Sometimes you just have to work Saturdays.

[Malcolm]

Hi all.
I thought I'd just share this one with you.
I try not to work Saturdays anymore, but got a call from a guy saying that sometimes lights in his house don't come on or slow to come on or some come on and others don't, which made me think about one I came across last year when it turned out to be a damaged neutral on incoming cable. So I thought this sound serious.
On opening the cu. At first I thought what looked like a sunlight reflection on the plastic at the back of the cu. I then realised it was the glow of the buzzbar reflecting off the back of the board!
After letting it cool down, this is what I found.

Had a right job to separate the breakers.

The guy said that it was rewired 10 years ago.
This is the cable to the shower.

The Hager board was put in new on the re wire. But it had a mixture of Hager and Wylex breakers.
It looks like the problem stemmed from the 6 amp for the lighting, Wylex. It looked like it wasn't connected to the buzzbar properly.
New Breakers, new RCD and new buzzbar. Just got to get some blanks as the others are now misshapen.

 

[Rpa07]

Poor workmanship and a whole lotta luck - nice find and good pics!
Did he mention smelling anything recently?

 

[Malcolm]

It was done I'm told by an electrician who was about to retire.
They didn't notice any smells probably because it was in the garage. But it was attached so would still have taken the house with it.
I can't understand, if it had been rewired why are the old colours still in for the shower?
Luckily the shower had been removed and a power shower put in.

 

[Bob Geldoff1234]

When rewiring a house if the shower cable is plastic,the correct size and still in good condition then it often gets left.The lighting Wylex breaker will have burnt due to the bus bar being in front of the clamp.The old boy will have tightened up the breaker but the busbar would have been on the wrong side hence not properly contacting and over time sparking until it got to the state you found it.
As a word of advice,when fitting the busbar into the breakers first make sure all the breaker screws are fully open ready to accept the busbar.Secondly i use my phone camera to check that the mcb clamps have all tightened up on the busbar.Only takes a second but it's good for peace of mind.

 

[Rpa07]

Some fit the bus bar and breakers or RCBOs before attaching to the DIN - if it proves easier and enables to check the terminations ok. One of the dentists mirrors does the job for me.

(That doesn't mean the dentist comes with me on all CU changes!)

 

[Malcolm]

Bob. That's exactly what happened.
Dentists mirror is a good idea, might invest in one.

Came across something else the other day as well , around here "Cadent" have been replacing the old gas mains down the roads and renewing the old metal pipes to the houses.
I was talking to one customer who had just had his done, but to make it easier for Cadent, and to cause less damage to their drive, they agreed to have their gas meter moved to where the boiler is.
I installed their bonding less than a year ago.
Cadent removed the bonding, moved the meter and didn't bother to get someone round to reconnect. They just left it.
It was only me talking to my customer that they realised how dangerous it was.
I went round to re do it.
Just about to write Cadent a snotty letter.

 

[SJD]

Several times while doing an EICR, I've come across the busbar not inside the clamp, but just resting against the outside of the clamp, a particular risk with Wylex MCBs, so I make a point of checking them now during a test & inspection.

 

[7029 dave]

IMO, modular systems are carp, lets get back to fixed with two screw terminations.

 

[telectrix]

Bob. That's exactly what happened.
Dentists mirror is a good idea, might invest in one.

Came across something else the other day as well , around here "Cadent" have been replacing the old gas mains down the roads and renewing the old metal pipes to the houses.
I was talking to one customer who had just had his done, but to make it easier for Cadent, and to cause less damage to their drive, they agreed to have their gas meter moved to where the boiler is.
I installed their bonding less than a year ago.
Cadent removed the bonding, moved the meter and didn't bother to get someone round to reconnect. They just left it.
It was only me talking to my customer that they realised how dangerous it was.
I went round to re do it.
Just about to write Cadent a snotty letter.

but was the new incoming service in plastic?

 

[nunthe wiser]

Fitted a Wylex board Friday, they have changed their incoming switch to two screw clamp, looks kinda pathetic compared with their 810's

 

[Malcolm]

Telectrix. Unable to tell, there is a metal tube going up to where the flexible bit is on the meter.