Metal all the way, no brainer

andysparkfree · Feb 21, 2019

Hi all, just thought i'dd share the picture of the live distribution board we came across this afternoon following a callout

not only was this live when we got there (seems that the fire brigade removed the wrong fuse from the ryefield board) but is a shocking example why every old distribution board should be changed to metal asap

netblindpaul · Feb 21, 2019

TBH, I would be saying that the manufacturers of these boards have a LOT to answer for, but, money talks, and they have bought their way out of trouble.

Rpa07 · Feb 21, 2019

If it wasn’t for the brown and blue, I’d have said that you put a sepia mood filter on that for effect.
Looks gooey!
Can you see where it started, anything loose or obvious?

Dave OCD · Feb 21, 2019

A bit of a clean and perhaps a new front cover and it'll be fine. Bloomin Drama Queens.

ruston · Feb 21, 2019

@Rpa07
It certainly looks like a re-touched photograph.

andysparkfree · Feb 21, 2019

fire was nothing to do with the fuse board( however strange nothing tripped) but yep a bit of Cillit Bang and BANG it would be as good as new !

Rpa07 · Feb 21, 2019

ruston said:
@Rpa07
It certainly looks like a re-touched photograph.

It’s mildly haunting - it keeps drawing me back! I hope I don’t have nightmares - I’M MELTING!

Rpa07 · Feb 21, 2019

If it was nothing to do with the fuseboard, you’d probably have to put a temporary supply in for the clean up anyway, wouldn’t trust a metal board after the fire service spraying their hoses all over the shot!

Rpa07 · Feb 21, 2019

I’ll bet that it still goes down in the statistics as a fuseboard fire cause.

Gavin John Hyde · Feb 21, 2019

Quick jet wash to clean it all off and a hair dryer then pop down the supplier tomorrow for a new empty cu and it will be good to go.

ruston · Feb 21, 2019

If it had been a metal box it would have cooked the innards and bared those nice cables..

westward10 · Feb 21, 2019

What a strange thread, this is a shocking example why every old distribution board should be changed to metal asap backed up by the distribution board was not even the cause of the fire!
I should hope you are not preaching this to your customers.

Deleted member 105166 · Feb 21, 2019

ruston said:
@Rpa07
It certainly looks like a re-touched photograph.

Hmmm, I agree, there's something not quite right about that pic.

andysparkfree · Feb 21, 2019

no not really in to job creation, was more thinking of it db was metal, it could of been isolated easier ! Safety!

westward10 · Feb 21, 2019

andysparkfree said:
no not really in to job creation, was more thinking of it db was metal, it could of been isolated easier ! Safety!

How so?

andysparkfree · Feb 21, 2019

As i would hope that you could lift the flap and turn off the main switch a lot easier
as you can see in the picture, nobody would really want to stick fingers or anything else close

KEV 1 N · Feb 21, 2019

If all terminations within a DB are made correctly and tightened properly, then there is no reason why there should be overheating to cause a fire. The majority of burnt cables I’ve encountered are purely down to the fact they haven been tightened sufficiently. The change to metal DBs (in domestic) to contain fire is akin to putting a bucket under a leaking roof..........fix the roof!
If installed correctly there is nothing wrong with existing plastic DBs.

shaun1 · Feb 21, 2019

It's interesting to see that whilst the case and front cover has mostly melted away the important bits (breakers, main switch, cable insulation and even the structure around the busbars) has remained largely intact.

andysparkfree · Feb 21, 2019

just lack of melting plastic in the way of the main switch, or at least i'dd hope

shaun1 · Feb 21, 2019

Was the fire close to the board or is that smoke damage?

Andy78 · Feb 22, 2019

What a load of cobblers. Parts of your house becoming more dangerous in the event of a house fire, who'd have thought it ?

The_apprentice2.0 · Feb 22, 2019

Still neater than the apprentices installs

westward10 · Feb 22, 2019

andysparkfree said:
As i would hope that you could lift the flap and turn off the main switch a lot easier
as you can see in the picture, nobody would really want to stick fingers or anything else close

That doesn't isolate the board just the outgoing circuits.

Deleted member 26818 · Feb 22, 2019

Have only experienced one CU fire, and that was also caused by an external source.
The fumes given off by the plastic enclosure were not nice.

happysteve · Feb 22, 2019

Looks like a Hager board.

I like how the protective devices are straighter here on this picture, after all around had melted, than on a brand new MK or BG board!

ChrisElectrical88 · Feb 22, 2019

I have litrelly just opened up this lid. The cover is all sorts of melted but had just been put back on amd the N moved terminals.

Im changing a shaver light, just opened it to test.

Rpa07 · Feb 22, 2019

That’ll be the factory fitting that the sticker tells us to tighten before commissioning! Obviously the installer didn’t!

ChrisElectrical88 said:
I have litrelly just opened up this lid. The cover is all sorts of melted but had just been put back on amd the N moved terminals. View attachment 47937

Im changing a shaver light, just opened it to test.

7029 dave · Feb 22, 2019

andysparkfree said:
fire was nothing to do with the fuse board( however strange nothing tripped) but yep a bit of Cillit Bang and BANG it would be as good as new !

I could tell that by the pic, them finals are in great nick. lol they are.!!

jdinduntocher · Feb 23, 2019

When will people stop saying these boards are unsafe fires are caused by poor workmanship not making sure connections are properly tightened there are thousands of these boards fitted perfectly safe installations done by proper sparks. The London fire service were the main complainants of pvc boards but agreed that bad workmanship was the reasons for the fires. I was called to a house of a friend who had no power and when I investigated I found her 80 year old father had decided to change consumer unit himself this is what sparks are up against.

Rpa07 · Feb 23, 2019

Did he use 2mm earth sleeving for the CPCs I do wonder!

jdinduntocher said:
When will people stop saying these boards are unsafe fires are caused by poor workmanship not making sure connections are properly tightened there are thousands of these boards fitted perfectly safe installations done by proper sparks. The London fire service were the main complainants of pvc boards but agreed that bad workmanship was the reasons for the fires. I was called to a house of a friend who had no power and when I investigated I found her 80 year old father had decided to change consumer unit himself this is what sparks are up against.

Currently reading: Metal all the way, no brainer

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Metal all the way, no brainer