moving meter

[BillyTheSparks]

Hello all,

I have a client who wishes to remove a wall which has the supply cable/head and meter on it, and also the CU.
The cable is lead sheath and I was wondering if it is possible to take the cable and meter board off of the wall, lay it down and then change it's direction from coming into the property under the floor and going up the wall being removed, to coming into the property under the floor and coming under the stairs?

I know this is not really the way to go, but if it was completly neccesary would the cable be liable to break/damage easily?

If you wish to message me so as to keep off of the public forum I would prefer that also.


Tin Hat on and ready for the fall-out!!! :13:

 

[telectrix]

only way i would do anything would be to refix the board to a post, secured firmly. under no circumstances would i attempt to bend or move the incoming cable or disturb any DNO equipment. if anything were to fail due to your efforts, they'll throw the book at you. apart from causing a danger to yourself and others.

 

[malcolmsanford]

I'm sure it is quite possible to do exactly what you say ...........................as long as it is not you that is going to do.

Lead sheath cable does get a bad name, mostly if left undisturbed they are quite happy to plug away for years, but like old Pyro and me, that don't take kindly to be pull and push around ................... especially when you can't
isolate them

So apart from , it's not your equipment to move in the first place, bending pulling and generally moving old lead cables is really going to pee it off ......................... especially live ones

 

[BillyTheSparks]

I wasn't too sure about the moving it part myself, being that its the best part of 40yrs old. I'm only asking as I like to explore all routes to resolve a problem. I have heard of people in the trade (who will remain nameless) of turning meter boards, and moving a small distance. But if the only way is to get the DNO in to set about it, then thats the way it has to be.

 

[malcolmsanford]

Wise move Billy I have heard of some people that jump of of bridges anchored to a rubber band mate, not something I would really want to do, and moving 40 yr old lead cable is another.

Get the DNO involved mate, it might cost a bit , but you may get a nice new cable out of it, especially if you tell them that you can smell burning, hear crackling noise etc etc

 

[BillyTheSparks]

especially if you tell them that you can smell burning, hear crackling noise etc etc

So if the client phoned them and said that this was happening, would you assume/think that they would send someone around to sort it out and renew the cable?
The meter board is inside a property which is at the moment being renovated, would they think that they are on a fools errend?

 

[mogga]

DNO for the job
As for pulling the wool over DNO guys eyes They have seen it ALL before and probably cleared up the mess of "it only needs to go 50mm down the wall Ill move it my self" guys

Problem I have with anything DNO is MONOPLY THEY have to autherise contractor to do it and YOU the consumer have NO choice in whop does the job nor in the price they quote £150 to fit an isolator from Scottish power FFS

 

[imago]

DNO for the job
As for pulling the wool over DNO guys eyes They have seen it ALL before and probably cleared up the mess of "it only needs to go 50mm down the wall Ill move it my self" guys

Problem I have with anything DNO is MONOPLY THEY have to autherise contractor to do it and YOU the consumer have NO choice in whop does the job nor in the price they quote £150 to fit an isolator from Scottish power FFS

I totally agree with that, however, another way to look at it is they charge £150:00 to absolve you of all responsibility.

As for moving 40 year old live cables about under a floor. No thanks. The risk far outweighs the cost of getting the DNO to do it. There are so many things that could go wrong from leaving a black and crispy electrician ( what's the disconnect time of the substation/TX?) to just cracking the insulation. 6 months, a year, five years down the line water ingress, arcing, curious rodent and the house burns down.

 

[a1guvner]

Out of interest what is the normal life span of a lead TNS under normal conditions

 

[Edd]

I know someone , that was asked to do a porch rebuild and the owner wanted the service head and meter moved across to another wall. the said person wasnt too happy about moving it and came up with the idea of building a small cupboard around it ( it was going into a small toilet area)..

anyway coming back a day latter to first fix and move the CU it was found that the service head and meter was now hanging by string in the new possition where they really wanted it. On asking who moved it, I was told i mean he was told that the plumber said,, ahh thats ok its just armoured cable its ok to bend it and stood on it and completly rerouted it across the porch.. we are talking lead sheaved cable here and the "plumb" just bent it in complete numpty style without knowing what he was dealing with...

anyway customer was happy and plumber lived in complete ignorance of what he had done...

On another note Ive seen one go,, and it aint preety,, it normally blows its self clear,, then the slightest movment blows it again, and again,, and again.. quite funny if it wernt so dam dangrous. molten lead and bits flying.
dont move it get the DNO involved

 

[telectrix]

once drilled through a lead sheathed supply cable. DNO had to come out on jan 1st ( bank holiday ) and dig up 30m of driveway to replace from road. such fun!

hasten to add that said cable was buried in the wall behind the front door architrave , so DNO --no charge. made a mess of my drill bit, though.

 

[BillyTheSparks]

Thank you all for the replies and also the tales of eejits doing silly things!

I will be going to talk to the clients tomorrow and will tell them that they are thinking out side the box a bit too much!

 

[Knobhead]

I’ll admit I’ve moved a service head.
BUT I’ve promised not to say how to do it!

As to the life of a PILC, how longs a piece of string? 25 years ago I re-terminated a (as then) 45 year old cable. To this day it’s still live at 550V carrying 300A as a normal load. So that’s 70 years old in total and still going strong. It was the third switchboard it had supplied. The first being a Holmes Haizmyer board (1940’s), then followed by a Reyrolle board (1953) and finally I used it for a GE MiniForm board (1987). The papers were like new when I terminated them.

 

[gottahugenoggin]

About 6 years ago i needed my meter board relocating about 1m to make space for a new doorway i was getting knocked through under the stairs.I got the dno in and the charged me £350 to do it.It was £350 on the basis that the meter was being moved in the direction that it entered the house.
If it was to be moved away and extended i dread to think how much they would of quoted!!
Whilst they were at it they fitted a new head/cut out.
I also got an isolater so i guess that was my free gift?
My bottoms still sore!!

 

[polo1]

once drilled through a lead sheathed supply cable. DNO had to come out on jan 1st ( bank holiday ) and dig up 30m of driveway to replace from road. such fun!

hasten to add that said cable was buried in the wall behind the front door architrave , so DNO --no charge. made a mess of my drill bit, though.

Eeek! I've just had a bum clench moment at the thought of drilling through a service cable!