Proteus Amend 3 Consumer unit

[nickblake]

Well thought as CEF are forum sponsors i'd do a review of the proteus consumer units,The boards look neat ,internal wiring very tidy lack of cable entries at the top especially for the larger boards , i have installed an 18 way 8x8x2 hi integrety , did make me laugh when the lables supplied only go to 16 and a self adhesive circuit identifiation sheet going up to 12 ways , mm little more thought there i think , right the nitty gritty , the screw as in most boards are very poor quality wont torque very easily and are very soft , when will board screws be torx or square head that wont slip , the neutral and earth bars a nicly located but require an additional support in the middle, the main switches all end up out of line never verticle for some reason and you cant straighten them which makes all the mcb's lean , one of mymain issues is the whacking great cut out on the back 2 cut outs and the whole back is almost gone so if your cables are comming throught the back then you end up with a huge hole , not going to hold back a fire that , the lid fixings are poor with the MCB's not lining up very well the cover fixing screws tend to push the captive nut out , due to the fixings of the cover the lid door drops putting a strain on the screws taking the weight of the door into consideration the cover should have 4 screws, IP rating , we have had lots of points regarding the IP rating of boards , im not sure how this board passes when the covers on you can push a piece of 2.5mm wire throught the gap between the mcb and the RCD there are the same sort of gap at the top where the cover and board meet so not very good , I have installed a few now , not sure about them , have had 2 fall apart top and bottoms fall off , and the proteus customer service is diabolicle

Rating out of 10 i would give them a 6 , customer service 2 , will i use one again 3

 

[Pete999]

You must have picked one of the good ones, I have used them, only once never again

 

[infinity]

Why would you use them again with all those bad points? Plenty on the market

 

[Paul.M]

Really good points there Nick, another one is if your going for bottom entry (oh Matron!) the incoming cable/wires are touching the busbar on the 3ph models. Ok, they have a plastic barrier but it just does not sit well with me. Fitting one next week but this time I've gone for the larger size just for the working space inside. (It is what the company use btw, I'd buy another brand if it was me).

 

[mattg4321]

Not sure what their thought process was with the side hinged door either. Every other manufacturer seems to have gone with the gravity drop down lid over MCB's.

I added a circuit to one recently and also noticed IP ratings hard to achieve as quality is poor, entries are poor and the neutral/earth bars were fixed to the back of the enclosure meaning if you used a top entry then the incoming cables cover the connections.

Absolute crap. Even CED and the like have managed to design a better A3 board and for a lot less money. Hager still the best IMO though.

 

[richy3333]

Ate these the M2 boards? I've fitted a few of these with RCBO's and they've been ok.

 

[richy3333]

Not sure what their thought process was with the side hinged door either. Every other manufacturer seems to have gone with the gravity drop down lid over

Not sure that's wholly correct.

 

[telectrix]

most are gravity drop lids. some drop shut and some drop open. think the latter are meant for export to australia.

 

[Englishman]

Ate these the M2 boards? I've fitted a few of these with RCBO's and they've been ok.

Fitted one over the summer and thought it was ok in all honesty. Crabtree Starbreaker is the way I've been going since then though and they're lovey to work with, the only downside really being the back "knock out" which doesn't exactly go easily!

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Not used proteus,but have fitted a few M2 boards and quite happy with them. Hager is junk. Crabtree Starbreaker is the dogs.

 

[mattg4321]

Not sure that's wholly correct.

I can't say I've seen any that are side hinged other than M2/Proteus. I don't see what stops the end user leaving the door open and negating the whole point of it.

 

[Paul.M]

Installed one of these last week.







Split MET way too close to the edge. Unable to get a screwdriver straight on the terminal! Not the best design imho.

 

[mattg4321]

I can't say I've seen any that are side hinged other than M2/Proteus. I don't see what stops the end user leaving the door open and negating the whole point of it.

Just been browsing professional electrician magazine. Appears Proteus are sacking off the side hinged door and going with the gravity lid like everyone else.

Seems strange to be completely redesigning an enclosure less than a year after release. What are the ramifications for the side hinged ones already fitted. Do they comply?

Page 24 if anyone is interested.

 

[Doomed]

Used a proteus once, Never again!

 

[hasel5]

Must admit to never ever fitting a proteus board but have ripped plenty out and replaced.

 

[vxwestie]

Amendment 3 was created because of the number of Proteus boards catching fire, was it not?