Dangerous upgrade to crabtree rcbo's

[MFS Electrical]

Yes they are on this thread somewhere

yeah i just noticed

 

[Alrebcon180]

yeah i just noticed

Yes page 3 I think.. Not really into the electronics side so all too much for me but don't like it when people go from a blue wire to a white wire and back to blue again.. Makes u wonder if its all wired correctly as it should be as like I said the old style rcbo didn't have this problem.. Can probably take some more pictures if anyone wanted..

 

[Alrebcon180]

That broke my mind - can you post a pic please?

The pics are on page 3 if u haven't seen them already..

 

[telectrix]

The pics are on page 3 if u haven't seen them already..

page 3 of The Sun? yummy pics, they were.

 

[MJPD29]

It's pretty poor that a company like crabtree would allow something like this to happen especially with the price they charge for their stuff

 

[weevilward]

I also got a tingle off a reduced height RCBO fly lead before Christmas (think it was a Hager but it could have been a Crabtree, can't remember which) . Didn't think much into at the time because I was in a massive hurry...
It stands to reason that all RCBOs made this way will have the same issue.

 

[weevilward]

Well done OP for bringing this to our attention, it is much appreciated.

 

[FreeLec]

I realize this post is over a year old but I have some info that may clear this up. Don't know if anyone will see this now but I thought I'd post it anyway.
I recently had the same issue getting a light shock off the neutral flylead.
After looking up the specs of this RCBO I found the reason.
They claim 2 things about it. 1/ That is is double pole. 2/ You can IR test the circuit with the breaker off.
This can only mean that the electronics are on the supply side and not the load side. Hence, when connected to the busbar the flylead becomes live.
The leaflet that comes with it says to isolate the busbar but as has been pointed out, this is the real world and EAWR does allow live working. Irrespective of that they should have labeled the RCBO clearly that the flylead becomes live on connection and the electronics are on the supply side. A circuit diagram on the side is not enough.
The claim is that you don't have to disconnect conductors to do an IR test. I would rather do that than have this situation. One poster said that you can connect the flylead first which is exactly what I did on the others that I instaledl. However, you shouldn't have to do it that way as how do you dress it in round the other wires without a great deal of hassle.
This had been dangerously designed for one simple reason. Any experienced spark knowing how RCBOs work would not expect the electronics to be on the supply side.
Another thing. What if there was a problem with the electronics itself. You wouldn't be able to turn it off without isolating the whole board and removing it.
Very poorly thought out, and for what? Being able to IR test without removing conductors.
Next they'll be making them with four terminals so you can ring continuity test without removing conductors.

 

[Pauls0212]

The four terminals would be nice, bain of my life trying to find the earths though

 

[Alrebcon180]

I realize this post is over a year old but I have some info that may clear this up. Don't know if anyone will see this now but I thought I'd post it anyway.
I recently had the same issue getting a light shock off the neutral flylead.
After looking up the specs of this RCBO I found the reason.
They claim 2 things about it. 1/ That is is double pole. 2/ You can IR test the circuit with the breaker off.
This can only mean that the electronics are on the supply side and not the load side. Hence, when connected to the busbar the flylead becomes live.
The leaflet that comes with it says to isolate the busbar but as has been pointed out, this is the real world and EAWR does allow live working. Irrespective of that they should have labeled the RCBO clearly that the flylead becomes live on connection and the electronics are on the supply side. A circuit diagram on the side is not enough.
The claim is that you don't have to disconnect conductors to do an IR test. I would rather do that than have this situation. One poster said that you can connect the flylead first which is exactly what I did on the others that I instaledl. However, you shouldn't have to do it that way as how do you dress it in round the other wires without a great deal of hassle.
This had been dangerously designed for one simple reason. Any experienced spark knowing how RCBOs work would not expect the electronics to be on the supply side.
Another thing. What if there was a problem with the electronics itself. You wouldn't be able to turn it off without isolating the whole board and removing it.
Very poorly thought out, and for what? Being able to IR test without removing conductors.
Next they'll be making them with four terminals so you can ring continuity test without removing conductors.

Thanks freelec for the update on this, I had nearly forgotten about this but shouldn't have as the amount of worry over working live this thread caused kept me replying for a while .lol??