Ancient supply feed & cutout

Chunks · Nov 17, 2011

I have just moved in to a victorian house and found a rather ancient supply & cutout. (see Pics) I need to change the CU as one of the two units is made of wood and both are old rewireable fuses, unlabled and some very old wiring too. My concern is that the cutout is vey old (but still has seals intact) and of an unknown ampage plus the earth is very small from the feed cable.
My thoughts are that the DNO need to upgrade supply cable/cutout/earth before I commence any other work but how do I approach them and will they charge ? if so how much

All thoughts appreciated on old upgrades like this.

Chunks · Nov 18, 2011

There is a cable from the main CU to the old wooden board so I believe it is still live. Guess its from the late 50's or early 60's ? Find it hard to think people thought wood was a suitable barrier/insulator just a few years ago.
Got to sort Isolation of the supply before tackling this project. Perhaps DNO will fit when they change cutout.

Engineer54 · Nov 18, 2011

There was nothing wrong with the old Wylex wooden CU's with the open backs. So long as you fitted them on non-combustible material. The wood used was seasoned hard wood and is probably far better protection than any plastic CU. At least they won't melt down to a molten blob!!! The fronts on most of those older Wylex wooden CU's was bakelite, so they weren't going to burn too easy!!

The wooden CU in the OP's photo's is a different matter altogether. That is, ... made of cheap soft wood, and were often home made back in the 30s and 40s. Electricians were multi trade in those days, that often took in carpentry as a major component of an electricians work, singles were often run in a wooden grooved capping that ran around and in-between rooms, Some of the joints and mitres in that wood capping, were better than some of today's carpenters could achieve...lol!!!

UKMeterman · Nov 19, 2011

CAUTION,
Another issue has been spotted regarding the wooden CU, it seems to be using double pole fusing, so a fuse could blow in the neutral line and the appliance would still be live..