Where And What To Buy Consumer Unit For Newbie

[mattmoo1974]

Cyber put a split board board in 10 way.
Have the upstairs lights and down stairs ring on 1 side and viasa versa, So then if a RCD trips you dont loose every thing up/down stairs.
IE if some 1 plugs in a kanckered say kettle into the downstairs ring and it trips the RCD on that side of the board,they will still have the lights on because the lights are on the other RCD on the board.
Hope that made sense to you

 

[Geordie Spark]

Cyber put a split board board in 10 way.
Have the upstairs lights and down stairs ring on 1 side and viasa versa, So then if a RCD trips you dont loose every thing up/down stairs.
IE if some 1 plugs in a kanckered say kettle into the downstairs ring and it trips the RCD on that side of the board,they will still have the lights on because the lights are on the other RCD on the board.
Hope that made sense to you

Have a looksee at page 4 of this: http://www.electrium.co.uk/Wylex17th Edition.pdf

 

[pushrod]

If you can't immediately sort out a borrowed neutral, rather than having both lighting mcbs on the same side ie through the one rcd, it is better(safer) to put both lighting circuits on the same mcb. This is because although putting them on the same side will stop the tripping it will mean that with 2 separate mcbs if one mcb is switched you might not have completely isolated that circuit because of the other. Obviously you will have to make assessments of load to check if this is possible.

 

[tony mc]

Some excellent advice given by all and none of your questions are stupid.
I bet lots of people out there are reading this but did't like to put a post on the forum.

Remember the borrowed neutral every time you are working on any cct and treat the neutral the same as the line and you will stay safe.

 

[white armour]

Have used both CTI & CED as my supplier had them on special, was not very impressed at all; cheap and cheerful. Have used a lot of Niglon twin RCD boards over the last couple of years (compatible with Hager) and found them to be good quality, robust and not too bad at all to work on. Always try to leave 2/3 spare ways for future use and take any unused MCBs away for future use.

I try to stick to fitting 2 or 3 make of CCU otherwise you with have loads of different MCBs knocking about cluttering up van/shed/garage etc. Also like the Crabtree starbreaker range, little more pricey but excellent kit.

If you fit CCU that accepts RCBOs this also helps with the borrowed neutral scenario as you can stick both circuits in without affecting sockets if you get a trip, I only to use this a a last resort and try and resolve the errant cabling by routing through airing cupboard or slimline trunking behind bed doors if this is acceptable to customer.

Best of luck with your assessment.

Regards wa

 

[ezzzekiel]

the usual method is to move the existing light wiring at top of stairs into junction box just leaving the single core switched live at the rose, then run a neutral from downstairs lighting up to the fitting.

as for buying gear dont use places like the sheds etc, find a local wholesaler go introduce yourself and build up a reputation with him.