removal of main cutout fuse!

[HappyHippyDad]

Hello all,

I think this may be a controversial question, but here goes..

I have passed my domestic installers course and will be getting registered soon (so showing a CU change would be good). I would like to update my consumer unit and have read many of the posts on this site regarding that. I will first try and get the DNO to fit an isolation switch if not then I do not want to work with live tails so pulling the main cutout seems like the option. Lets say for arguments sake that I will get permission by the DNO, thats not really what I want to get into on this thread.

From other threads I think it a very good idea to first assess what type of head it is (cast iron seems one to avoid) and what condition it is in.

Wear electricians gloves.

Test the tails after removal of main fuse to be 100% sure they are not live.

Have main switch off when removing and replacing.

One question is how to make the meter box safe for others whilst I am working inside. Do I just remove the fuse from the main cutout and replace?

This is clearly something that should have been taught during my course, but it wasn't, they just said pull it, which isn't good enough for me.

Any futher advice on removing the main cutout fuse would be most welcome.

Cheers.

 

[telectrix]

that won't cause a loss of power to the meter , though.

 

[Geordie Spark]

that won't cause a loss of power to the meter , though.

............ and it means that you'll be working live.

 

[JulianC]

Anyone know specifically what law is being broken by pulling the fuse?

 

[Fin170]

Keeping the meter live was the point if they're intending to run around fining people for trying to do their jobs safely. True you'll be pulling the live tail (to the cu) out of the meter, but with no load on it I don't see it any more dangerous than pulling the main fuse.

Still keeping my fingers crossed they'll be putting built in isolators onto smart meters like various people say they will and then we won't be having this issue.

 

[soulman]

i disagree fin170 how is it no more dangerous than pulling the fuse (waving a live tail around trimming it and then putting it into lucy blocks). Pull the fuse out with appropriate ppe, if the fuse carrier looks iffy, you would never touch it. The EAWR state you must never work live unless you have no option, there is a fuse there!! If the DNO were to prosecute an electrician for pulling a fuse, i would imagine every electricians on this forum would stand by and support them. The DNO i dont think would ever give there permission, as if someone were killed due to being incompetent then maybe they would be liable. I believe it is up the schemes to sort this out, correct training for it,s members, we are supposed to be competent at what we do. We pay our money to the likes of elecsa, niceic so let them know or we will still be having this discussion in ten years time. I live in Durham & have tried to follow correct procedure it didn't work, nobody actually knew what i was talking about. On the other hand if there is a fault the DNO have been there within half an hour. I have spoken to meter fitters & the DNO they dont seem to bothered about the fuse, they were more concerned with the meter seals. Which is why i dont go into the meter now & use lucy blocks. You must also reseal the fuse carrier, as a child could pull it out without the use of a tool & have access to live parts.

 

[Fin170]

i disagree fin170 how is it no more dangerous than pulling the fuse (waving a live tail around trimming it and then putting it into lucy blocks).

Maybe I'm just confusing myself here, but why would your tail be live after removing it from the meter? A lot of the time you've got to remove it anyway to upgrade to 25mm tails. I say no more dangerous as wrestling some of those fuses out from the top of a ladder isn't particularly safe either

I'm well aware it's not a good option and something I wouldn't want to do. But in the future I doubt the DNO and smart meter companies will work in unison so you can pull the fuse/get a iso installed without weeks of delays

 

[Knobhead]

Some of you must have come across old installations with half a dozen VIR’s feeding numerous little switch fuses. After the first time of doing the job by the book, (all VIR’s in to Henley blocks with new tails coming out). Waiting a month for the then electricity board to connect the tails, etc. I decided enough was enough.
Seals what are they?
This was 30+ years back.

 

[D Skelton]

Anyone know specifically what law is being broken by pulling the fuse?

NONE! There is no regulation or law in force in the UK today that forbids removing a fuse and replacing it when work has finished, and anyone on here that says pulling the fuse is illegal is talking out of their rear ends!

It is illegal to cause criminal damage to the DNOs equipment ie. the seals, but it is not illegal to pull an unsealed service fuse.

To make that clear, it is illegal to cut any seals.
It is not illegal to simply pull the fuse.


That said, if an electrician was to cut the seals, thus committing criminal damage, proving it was them would be very very hard!

 

[JulianC]

Cheers. Thought as much!

