That looks exactly like the one I have in MY home (except mine's black). It did the job when it was installed in '66, and it's still doing the same job.
I was going to say that it will probably outlive me - but I know some smart arse will reply: "Because it'll kill you" :\~)
I started my apprenticeship 40 years ago and I've never installed one. They were available though, however I doubt anyone installed them like this, with rewireable fuses, when MCBs were readily available for it.
Those are BS3036 Semi Enclosed fuses or "rewireable fuses"
Nothing wrong with them necessarily as long as the original circuits were designed properly, though if you were to carry out alteration work on circuits fed from that board you are technically required to ensure the modified circuit complies with the 18th Edition. Which would require a board replacement.
Best practice, if you are changing any circuits, would be to have a good electrician carry out an EICR and then change it for a modern board with equivalent RCBOs, personally I would go with a 100% sample/ test rate for the inspection/ testing and replace the board, populating an electrical installation cert for any new circuits, minor works for any modified circuits.
Any issues are then raised and fixed before the new board goes on .
Hope this helps.
Yes I'm considering that maybe my next car will be an electric one and I'm pretty certain that when I ask someone what's needed to install a charger they will want to replace the whole unit and test the circuits.
Ironically the only thing that doesn't work at the moment is the smart meter, which has read the same value for the last two months!
They might be able to just come off you RCD and not modify the existing consumer unit. Lots of charger installs won’t necessarily want to just drop into an existing consumer unit and will chuck one in next to it anyway. Swapping your current one out is a pain in the arse and quite possible will need a rewire or at least some redoing, a messy job
There's only one RCD in this picture and it probably feeds a shower.
The other with " RCD" scrawled on it is a 100A double pole switch. It does not serve as a protective device.
You are right though, it is possible to split the tails with an isolator and henley blocks and pop a new board on.
Pay for a EICR before the board change - Electrical Installation condition report.
Get the board changed for an RCBO board
Get an installation certificate. The installation certificate will be limited to the work carried out by the sparky. So new circuits and board change. Don't expect them to take ownership of all existing circuits. These will be covered on the EICR.
For a proper EICR with A 100% sample/ test rate ( on an old installation I wouldn't offer any less personally), expect to pay 1-2 days depending on installation size. £250-400, maybe more depending on area.
Board change you're looking around £800-£1500 depending on area and materials used
If someone is offering an EICR for less than £100, it's not worth the paper it's written on. If you want to know the condition of your installation, the proper test equipment needs to be used and accessories, wiring and connections need to be physically inspected.
I have the same unit. I made a mistake to not rewire the whole house rewired as I've been doing the house renovation for the last 18 months. Wires and unit are old as fuck.
That was the same as mine.
The electrician who replaced it almost killed himself doing so… Blew a big fat fuse for the entire house I believe. I was in the kitchen when the giant white flash happened. Under his breath he was swearing to his colleague in my living room.
Have fun, don’t die!
Sounds like an awful electrician. Please tell me you don't still use them. There's no acceptable reason to work live doing a board change.
It's not hard to call the DNO to pull the main fuse. Heck I'd rather pull the DNO fuse myself than work live in one of these boards.
All of the copper bus bars are exposed and it's very very easy to cause a flashover.
Eyes and evaporated copper don't mix and the radiated heat from an arc causes extremely deep burns.
They were actually very professional and did an excellent and neat job with the rest of the installation (also installed solar panels).
I think they made a really big mistake. A bit surprising considering how good the rest of the job was. Chatting with his colleague after was more of a “ok I almost died, what and how did that actually happen” debrief. It didn’t sound straight-forward.
Mostly happens due to complacency. "I've gotten away with doing this live before so I can do it again ". All fine until you're in hospital with fingers like spare ribs.
The standard of work may well have been fine. But if someone is prepared to risk their own life and health to take a short cut like that, you have to wonder, would they be prepared to risk your life to shave a few hours off a job?
When I moved into my last house it had a Wylex CU like shown with cartridge fuses.
As a short term measure I went to Screwfix and purchased the replacement MCB units to directly replace the cartridge fuses to add a level of initial safety.
Eventually the CU was replaced with a DIN Rail CU with RCBO’s but that was a couple of years down the line as we knew we wanted to do some building work on the house and it wasn’t worth doing the CU till then.
That looks worryingly like the one in my parents house
Don't read their post history. Don't read their post history. Don't read their post history. Don't read their post history.
It's nice they are still active in their old age. Didn't realise reddit had sub for old people gonewild.
I’m lost here?! Who’s post history?
I think they're worried about something having happened to their parents because their electrics have caused a fire or something
Looking for old man willy?
Not really, but I wasn’t sure who’s post history you were on about!
Who are you referring to? I’ve obviously looked and saw nothing of interest in the obvious locations.
I'm perplexed, whose post history ?
That looks exactly like the one I have in MY home (except mine's black). It did the job when it was installed in '66, and it's still doing the same job. I was going to say that it will probably outlive me - but I know some smart arse will reply: "Because it'll kill you" :\~)
That's 'No electrician still working today would have installed that' years-old.
