Breakers

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Thats an older pamphlet M8, I  assume its the new ones that are insisting on same make ,  or is it a reg  as Slidey says .....BS 7671 ?  

Its a PITA i know that.

No its not. The last 2 Wylex C/U bought since Xmas have that leaflet

 

[Technician]

Two things I would like to address;

Could Sidewinder post the reg relating to the manufacturer's instructions?

I am sure he is right but I cannot find it.

Intrinsic safety does not apply to these devices. 

 

[Sidewinder]

Certainly Technician,

Straight from my electronic copy of BS7671 in raw data form:

"134
134.1
ERECTION AND INITIAL VERIFICATION OF ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS Erection
Good workmanship by competent persons or persons under their supervision and proper materials shall be used in the erection of the electrical installation. Electrical equipment shall be installed in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the equipment."
 (IET 21)
IET. BS 7671:2008 (2011) Requirements for Electrical Installations, IET Wiring Regulations - Universal, 17th Edition. Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET), 2011-07-01. <vbk:978-1-84919-531-7#page(21)>.

 

[Technician]

Great Sidewinder;  knew you would come up with the goods.

 

[Phoenix]

I'll fit the right breaker whereever its a feasible option, but if all the wholesalers have been exhausted and the stock of obsolete breakers throws up a blank, then its time to look for a compatable part as long as it fits well. (and Ideally a differently badged but same manfacturer part. EG. Bill talisman plus and memshield 2 are the exact same boards..... one generation of MK breakers were rebadged merlin gerin, and about 10 years ago dorman smith and wylex were the same)

EICR wise, I guess its a C3 if it looks like it fits well, code C2 if its sitting at a crazy angle and C1 if its sitting so badly that its making poor contact and burning up

As an aside I was looking at a site wired in early 70's, submains are the imperial equivelent to 16mm, but the cores are aluminimum and single strands, some DBs have been replaced with MEM shield 2, one of these boards feeds a submain to another board, Red phase leaving the breaker has signs of overheating at the termination due to sitting badly in the cage terminal. Faced with the question on whether the MEMshield 2 range was suitable for aluminum conductors the response from MEM technical was a flat no....

 

[boltonsparky]

Serious question... has there ever been or has anyone any experience of danger/damage being caused by a good fitting MCB being installed into a board of a different manufacturer?

I can count on my hands the number of burnt out MCBs I've seen and they were just because of poorly tightened connections on the outgoing side, just one on the busbar side (all the matching manufacturers)

Think this is one were common sense and experience should prevail or there should be an across the board standardisation of MCBs and boards where anything will fit everything.

Not so seriously... they'll be telling us what colour shoes (sorry safety boots) to wear and which hand to wipe our backsides with next   :coat   

 

[NozSpark]

Serious question... has there ever been or has anyone any experience of danger/damage being caused by a good fitting MCB being installed into a board of a different manufacturer?

I can count on my hands the number of burnt out MCBs I've seen and they were just because of poorly tightened connections on the outgoing side, just one on the busbar side (all the matching manufacturers)

Think this is one were common sense and experience should prevail or there should be an across the board standardisation of MCBs and boards where anything will fit everything.

Not so seriously... they'll be telling us what colour shoes (sorry safety boots) to wear and which hand to wipe our backsides with next   :coat   

Didn't you get that memo then??

 

[Sharpend]

The truth is if you tried to work to every rule and regulation you either wouldn't work or your charges would sky rocket.

Apply common sense and what you do know and carry on.

 

[Evans Electric]

Certainly Technician,

Straight from my electronic copy of BS7671 in raw data form:

"134
134.1
ERECTION AND INITIAL VERIFICATION OF ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS Erection
Good workmanship by competent persons or persons under their supervision and proper materials shall be used in the erection of the electrical installation. Electrical equipment shall be installed in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the equipment."
 (IET 21)
IET. BS 7671:2008 (2011) Requirements for Electrical Installations, IET Wiring Regulations - Universal, 17th Edition. Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET), 2011-07-01. <vbk:978-1-84919-531-7#page(21)>.

Thanks for that Sidey ! 

I take it then that all the manufacturer's instructions state that " No other make of  breaker shall be fitted "

 

[Sidewinder]

Please refer to the BEAMA paper issued on behalf of the manufacturers I linked to in an earlier post.

Also, it may well say in the sales literature.

It could be very subtle in the wording, perhaps say something like XYZ model breaker exclusively for our ABC board?

IYKWIM

 

[Evans Electric]

HHmmm!  I thought it seemed a bit ambiguous TBH !

 

[kerching]

Didn't you get that memo then??

For those that missed the memo.....wipe with your left hand, eat with your right hand. If anyone steals anything you have your right hand cut off so you have to wipe and eat with the left hand........insh'Allah

......just saying.............B'ismillah

 

[Evans Electric]

I see that Eaton  (MEM)   have reshaped their new range of breaker so their previous one won't fit the new boards .

And although I would support buying British , a  SP breaker @ £12  ea   is enough to drive you to Hager .