Main Fuse

[BEN5637]

hey chaps, just need a bit of advice. Had a CU and PEB upgrade job today. Arrived at the job with a 10 way board to discover whoever quoted the job didnt account for the fact that a 10 way was miles too big for the space. and there was no means of isolating the installation. A disconnect/reconnect or isolating switch. rang the gaffer to explain and he said cut the seal as this is allowed in the Woking area. As anyone heard of this or is he pulling my chain, explained that to upgrade the tails I would have to cut the meter seal as well. Would rather not say who I work for but its a large company

 

[wattsup]

What seal? -)))

 

[BEN5637]

oh yeah, fair one! but not gonna put job or reputation on the line for the sake of being told to cut it!

 

[sparkyork]

if im doing a cu change and theres no means of isolating the tails, then i just cut the tag and pull the main fuse. leccy board fit double pole isolators on new builds to aid this kind of work in the future. way i look at it is this; they fit em as standard now, so if they cant afford to go round to every house and fit an isolator, then whats a sparky supposed to do? cut the tag, n pull the fuse, then u can fit a henley block and upgrade ya tails

 

[wayne]

your a**e on the line (whats new there?)

 

[luke teague]

whats new!! most house's don't have any other means of isolation other tha pulling the main fuse when having to change the board. you could always phone the main suppier and wait a few weeks for them to come disconnect the supply, then reconnect it a few days after once they have checked all the paper work!! i.e certs and stuff.

But who the hell does that!! How can you keep the customer happy doing that!! leaving them with no power lol

how could you ever earn any money!!!!!

 

[Cirrus]

Just cut the main fuse seals - I do and don't even think twice about doing it!

 

[stevie h]

I cut a main fuse and meter seal today , jobs got to be done , cut away

 

[tony.towa]

Never had a problem cutting the seals in this area since the"Board" stopped inserting the tails. Check with the supplier and see if they will fit an isolator free, some still do this and this can save a lot of grief and possible hassle.

Isn't it a shame that us working sparkees can't get hold of spare seals and wires!!!!

 

[slrichardson]

We cut the seals and pull the fuse when chaning cu's. we will then replace with a temporary seal we get from the wholesalers, kew. If the dno does pop in at least they should know they were cut by a decent sparky!!! lol !!!!

 

[sparkyork]

replacing the seals isnt even a concern for me, if i could get hold of the exact same ones the board use then i would use them. but cant so dont! lol
if the board cant be arsed making installations safe via proper isolation methods then -------s is all i can say! specially as there all making so much profit and still putting energy prices up!!

 

[slrichardson]

Fair point !! lol Temp seals are about 25p though

 

[luke teague]

i have found loads of seals on ebay. just ordered a few! look exactly the same !

 

[Cirrus]

i have found loads of seals on ebay. just ordered a few! look exactly the same !

I don't see the point. Let the leccy board worry about them and save your money

 

[spark-doctor]

Recent conversation with a DNO,

Hello, i am doing a CU change, have got no isolator, can you send a enginer round to disconect supply as i want to upgrade the tails as well.

Are you NIC

No, i am NAPIT

No problem, cut the seal and pull the fuse, give us the address and we will send a man around in a few days to reseal it.

Will there be a charge for that.

No, we will get him to pop in when he is near next.

He did turn up 4 days later whilst i was there doing some other work, pulled the fuse, done a Ze measurement, checked the tightness of my connections and resealed the cutout and meter happy days.