Existing Tails

[ic3y]

Hi Everyone

I Have purchased a kitchen, They have told me i need my consumer box replaced before fitting,
An electrician advised me to get 8way wylex and rcbo's which i have done.
He has now looked at the incoming supply and tails to the consumer box and is saying that supply in needs to be upgraded to 25mm and tails need to be 25mm as they are currently 16mm.

this involves a lot of work as the meter is on the front of the house and the house is built of concrete pebble sections and it will be immpossible to pull the thicker
wire through the tube the tails run.

So my question is can he just fit the new cu to existing tails and it all be legal and certificated ?

thanks guys

Ic3y

 

[tommy.dale]

I'm sure there is no reg for a existing install that states meter tails have to be 25mm, how far is the cu from the meter?

 

[chris222]

There is no reason to why to can't use the existing tails as long as they are double installation and not damaged I take it you are only changing the box and not increasing the load so you are only fitting the box to an existing installation no need to change

 

[Marty203]

If you are increasing extra load but cant increase the size of your mains you can always install a current limiter as a main switch in you CU, I dont know if leagal in UK but it is common practice here in Aus

 

[ic3y]

thank for replying

no load change to what load i i have now, and it is a combi shower in the house and single oven.
but i dare say there are quite a lot more electrical items to how many sockets there are.

so if he just changed the box it would be certificated ?

ic3y

 

[ic3y]

I'm sure there is no reg for a existing install that states meter tails have to be 25mm, how far is the cu from the meter?

about 2 meters i guess

 

[telectrix]

if the supplier's fuse is 60A or 80A, then the 16mm tails are fine. even if it's 100A, there's no requirement to upgrade.

 

[Spoon]

no load change to what load i i have now, and it is a combi shower in the house and single oven.

So the kitchen people said you had to replace your consumer unit. What reason did they give?

 

[telectrix]

they've done a 3 day part p course so they know everything there is to know.

 

[trev]

Ask them why the tails need to be changed, if the answer is "because it's in the new regulations" or something similar tell them that they are talking out of their backsides and that they should leave electricity to the people who know what they are doing with it IE properly trained and qualified electricians not wannabe sparks who weren't clever enough to take the proper route into the trade.

 

[Spoon]

Ask them why the tails need to be changed, if the answer is "because it's in the new regulations" or something similar tell them that they are talking out of their backsides and that they should leave electricity to the people who know what they are doing with it IE properly trained and qualified electricians not wannabe sparks who weren't clever enough to take the proper route into the trade.

The problem is that the kitchen people have stated the the CU needs changing. The electrician has stated that the cables need to be 25mm. Looks like they both might have been wrong.... We will see....

 

[trev]

Upgrading the tails on an 8 way Wylex....possible I suppose but it doesn't sound like there's massive extra load going in so something smells a bit to me mate. What is the existing consumer unit please OP?

 

[Des 56]

Well done for coming on an electricians forum, where you can be confident the advise you are receiving comes from the real world

If the load can be handled by the 16mm tails,which it probably can unless there are large increases in your demand,the tails will be fine

Even if there were an 100 amp fuse at the supply,a simple switch fuse could be installed with a 60/80 amp fuse

 

[Engineer54]

25mm tails are only recommended where the service cut-out fuse is 100A. I doubt very much that your house needs a supply of 100A, most houses even some of the larger houses will be perfectly happy with a 60a or 80A supply!!

As Trev stated in post #10 ask this so-called electrician why he wants 25mm tails?? If the reply is anything other than a 100A service fuse he's having a laugh with you, and refuse to change them out!! ...End Of!! lol!!

 

[telectrix]

and to do that, he would need to cut seals and pull fuse to verify that it is actually 100A, irrespective of what it says on the label. it's not ronseal, is it?