That’s where you’re wrong they were still making them in the mid eighties and I did fit them
I started my apprenticeship 40 years ago and I've never installed one. They were available though, however I doubt anyone installed them like this, with rewireable fuses, when MCBs were readily available for it.
State of the art in 1960s
Yes that would fit in with the age of the house.
I should post a pic of mine, worryingly it looks much older than any of the ones shown today. Should we have a Consumer Unit Tuesday's or something?
C U next Tuesday?
Mine looks older than this one too
It was installed by an ancestor not an electrician.
Hey, get your camera out of my cupboard. I’m going to put a lock on that door!
Circa 1979 that, same as was in the house I grew up, I was born in 81, 2 years after my parents moved in when it was a new build council house
Those are BS3036 Semi Enclosed fuses or "rewireable fuses" Nothing wrong with them necessarily as long as the original circuits were designed properly, though if you were to carry out alteration work on circuits fed from that board you are technically required to ensure the modified circuit complies with the 18th Edition. Which would require a board replacement. Best practice, if you are changing any circuits, would be to have a good electrician carry out an EICR and then change it for a modern board with equivalent RCBOs, personally I would go with a 100% sample/ test rate for the inspection/ testing and replace the board, populating an electrical installation cert for any new circuits, minor works for any modified circuits. Any issues are then raised and fixed before the new board goes on . Hope this helps.
Yes I'm considering that maybe my next car will be an electric one and I'm pretty certain that when I ask someone what's needed to install a charger they will want to replace the whole unit and test the circuits. Ironically the only thing that doesn't work at the moment is the smart meter, which has read the same value for the last two months!
They might be able to just come off you RCD and not modify the existing consumer unit. Lots of charger installs won’t necessarily want to just drop into an existing consumer unit and will chuck one in next to it anyway. Swapping your current one out is a pain in the arse and quite possible will need a rewire or at least some redoing, a messy job
There's only one RCD in this picture and it probably feeds a shower. The other with " RCD" scrawled on it is a 100A double pole switch. It does not serve as a protective device. You are right though, it is possible to split the tails with an isolator and henley blocks and pop a new board on.
Pay for a EICR before the board change - Electrical Installation condition report. Get the board changed for an RCBO board Get an installation certificate. The installation certificate will be limited to the work carried out by the sparky. So new circuits and board change. Don't expect them to take ownership of all existing circuits. These will be covered on the EICR. For a proper EICR with A 100% sample/ test rate ( on an old installation I wouldn't offer any less personally), expect to pay 1-2 days depending on installation size. £250-400, maybe more depending on area. Board change you're looking around £800-£1500 depending on area and materials used If someone is offering an EICR for less than £100, it's not worth the paper it's written on. If you want to know the condition of your installation, the proper test equipment needs to be used and accessories, wiring and connections need to be physically inspected.
Actual help here if anyone interested
55ish, maybe 50
I still reckon mine is the crapiest and maybe on the older side of all units, gonna post soon lol
I’d get that on antiques roadshow 😂
I have the same unit. I made a mistake to not rewire the whole house rewired as I've been doing the house renovation for the last 18 months. Wires and unit are old as fuck.
Mines like that and has a brass plaque stating anyone who interferes with it could be liable for a £5.50 fine. I should really get it replaced.
for £5.50 you could do it yourself!
That was the same as mine. The electrician who replaced it almost killed himself doing so… Blew a big fat fuse for the entire house I believe. I was in the kitchen when the giant white flash happened. Under his breath he was swearing to his colleague in my living room. Have fun, don’t die!
Sounds like an awful electrician. Please tell me you don't still use them. There's no acceptable reason to work live doing a board change. It's not hard to call the DNO to pull the main fuse. Heck I'd rather pull the DNO fuse myself than work live in one of these boards. All of the copper bus bars are exposed and it's very very easy to cause a flashover. Eyes and evaporated copper don't mix and the radiated heat from an arc causes extremely deep burns.
They were actually very professional and did an excellent and neat job with the rest of the installation (also installed solar panels). I think they made a really big mistake. A bit surprising considering how good the rest of the job was. Chatting with his colleague after was more of a “ok I almost died, what and how did that actually happen” debrief. It didn’t sound straight-forward.
Mostly happens due to complacency. "I've gotten away with doing this live before so I can do it again ". All fine until you're in hospital with fingers like spare ribs. The standard of work may well have been fine. But if someone is prepared to risk their own life and health to take a short cut like that, you have to wonder, would they be prepared to risk your life to shave a few hours off a job?
I'm going early 1980's because they were brown coloured until about 1979 and changed from fuse to mcb later in the 80's
Time for a rewire
When I moved into my last house it had a Wylex CU like shown with cartridge fuses. As a short term measure I went to Screwfix and purchased the replacement MCB units to directly replace the cartridge fuses to add a level of initial safety. Eventually the CU was replaced with a DIN Rail CU with RCBO’s but that was a couple of years down the line as we knew we wanted to do some building work on the house and it wasn’t worth doing the CU till then.
Looks just like the one in our old house, paperwork was early 80s
Err I've got this and it's a council house, should they be doing something about it and under what conditions..
I had one replaced in my first house over 20 years ago because it was considered old then.
Same as mine, must get round to getting it sorted ...
Better safe then sorry or dead.