 

[telectrix]

Some of you must have come across old installations with half a dozen VIR’s feeding numerous little switch fuses. After the first time of doing the job by the book, (all VIR’s in to Henley blocks with new tails coming out). Waiting a month for the then electricity board to connect the tails, etc. I decided enough was enough.
Seals what are they?
This was 30+ years back.

funny little aquatic mammals that eat fish and in turn provide food for killer whales. OH, and sport for canadian clubbers.

 

[Knobhead]

n noun a member of an elite force within the US Navy, specializing in guerrilla warfare and counter-insurgency.

ORIGIN
1960s: abbreviation of 'sea, air, land (team)'.

seal1
n noun
1 a device or substance used to join two things together or render something impervious. Øthe state or fact of being joined or rendered impervious with a seal.
2 a piece of wax, lead, etc. with an individual design stamped into it, attached to a document as a guarantee of authenticity. Øa design embossed in paper for this purpose. Øan engraved device used for stamping a seal. Øa decorative adhesive stamp.
3 a confirmation or guarantee: a seal of approval.
4 (the seal or the seal of the confessional) the obligation on a priest not to divulge anything said during confession.
5 the water standing in the trap of a drain to prevent foul air from rising.
n verb
1 fasten or close securely. Ø(seal something off) isolate an area by preventing or monitoring access to and from it.
2 apply a non-porous coating to (a surface) to make it impervious.
3 conclude, establish, or secure definitively: victory was sealed.
4 authenticate (a document) with a seal.

PHRASES
my lips are sealed I will not discuss or reveal a secret.
put (or set) the seal on finally confirm or conclude.
set (or put) one's seal to (or on) mark with one's distinctive character.

DERIVATIVES
sealable adjective

ORIGIN
Middle English: from Old French seel (noun), seeler (verb), from Latin sigillum 'small picture', diminutive of signum 'a sign'.

seal2
n noun a fish-eating aquatic mammal with a streamlined body and feet developed as flippers. [Families Phocidae (the true seals) and Otariidae (eared seals): many species.]
n verb [usually as noun sealing] hunt for seals.

ORIGIN
Old English seolh, of Germanic origin.

 

[sparks1973]

Keeping the meter live was the point if they're intending to run around fining people for trying to do their jobs safely. True you'll be pulling the live tail (to the cu) out of the meter, but with no load on it I don't see it any more dangerous than pulling the main fuse.

Still keeping my fingers crossed they'll be putting built in isolators onto smart meters like various people say they will and then we won't be having this issue.

how many more times...THEY WONT!!....the DNOs stand to lose monay.....and thats how it is....

 

[Guitarist]

how many more times...THEY WONT!!....the DNOs stand to lose monay.....and thats how it is....

....For now, at least.....

 

[edexlab]

Could the moderators or someone more computer literate organise a petition online? is this possible.

I've heard before that if there are enough names on it, then the Government have to look into the matter and there are quite a few members on this forum and there are also other Electrical forums who could support it most of whom would sign up there's supposed to be around 40,000 or more Electricians in this country, ie people on the forums could spread the word to others and so on
then present the same petition to The ENA,HSE, Mp's and the schemes we all pay for.

This same discussion is repeated over and over to no end by the trade we're the only ones who have a problem with it and as the companies who own the grid don't listen and technically don't have to, it goes nowhere, its a bit like a birds nest the ones at the front making a lot of noise get fed the quieter ones are ignored.

Everyone is in agreement about the safety issues hence the DNO refusing permission to remove seals etc, and its amazing that a separate isolator is still not fitted, the schemes would have something to say about it if we installed with no isolation at the origin of an installation so the same rules surely must apply to the energy companies based on EAWR, BS7671, HSE, ESQCR etc

I don't think its an unreasonable request to want an item fitted that will make things safer and more convenient, as this would decrease the risk of an install being left in an unsafe condition which is the very point that the DNO's are concerned about, the people who are stealing electricity will always find a way to do so and is where the DNO's should be looking as these bodge jobs are usually left in a dangerous state.

Its funny that an industry can ignore safety in this day and age when they want to , ok they can say you shouldn't be touching it, but people will also climb pylons yet everyone knows its dangerous, so the DNO's all put razor wire around the legs to prevent this how is this that different to this issue.
I remember a HSE doc I read and something similar in the regs which sounds something like the following :where there is a possibility of danger to life or property then the cost factor does not come into it within practical reason and this is most would argue is a reasonable request.

 

[Guitarist]

Totally agree mate. I think it's wrong to just accept that this is "how it is". The biggest problem in the Country is apathy.