Wylex recall

[jasonr06]

Hi all

Has any one any more information on the reacll of some wylex, crabtree and volex MCB's as most of my local wholesalers have had letters recalling their stock, it appears that they do not comply with the time and trip charts but what happens to the one's installed in installations already and will we have a duty to inform clients.

The bottom line is will electrium pay us for changeing their recalled products or will they insist they are safe.

I will ask for a letter from electrium tommorrow on their policy.

Cheers

 

[steamboatwilly]

Got an email from Newey's today about this. Affects Wylex, Crabtree, Volex and Newlec breakers (6A, 10A, 16A) soled in the last year or so.

Sounds like they will inspect and replace MCBs at our client sites which I'm none too happy about!

 

[Phil]

yeh i got the same email from neweys today. not happy with the other wholesalers i use as they have said nothing about the recall and not a single notice up in the branches.

 

[steamboatwilly]

Yeah, quite Phil.....absolutely nowt from Denmans or CEF.

Has anyone registered any installs yet? Just curious about what they'll do with the info.

 

[eskimo39]

Hi guys all info regarding affected products here: http://www.screwfix.com/sfd/content...f;jsessionid=UMQKYXCPFK4IOCSTHZOCFFA?ts=43033

Hope this helps.

As per being reimbursed for time effort inspecting and/or replacing........... doubtful. I suppose it should be treated in the same way as any faulty item, a small addition on top of item cost to customer to cover things like that.

 

[UNG]

Pity they don't give an 0800 number to call

 

[jimmyjazz]

I've had a letter from CEF with attached photo copy of letter from Electrium stating ' Electrium will be offering a free of charge replacement service which will include, where necessary, attending site, inspecting the installation & replacing the circuit breakers concerned.' Recon' that won't take long then! Hmmm, somebody is going to be on a good earner here. Thing is our customers will still think we're cr*p for installing shoddy goods.

 

[Jason Smith]

Have tosay got 11 eleven boards out there, which cover the same time period. I also have stock on board for these units, as I keep all unused MCBS as stock on the van. I have phoned the hlp line number, and they are requesting names and addresses of the effected customers. They told me that they will supply me with new parts, and on submission of an invoice, wil pay me for going arond and replacing the parts. No mention of an outside team going around on a refit. Have reserved first week of may for this, if electrium get their act together.

 

[ezzzekiel]

think wylex should recall all there equipment and burn it.

 

[Festerfly]

think i will call them tomorrow as have a few boards out there and also some stock of these breakers..

cheers for the heads up.

 

[Thunderpants]

Spoke to them today. After details taken of all addresses where MCB's / boards installed they said that a pack would be sent out to me on how to proceed. Basically if you do the rework yourself, ie buy new MCB's, install and test, then send old MCB's back then they will pay you £75 per job. MCB's affected are 6, 10 & 16A bought between April 2009 - March 2010, operating out of tolerance.

 

[gssexah]

Still seems to be a bit of confusion over whats what when it comes to what brands are on the recall.
Wylex we know NSB mcb's Volex, Denmans brand & Senate Sector DCP and they say Crabtree, but what they have failed to mention that its on the
DOMESTIC LOADSTAR RANGE. USING 6M1B mcb's. which have now been superceeded by 6MSB mcb's.
Plus its put the fear of god up those using the STARBREAKER RANGE Which is NOT AFFECTED
If you need any more advice and how to register installations for inspection, 0844 556 4787
or the web site form registration MCB Exchange Page

 

[nickblake]

Right chaps ,called electrium today ,they will send you out a pack for all the DB's you have installed giving you the numbers of the MCB's effected ,they dont have to do it you can go round and check these your self as long as you are suitably qualified and the good news is for every board you check and replace the recalled MCB you get paid £75.00 well thats what i was told ,not sure whos going to pay for the replaced MCB's on the side of the MCB's is a number IE B6XWTSRRA its the last 4 digits of this number that you need ,numbers that are recalled are RIRA ,RERA ,RTRA ,RARA ,RCRA ,SRRA ,RHRA , SSRA ,RGRA ,IN THE 6 AMP AND 10 amp mcbs and for the 16 amp mcb's RIRA ,RERA ,RTRA ,RARA ,RCRA , SRRA ,RHRA ,RGRA any effected mcb's that you have bought from wholesalers should be returned to them
hope this helps

 

[Thunderpants]

I ordered some replacement Wylex Mcb's from QVS. When they arrived the 6A replcements had the recall serial numbers. When I called them they said they had no information from Electrium. Check your replacements. The message is not getting to all suppliers it seems.

 

[nickblake]

Electrums telephone number for recalled MCB's is

MCB Exchange Page​

0844 556 4787 (lines open 8am to 8pm daily)

 

[gssexah]

There are a lot of suppliers out there, that are ignoring the notices, for fear of loosing business.
They are obligated to tell existing customers and dormant accounts that a recall has been issued. dont forget you guys bought these in good faith, and they will be held liable if a serious fault occures.

just how many of you out there have had a burn out or serious fault that would have been potentaily life threatening? interesting to know maybe we should run a poll?

