Help! Faulty installation of fuse board!

[Evans Electric]

Its nice to be thanked  , doesn't always happen . 

My guess is one of the busbar fingers missed the cage clamp.  A fault I am sure all of us have seen.

Thats what I thought .   Its a common mistake  ...but it really shouldn't be .........   if I can't actually see the fingers in the clamps  ..( Low level etc)   I use the  mirror & count method ........... fit the bus bar  ,  check with mirror that fingers are in the boxes  ,  count the terminals to be tightened  , then count them back as I do them . 

Wizz the screws in with my little B& D  screwdriver & finish off with  the mad screwdriver.  

Oh  & a bit pedantic but also insulate the exposed busbars with tape  .  

 

[phil d]

Its nice to be thanked  , doesn't always happen . 

Thats what I thought .   Its a common mistake  ...but it really shouldn't be .........   if I can't actually see the fingers in the clamps  ..( Low level etc)   I use the  mirror & count method ........... fit the bus bar  ,  check with mirror that fingers are in the boxes  ,  count the terminals to be tightened  , then count them back as I do them . 

Wizz the screws in with my little B& D  screwdriver & finish off with  the mad screwdriver.  

Oh  & a bit pedantic but also insulate the exposed busbars with tape  .  

It's called doing the job properly, lol, btw have you seen the video on youtube? some guy showing you how to fit a board, and he's tightening everything up with an 18volt DeWalt impact driver! I kid you not.

 

[Evans Electric]

tightening everything up with an 18volt DeWalt impact driver! I kid you not.

Overkill  and likely to strip the threads too  !!!  

I use the tiny B&D  driver to just take up the slack .

I bought it for putting up fluorescent fittings  because it,s lightweight  .   Hold up the fitting with left hand ,  magnet holding a screw in the bit , then reach with right arm  to get the first fixing without twisting & pushing .  

 

[phil d]

Overkill  and likely to strip the threads too  !!!  

I use the tiny B&D  driver to just take up the slack .

I bought it for putting up fluorescent fittings  because it,s lightweight  .   Hold up the fitting with left hand ,  magnet holding a screw in the bit , then reach with right arm  to get the first fixing without twisting & pushing .  

Again a thing that people don't understand, you can do as much damage by overtightening something as you can by under tightening, the thing is some people think the tighter the better. 

 

[Andy™]

Again a thing that people don't understand, you can do as much damage by overtightening something as you can by under tightening, the thing is some people think the tighter the better. 

whats wrong with torque setting of FT?

 

[phil d]

whats wrong with torque setting of FT?

FT by hand is one thing, FT by impact driver is another. lol 

 

[Andy™]

FT by hand is one thing, FT by impact driver is another. lol 

seen plenty people tighten someting with an impact and then use a torque wrench, which is set to lower than its just been ompacted to

 

[roys]

Just say click click when tightening with a normal screwdriver and hey presto you have a torque driver 

 

[Tony S]

Many moons ago our plants would have an annual maintenance shut down. On one of the plants an annual task was to check motor and isolator terminations, a task given to one of our less gifted electricians. Off he’d go with screwdrivers, socket set and spanners in hand. The following next three months there would be numerous motor failures due to burnt out terminals.

The plant was built in the 60’s and most power cables were aluminium as at the time it was cheaper than copper. Repeated checking the tightness of aluminium terminations will over time squash them, this reduces the CCC.

So today you check the tightness of a termination that was checked last year and the year before……………………….. where do you stop?

 

[phil d]

seen plenty people tighten someting with an impact and then use a torque wrench, which is set to lower than its just been ompacted to

It's worrying how many people don't know how to use a torque wrench,

 

[Andy™]

It's worrying how many people don't know how to use a torque wrench,

i just use the same style as Roys. works well

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Thank you everyone for your answers. I do have photos and a written report from the electrician who fixed it so I think I will go to TW to seek reimbursement. I’m less bothered by the money, it’s more about the principle! I was mainly just wanting a few other opinions on whether it is possible for a fault like this to manifest after 2+ years of being fine. You’ve been very helpful, thanks again! 

The reality is that is wasn't fine and as with many things in life faults do not always manifest themselves immediately...

consider things such as:-

You buy an item of clothing, or a pair of shoes, that has some dodgy stitching due to poor manufacturing...

You may wear the said shoes of clothing numerous times over many months then finally the seam fully bursts due to the defective stitching...

Or you have been sold a new car with some defective tyres, constructed from a sub-standard material..

It is only though use, putting a few miles on the clock that you find they are wearing down excessively quickly..

In both examples AND your fuse box it is only following normal wear and tear through making the item do a bit of work,

that you find the load on the cloth, tyres or electrical circuit has caused excessive deterioration beyond what would normally be expected.

The fact that something lasted, 6months, 18months, 2years or 3 years etc.

has to be considered against its normal average expected lifespan..

Trading standards laws state that ALL goods and services supplied MUST be "fit for purpose" and "of merchantable quality" 

Electricity ALWAYS generates heat as it passes through a circuit...  (that's a law of physics)

Weak or badly constructed joints will be a point where greater heat is generated..

This increased heat will weaken the joint further over time..

the rate at which it deteriorates will be proportional to the amount of electricity flowing through the joint..

and the number of hours per day it is carrying this load..

BUT these type of faults will ALWAYS take time to manifest themselves...

Unless it is a really really really big electrical current and a really bad joint!

The connections in your fuse box if done correctly should have lasted years and years and years without any overheating issues.

the fact that one has failed quite simply says..

they were NOT "fit for purpose" or "of merchantable quality" ….

So in my mind there is a breach of trading standards laws by your housebuilder.

Irrespective of any BS761 or Part-P compliance issues...

Guinness