How do they get away with it.

[Darkwood]

Just been re-routing a single phase swa to a sub mains in a school when i found the brand new isolator with a inspection sticker only 6months old i never thought id come across what i did inside it.
On opening the mem metal-clad switch fuse it had two 63amp fuses in it one on the brown phase wire and one on the neutral .
Got the electrical clark of jerks out next week to inspect our re-firb work but thinking this will be just nice for him to see and bring this firm to book as its got their name and cert attatched

P.S. ive not left it like this before you mention it i know my responsibilities.

Oh forgot to mention this was in a junior infants school just think if the neutral fuse had blown and their was a nuetral earth fault on the sub main (LIVE!!!! RADS ETC)

 

[zupos40]

Just been re-routing a single phase swa to a sub mains in a school when i found the brand new isolator with a inspection sticker only 6months old i never thought id come across what i did inside it.
On opening the mem metal-clad switch fuse it had two 63amp fuses in it one on the brown phase wire and one on the neutral .
Got the electrical clark of jerks out next week to inspect our re-firb work but thinking this will be just nice for him to see and bring this firm to book as its got their name and cert attatched

P.S. ive not left it like this before you mention it i know my responsibilities.

Oh forgot to mention this was in a junior infants school just think if the neutral fuse had blown and their was a nuetral earth fault on the sub main (LIVE!!!! RADS ETC)

What the odds, he will be asking you to rectify it, rather then trying to bring the other firm to book, you should have took photos and put them on this forum.

 

[Darkwood]

i have to rectify it because im making alterations to circuit but hes a strict clark of works and its a local firm on his patch and they are niceic contractors so i think its a sure thing hes gonna bring them to book.

 

[zupos40]

i have to rectify it because im making alterations to circuit but hes a strict clark of works and its a local firm on his patch and they are niceic contractors so i think its a sure thing hes gonna bring them to book.

I hope he does, but I inspected school and found substandard / non compliment work done by NICEIC contractors and the schools got no where, the guarantee sounds brilliant, but it a damn site harder to get the firm to return and correct the non compliment work. I not having a go at NICEIC, there competent contractor and not so competent contractor in any organisation. Take photos and shame them.

 

[KNIPEX]

Just been re-routing a single phase swa to a sub mains in a school when i found the brand new isolator with a inspection sticker only 6months old i never thought id come across what i did inside it.
On opening the mem metal-clad switch fuse it had two 63amp fuses in it one on the brown phase wire and one on the neutral .
Got the electrical clark of jerks out next week to inspect our re-firb work but thinking this will be just nice for him to see and bring this firm to book as its got their name and cert attatched

P.S. ive not left it like this before you mention it i know my responsibilities.

Oh forgot to mention this was in a junior infants school just think if the neutral fuse had blown and their was a nuetral earth fault on the sub main (LIVE!!!! RADS ETC)

sorry as as newbie, i cant picture how if the neutral fuse blew the rad would become live??

can someone please explain further, thanks.

 

[sparks1234]

I think darkwood is getting a little over excited with scenarios but there certainly should not be a fuse on the neutral.

 

[zupos40]

sorry as as newbie, i cant picture how if the neutral fuse blew the rad would become live??

can someone please explain further, thanks.

Darkwood scenerio would be if isolater was connected to TNCS supply, then at the electrical supply cable the neutral and earth are combined (TNC), it is only after the service head that they are separated into two conductor neutral and earth (S), as a result worse case senerio would be a neutral to earth fault and a break in the neutral (eg neutral blown), in the scenerio the current returning from the load would automatically flow through the earth conductors, back to the supply, as a result metal work would become live, thus producing a shock risk between that metal and true earth, the risk is the same as leaving bare conductor for them to touch.

No normal load current is not of sufficient size to blow the fuse.

 

[Des 56]

The NIC will not look into a complaint if there has been alteration to that work

They use that as their number 1 get out clause,so the put it safe action may be the excuse they need for no action, as per usuall for them

 

[Darkwood]

I think darkwood is getting a little over excited with scenarios but there certainly should not be a fuse on the neutral.

Overexited you say, went to an hotel whose lighting was flickering and ring main down then no power in part of hotel it was 2yrs ago neutral had burnt away on bad busbar connection and used an E/N existing fault on a function room ring main approx 60amps flowed through ring earth and melted all cores together while still using it as a neutral it then melted the ring earth connection finding an alternative route through some supp' bonding to a sink, in turn this melted away and when i arrived 240v existed between an earth dishwasher metal and the adj' sink.
Been sparking 21yrs now and had similar situations 4 times so not exitable these risks are not common but real.

 

[zupos40]

Overexited you say, went to an hotel whose lighting was flickering and ring main down then no power in part of hotel it was 2yrs ago neutral had burnt away on bad busbar connection and used an E/N existing fault on a function room ring main approx 60amps flowed through ring earth and melted all cores together while still using it as a neutral it then melted the ring earth connection finding an alternative route through some supp' bonding to a sink, in turn this melted away and when i arrived 240v existed between an earth dishwasher metal and the adj' sink.
Been sparking 21yrs now and had similar situations 4 times so not exitable these risks are not common but real.

I not had an example that bad, but I tested an instalation where the lady of the house broke her arm because of an earth neutral fault on a ring final circuits presented its self as 75V on the metal light switch, she touched the switch and felt the tingle in pulling her hand away she fell and broke her arm, another case the cold water was bonded, but the hot was not, so if you had touched both the taps, there may have been a fatality, fault was a faulty electric water heater with earth neutral fault, yes may be not that common, but come across it about 40 times in 30 years, it not a nice fault to trace either.

 

[sparks1234]

Overexited you say, went to an hotel whose lighting was flickering and ring main down then no power in part of hotel it was 2yrs ago neutral had burnt away on bad busbar connection and used an E/N existing fault on a function room ring main approx 60amps flowed through ring earth and melted all cores together while still using it as a neutral it then melted the ring earth connection finding an alternative route through some supp' bonding to a sink, in turn this melted away and when i arrived 240v existed between an earth dishwasher metal and the adj' sink.
Been sparking 21yrs now and had similar situations 4 times so not exitable these risks are not common but real.

21 years....just a youngster

There are many problems and scenarios that MAY crop up, losing a neutral on a 3-phase supply can cause a lot of damage to single phase equipment but these things are few and far between but as I said that doesnt make a fuse on the neutral correct but then again they used to be like that over 21 years ago...

 

[daniel hill]

some of the houses that i go in to have two bullets one for live and one for the newtral
oviousley i get united utilities out to change them before i do anything in the property