Name this device

[Octopus]

Customer thinks it was installed in 1964 when the house was built!



Thanks

 

[Knobhead]

It's a redundant, no longer working Voltage operated Earth leakage breaker

Still serviceable as an isolator Malc.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Still serviceable as an isolator Malc.

aye but try tellin em that on the other thread tony....lol......lol...

 

[dim_bulb]

i bet Tonys the kind of guy who doesnt throw anything away

 

[Octopus]

i bet Tonys the kind of guy who doesnt throw anything away

And if I get the job I will take this out and I'll add it to my "musuem"

 

[Knobhead]

And if I get the job I will take this out and I'll add it to my "musuem"

Honestly Murdoch don’t. Remove the earth connections and it becomes an isolator when you cut the test PB off. Far better than any crap you’ll get now a days.

 

[Octopus]

Honestly Murdoch don’t. Remove the earth connections and it becomes an isolator when you cut the test PB off. Far better than any crap you’ll get now a days.

Reasonable idea but they don't have RCD protection currently...but I could leave it and add the RCD above!

 

[ackbarthestar]

I know of a working example of this set up. We played around with it until it worked.
VOELB at the front end with RCDs on the final circuits.
You need to make sure that there are no other properties in the near vicinity otherwise you're back to the old problem of nuisance tripping.

 

[electric will]

Why not leave the voelb as a isolator, with the earth removed, then have a dual rcd board but swap the main switch for a 100ma rcd (time delayed)

 

[electric will]

If its tt I mean.

 

[Knobhead]

If Murdoch is fitting a modern plastic CU with 30mA RCD’s is there a need for a front end E/L unit? Just use it as an isolator. Makes the job safer as there’s no playing about with live tails or dare I say interfering with the service head. (I’ll go and get the carbolic mouth wash now).
I’ve only done this once, I super glued the test button and painted it and the label black with the wife’s black nail polish. SHMBO wasn’t happy though.

 

[Engineer54]

If Murdoch is fitting a modern plastic CU with 30mA RCD’s is there a need for a front end E/L unit? Just use it as an isolator. Makes the job safer as there’s no playing about with live tails or dare I say interfering with the service head. (I’ll go and get the carbolic mouth wash now).
I’ve only done this once, I super glued the test button and painted it and the label black with the wife’s black nail polish. SHMBO wasn’t happy though.

If this is a TT installation with the typical Naff Ra values the UK seems to have adopted, then it's more than worthwhile having a front end 100mA S type RCD. I personally wouldn't like to totally rely on a single 30mA either side of the CU, they are still not the most reliable protective device out there!! lol!!

 

[chronyx]

This is all before my time - a voltage-based RCD of sorts?

Were 'proper' RCD's too complicated/expensive to manufacture back then? Or not even invented?

 

[Stroppy]

Just not invented, I believe.

 

[Des 56]

These were used as isolation switches by that world renowned bathroom company Dolphin

If you have ever opened up a original Dolphin shower,the sneaky lads at Dolphin design pinched these breakers to use as isolation switches for their showers

Would you believe they had a fancy looking piece of string linked to the elcb which was mounted side ways on and a glass front to hide the dirty deed

 

[Knobhead]

This is all before my time - a voltage-based RCD of sorts?

Were 'proper' RCD's too complicated/expensive to manufacture back then? Or not even invented?

In industry the core balance earth leakage relay has been around for donkey’s years. (Even before me!) They would be fitted to distribution CB’s.
How the voltage operated E/L unit came about I don’t know. But they were a bloody menace from day one! To get one to work correctly the gas and water services had to be isolated from the service pipe with a short length of polypropylene pipe. The only earth point in the installation would be via the voltage-sensing coil in the ELCB and then out to a spike.
It doesn’t take a lot imagination to find the problems.
Their redeeming feature was they were cheap(ish). My first house I fitted RCD’s to each of the Wylex boards. They cost damn near £150 35 years ago!