Full rcbo boards????

[D00DY_T00DY]

Hi all,

Probably going to seem like a novice question just wondering what techniques you lot have for full rcbo boards to keep it neat.

Put 5 in today for a temporary supply for ground workers on a genny; earth rod with a Zs of 2.13ohms (fairly good?)

Anyway it was a complete nightmare trying to keep it neat with the earth and neutral flexes out of them.

I've only installed less than 10 just wondering all your techniques for rcbos?

I kept all the length on these and tried to coil them nicely behind the cpc and neutral terminals.

 

[The Ghost]

I cable tie them and loop them behind incoming L-N and splay them up to the terminal. Was thinking of ferruling them with shorter cable. The functional earths are crazy though at what .5mm? and also long, it is a bit messy and annoying I have to work with such tat.

 

[D00DY_T00DY]

I cable tie them and loop them behind incoming L-N and splay them up to the terminal. Was thinking of ferruling them with shorter cable. The functional earths are crazy though at what .5mm? and also long, it is a bit messy and annoying I have to work with such tat.

Some say there isn't actually a conducter In there at all

I tried connecting all the rcbo flexes out then get them all together then connect my circuits but fighting 6mm wires round was just a pain so I'm thinking circuits first then move the flex round the circuit wires and cable tie them all together.

It'll be a while till I'm installed rcbos again though.

 

[Rpa07]

I agree, I did an 8 way Wylex the other day and was doing great with neatness which all went to pot with the functionals and the neutrals. I cable tied across in a group of 2 then splayed.
Good experience though. Was a small dimension board though as it had to fit in a meter box!

 

[The Ghost]

Well indeed a spark I know just connects even the functional earth to neutral. It does get me though as the FE is so small and mixing sizes in the same termination is somewhat unreliable.

 

[Wilko]

... temporary supply for ground workers on a genny; earth rod with a Zs of 2.13ohms (fairly good?) ...

Just how big was that fish again ?
You've beaten my record (6.x Ohms) that's for sure !

 

[westward10]

I know Memshield 3 isn't the same quality as Memshield 2 but the rcbos have no earth lead.

 

[Octopus]

Not all RCBO's have earth leads ...

 

[Pete999]

Hi all,

Probably going to seem like a novice question just wondering what techniques you lot have for full rcbo boards to keep it neat.

Put 5 in today for a temporary supply for ground workers on a genny; earth rod with a Zs of 2.13ohms (fairly good?)

Anyway it was a complete nightmare trying to keep it neat with the earth and neutral flexes out of them.

I've only installed less than 10 just wondering all your techniques for rcbos?

I kept all the length on these and tried to coil them nicely behind the cpc and neutral terminals.

Stick some functional earth coloured sleeving over them cut to length, nice and neat no problems imo

 

[Leesparkykent]

SBS compact RCBO's. you use a double bus bar so no neutral tail or functional/reference earth.

 

[hightower]

Cut and ferrule for me every time.

Like to leave a little bit length still so the RCBO isn't completely useless if it does need to be moved a little in the future.

 

[telectrix]

Just how big was that fish again ?
You've beaten my record (6.x Ohms) that's for sure !

fish???? this is what my lad landed the other day.

 

[john davies]

I beg to differ. RCBOs are far better than the dual RCD boards with massive tails cluttering up the whole space. I just cut the neutral lead down to size and fit a 4 or 6mm2 boot lace ferrule. These things cost pence. As for the f/earth , take them to below the bus bar, into a wago 222 then take a 2.5mm2 single from wago222 up to earth bar. Also if you are installing C/U as a replacement there is much less chance of nusance tripping.

 

[telectrix]

Cut and ferrule for me every time.

Like to leave a little bit length still so the RCBO isn't completely useless if it does need to be moved a little in the future.

View attachment 36659

very neat, mate.

 

[The Ghost]

Cut and ferrule

Very nice @hightower think I will go for ferrule now I've seen that. I do however have reservations about ferrules in that it is possible for it to slip out of the ferrule

 

[hightower]

very neat, mate.

Was done last year for my CPS assessment, looking at it now (a year down the line) and I'd argue there's room for improvement. I think if I'd done it today I'd have learnt a few more tricks and it would be neater still.

Thought I had some photos of a Proteus (absolute s****) 3-phase board I done recently where I'd cut and ferruled but I've checked and seems I didn't bother to get the camera out.

 

[FatAlan]

Where you been HT? Nice pic, how long did that take out of interest? Or is that why I haven't seen any posts for a while!

 

[Ian1981]

I know the kqi Schneider rcbo instructions tell you not to bundle the neutrals together but can cut to length.
They recommend if the functional earth is cut then a bootlace is fitted due to crushing of the fine strands when tightend in the terminals

 

[LankyWill]

My boss used to unwrap the coiled leads and hang them from a table at night. Gives you a nice straight tail then. I always shorten and ferrule, that said the SBS is a good option.

 

[davesparks]

Rcbo tails should be cut to length and not bundled up in the board as this can lead to overheating of the conductor. Some, such as Schneider, even have this detailed in the instructions.

I'm curious about the Zs quoted in the OP, any Zs measurement on a generator fed installation won't include the earth rod, it will be testing the return path directly to the star point of the alternator.
The Ra for generator earth rods has to be measured using an earth electrode testing method.

 

[D00DY_T00DY]

Just how big was that fish again ?
You've beaten my record (6.x Ohms) that's for sure !

The rod was on the other side of the cabin wall if it makes you feel better literally a 4meter run max. That's going down the wall too 1M rod? Wholesalers forgot our spike though so that was fun.

 

[davesparks]

The rod was on the other side of the cabin wall if it makes you feel better literally a 4meter run max. That's going down the wall too 1M rod? Wholesalers forgot our spike though so that was fun.

What method did you use to test the rod?

 

[Ian1981]

I got a Ra of 4 ohms the other day tho I used the structural steel as the electrode.
All bolted together about 10 lengths of steel into the foundations.

 

[D00DY_T00DY]

I know the kqi Schneider rcbo instructions tell you not to bundle the neutrals together but can cut to length.
They recommend if the functional earth is cut then a bootlace is fitted due to crushing of the fine strands when tightend in the terminals

Temporary supply mate, might be in a month max. Probably try blag the company to give him the cable and gear back since they won't use it did on the last tempory supply we did haha

 

[D00DY_T00DY]

What method did you use to test the rod?

Boss does the testing, I took a Zs at the board after I finished. That's what I was referencing

 

[Ian1981]

Temporary supply mate, might be in a month max. Probably try blag the company to give him the cable and gear back since they won't use it did on the last tempory supply we did haha

Wrong post I think mate haha

 

[D00DY_T00DY]

Wrong post I think mate haha

Well you were saying not to bundle them which I did in this instance

 

[Ian1981]

Well you were saying not to bundle them which I did in this instance

Oh yeah my mistake.
I'm just mentioning Schneiders instructions.
Overheating of the neutral was the reason they give me.

 

[D00DY_T00DY]

Oh yeah my mistake.
I'm just mentioning Schneiders instructions.
Overheating of the neutral was the reason they give me.

Wonder if it actually makes a difference or it's just them putting their tin hats on.

Duely noted though.

 

[davesparks]

Boss does the testing, I took a Zs at the board after I finished. That's what I was referencing

Does your boss not include you in the testing process? Did you see him set up temporary electrodes and test the earth rod at any point in time?

Your Zs measurement almost certainly did not include the earth rod. You will have been testing via the cpc straight back to the star point via the N-E link at the generator

With a generator fed installation the earth electrode is the earth reference of your TNS system. In comparison to a normal installation the generator is equivalent to the substation transformer.