a microwave, but that’s about it.

Oh, and a web site I designed.

erithyachtclub.org.uk

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I prefer to label the breakers :wink:

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I bought some of these for mine:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09GQGXBBT

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Yes, its all done and most of the sockets around the house. I am very particular. Into smart home and all those toys, I like the BG range, cheep and easy.
I have even labelled the drone as CAA ordered ! Not sure aboout VLOS though, why do they make drones which can go a few miles, naughty !! But I am mainly coast and countryside.

That’s like asking why they make cars that can go faster than 70mph :smiley:

Quite a few of us are in to the whole Home Automation thing :smiley:

https://greyarro.ws/t/home-automation/12342 :house: :desktop_computer: :zap:

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Sold my lightwave stuff on ebay, expensive and poor range. BG of course use wifi which I prefer.
I am becoming impressed with this club, the photo quality is eggscellent.

Yes but you can only see a 1/4 mile and who has not done BVLOS ?

:eyes:

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not to be one to pee on one parade… but I’m sure someone else will…

changing a DB does fall part of part P of the building regulations… (it is notifiable work)

there are a couple of things I can see that I would have done differently or rather finished it off, besides the testing (grommet lower LHS, tighten all unused terminals so that the screws don’t drop out over time, trim all cables entering top of the mcbs so that there are no live cables, labeled the earth (check your earth cable size as it looks a bit small), label the equipotential bonding conductors (earth wires) to the point of entry for the water and gas supply pipelines, straightened all cables (hold the cable in one hand, and pull the cable core over a screwdriver with the other hand) and installed them with a uniform slow bend (but I’m being picky), terminate them all in order, and ensure that the neutral and earth conductors follow the same sequence (labelling all cables), check all cables with premade ferrules are fully inserted before tightening (one of the blue neutrals looks not quite terminated fully)

I think you have also wired it wrong… basically you have wasted one of the neutral busses… bear with me… if you follow the incoming neutral that is correct into the top of the double pole MCB, then out of the bottom of that neutral terminal I would have terminated two of the neutral cables, one I would have fed off to the first RCD, and the second off to the second RCD.

the neutral output of the first RCD, I would have terminated the two neutral cables and fed them up to the two LHS neutral busses so they were both neutral… then terminate moth with all of the neutral cables following the same sequence as the mcbs …

there should also be some bus covers for the live buses (plastic L shaped strips)

I am not a part P certified spark… but used to be an industrial/ commercial spark (I act as a sort of clerk of works, reviewer of designs and installations… safer behind the mouse than on site some may say…)

I’m not going to ask how you made the tails dead… but I’m hoping that you didn’t break any seals to pull the fuses… if you did make sure you replace the seals and say nothing (I’d suggest removing this thread… but that is just me)

careful what you post online

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No not at all, it wouldn’t pass my standards :grinning:

MCB number 5 is a B type 20a MCB with what looks like a very small diameter cable (1mm or is it 1.5mm)

it’s a bit small for my liking to be on a 20a type B MCB

you probably want to be aware that although a 20Amcb is rated at 20a it normally requires a much higher current to trip… it would require 20A to be drawn over a very long time before it trips.

the MCB type denotes the actual trip current (think spike or suge current)

a type B MCB will trip at 3-5 times the MCB rating
a type C MCB will trip at 5-10 times the MCB rating
a type D MCB will trip at 10-20 times the MCB rating

How do you select the right MCB or RCBO?).

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A very good reply, I will study all of it. It does not show the finished job. Everything protected and covered. I had a proper isolation switch fitted before the job. Could not get an electrician to do it, we live in the countryside and it is difficult.

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All ring main 32A. A few individual isolated circuits 20A or lower. External shed and EV 40A.
All external sheds have own DB and RCD. Plenty of earth stakes.

The stickers wouldn’t meet my standard :grimacing:

Well sorry Sparky but they do the job well. Most people don’t have any.

the downstairs lights won’t need 20A and neither would a 3kw immersion

current= power / voltage

3000/230 = 13A

20A x 230V = 4600A

if the lights are older spot lamps 4600w /50w ea = 92 lamps!!!

if they are modern LEDs at say 10W each … 4700w / 10w ea = 460 lamps!

the circuit breaker (MCB) is for electrical fault protection… to prevent a fire… hence I would lower the breaker ratings closer to the actual load or likely load.

in the past with spot lights, when they pack up they had a habit of burning very bright very quickly… hence the breaker tripped… the solution to many home owners was to uprate the MCB… not clever! if they were concerned about the spike or surge current then they should have changed the MCB type (so that the MCB is more accepting of the spike current) which has little effect or potential for fire because the insulation of the cable will cope with the quick surge.

… if something is 3kw… then choose a breaker closer to 13A to allow for circuit discrimination (allowing the circuit breaker to actually trip before waiting for a bigger device further down the circuit towards the power source)… if the immersion is drawing 16a … it’s time expired and the device should trip

I have a CNC cabinet with transformers within it… it can trip a 32A type C breaker… the solution in that case was not to install a larger or different breaker but to install a small circuit / component before the 1300w transformer (1x 800w and another 500w one ) that absorbs the spike by changing it’s resistance

1300w/230v = 5.6A… problem is with a transformer when you turn it on it gets a surge current of 10-20x the peak current rating… 56 to 122A surge current

just suggesting you check or think about the mcbs in relation to the cable sizes and the connected load… that is what they are there for to trip as a safety device and prevent fire

(RCDs or RCBOs are for added protection from electrical shock… AFDDs will come in more in the future and add another level of safety at preventing fires… they are an intelligent MCB )

… at least it’s labelled… number of boards I’ve seen where they should have a crystal ball attached to the knob on the door…

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It don’t go well will the title of the post :joy:

Not heard of AFFD’s. The DB was bought mostly populated. I take the point of having the right MCB for the circuit, but it’s going to trip anyway with a short, all the wires are the same. All lights led etc.

Well I did not say I was perfect, just better than most like my videos :thinking::thinking::thinking::thinking::partying_face::partying_face::partying_face: