Electrician in Newton Le Willows

1) As an Electrician in Newton Le Willows, we come across many different electrical situations.

2) Why would a consumer unit have different switches in?🤔

One of the most common is consumer unit issues. When a consumer unit is manufactured, the manufacturer has carried out stringent testing to ensure that in the event of electrical problems, faults and issues with high current dissipation that the equipment can cope. The manufacturer tests to see how the equipment dissipates the electrical forces and the heat generated within their enclosure and in respect of the surrounding equipment. 
The manufacturer also improves their equipment quite regularly, changing the design of enclosures, trip switches and other equipment to make things safer, more efficient, and easier to install. When the manufacturer does this, they often change the dimensions of the product along with the design and the way in which the equipment behaves under fault conditions. 

Certain manufacturers of consumer units and switchgear occasionally go out of business or are bought out by other manufacturers. When this happens, it can be difficult to obtain the original parts for the consumer unit to ensure conformity with the manufacturer’s safety guidelines and compliance with the wiring regulations and thus...our problem.

3) Is it ok to have different branded switches in the consumer unit?🤷‍♀️

In general, no. We can see from the picture that the majority of the equipment in this consumer unit is branded “Newlec” with 3 “Wylex” circuit breakers. The far left Wylex circuit breaker is the best fit, in fact it looks identical in dimensions to the Newlec equipment. This would be the least likely circuit breaker to cause future problems. The other two Wylex circuit breakers we can see are either a different size, not fitting correctly or both. These are an obvious problem. 

4) What do the wiring regulations say about this?📋

Well, according to regulation 536.4.203 we need to ensure that if we are installing components from a different manufacturer into a consumer unit or enclosure then:

“it is essential that all incorporated components should have had their compatibility for the final enclosed arrangements verified by the original manufacturer of the assembly”
(IET wiring regulations)

5) What does this mean?🔎

Well, it means that Newlec should have verified that Wylex components are suitable for use in their enclosure and meets the relevant parts of BS 61439. 

The regulations also state that if we are introducing components that have not been approved in this manner then the person introducing those components becomes the ORIGINAL MANUFACTURER along with the corresponding obligations. 

6) Is it dangerous to mix and match different equipment in a consumer unit?⚠️

It absolutely can be dangerous. The first danger is introduced when components differ in physical size and shape. In this instance, excess pressure can be exerted on the copper bar that carries power to circuits, excess pressure on other circuit breakers and the din rail to the rear which holds everything in place. We have also seen situations where the front cover of the consumer unit has been compromised due to different circuit breakers not quite fitting right. The installer occasionally chooses to saw up the front cover leaving dangerous gaps and access to live parts. 

The second danger can be where the physical components are an exact match in size and shape but have different properties or are designed differently internally. When dissipating electrical forces such as sudden fault currents or disposing of heat during operation we can find that different circuit breakers will carry out the operation in a different manner or within different physical locations within the circuit breaker.  This can mean that excess heat can build against two surfaces and potentially cause problems. 

The most common issues we find are not with identically proportioned circuit breakers but rather where modification has happened in order to fit random sized circuit breakers into the existing enclosure. Still, it is not as the manufacturer intended and things can go wrong. ☹

7) Can you tell me if my consumer unit is okay by looking at it❓​

We are sometimes able to assist by looking at a photograph if you can send one to us. If you are looking for an ELECTRICIAN IN NEWTON LE WILLOWS or surrounding areas to help you with this issue then get in touch and we can always pop in or check a photo on WhatsApp for you. 

The best way of establishing if everything is okay with the consumer unit is either a thorough periodic inspection (EICR) / electrical safety check or a visual check in person at the property. In the first instance, we will not charge for looking at a photograph so send that first and if we need to come out to your home to further inspect then we will tell you.