Dont forget Electrium is a renowned company which is owned by Siemens, they are not going to take this lightly, they may have only had say, 1 in 200,000 that failed there testing which is enough for Siemens to do a recall.
Siemens is a Global company, they cant afford to ignore it.

 

[mogga]

EEERRRMMMMM just a thought would you need to do a Cert and if so Wot cert?? Im assuming it would need more than a minor works ??

 

[nickblake]

Well in theory No they request a copy of the certificate so im assuming its the one that you issued when you did the CDU and you are not disconnecting any of the earths or neutrals so id say just the MCB replacements , the testing would only have been carried out within the last 12 months so id say no ,but whome am i to say . ill ask the ECA technical team on monday and let you know !!

 

[gssexah]

QVS, not the best of the electrical wholesalers out there, been using the larger nationals for a good many years now and all have mentioned the recall and freely give out contact information, and even local reps details.
ya pays ya money and takes ya chance!

 

[gssexah]

•​

​

​

​

Each product has a date code printed on its side.​

•​

​

​

​

This code is a 6 letter code e.g. IRSWRA​

•​

​

​

​

However, only the last four letters need to be
used in this check.​

•​

​

​

​

Compare the last four letters to the table below.​

•​

​

​

​

If any 6A 10A or 16A MCBs match date codes,

Ratings and Date Codes to check for​

6A &10A MCB 16A MCB​

RIRA RERA RIRA RERA
RTRA RARA RTRA RARA
RCRA SRRA RCRA SRRA
RHRA SSRA RHRA
RGRA RGRA​

Inspecting MCB Date Codes​

Last 4
letters of
date code.
Typical Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB)
Products affected
Wylex NSB Crabtree​

(Loadstar only) Volex VB​

NSB06 6M1B06 VB06
NSB10 6M1B10 VB10​

NSB16 6M1B16 VB16

 

[kung]

Got an email from Newey's today about this. Affects Wylex, Crabtree, Volex and Newlec breakers (6A, 10A, 16A) soled in the last year or so.

Sounds like they will inspect and replace MCBs at our client sites which I'm none too happy about!

I saw the recall in screwfix just saying wylex and volex thanks for this info will email Newey's regarding all effected.
Regards
Kung.

 

[kung]

Hi guys all info regarding affected products here: http://www.screwfix.com/sfd/content...f;jsessionid=UMQKYXCPFK4IOCSTHZOCFFA?ts=43033

Hope this helps.

As per being reimbursed for time effort inspecting and/or replacing........... doubtful. I suppose it should be treated in the same way as any faulty item, a small addition on top of item cost to customer to cover things like that.

Yer this is the one i saw that doesnt inc crabtree etc whats the world coming to ? that will look good telling all my customers hey can i pull out your wylex cu or volex mcbs etc some will prob think its an excuse to check you done the job right or just to see their mrs again

 

[nickblake]

Ok chaps just done my first MCB replacement ,Crabtree ,they have changed the style of the MCB's the old style the switch was in the middle new style they are at the bottom ,and the depth of the body is about 3 mm deeper oh and the lock outs just break off ,the circular part of the old style where you put the lockouts is flush with the front of the new style MCB they look a total mess im going to have to replace all the mcbs so they will match not impressed , oh and to make it worse none of the wholesalers have 32, 40 and 50 amp MCB's arghhhhhhhhh

 

[gssexah]

nickblake, dont know what part of the country your in but im sth london and kent.
i use CRS in Clapham sw4, huge Loadstar stockist gets involved with local authoritys and housing associations and has always had very good stocks if not next day.

 

[nickblake]

Im in north wales , takes a while for the sheep to get shipments through ,thanks for the info

 

[nickblake]

Hello pips

Right the Wylex recall ,any one wanting to know about certificates have spoke to elecsa today and they have informed me that you do not have to issue a cxertificate for the replacement on the MCB but electriium have asked for a certificate so all ican asume is that its the installation certificate

 

[pmd10]

hi all i am about to start changing breakers for housing assoc.and you will have to isue a
minor works cert. if you replace breaker as its classed as alteration. good luck

 

[nickblake]

No you dont have to issue a minor works certificate , as you are not altering the circuit just the protective device , you will have the certificate for when you changed the board the last time , oh and if you didnt know they pay you for the checks on the boards but they dont pay you for any replacement MCB's youy use
sorry its taken so long to reply been away

 

[UNG]

Had a call from Electrium yesterday asking how the recall inspections were progressing and when it would be complete and when I would be raising invoices

 

[gssexah]

That can only be a good thing on Electriums part then, at least they are on top of it.
how many have you to inspect? what mainly Wylex?

 

[acvc]

With the checking and replacement of these iffy mcb's ........ is it enough to inform the customer and let them sort it out. I've got on out there I did for a friend of a friend down in Cornwall last year and it will be a right PITA to have to go all the way there for it.

If I pass on all relevant info to them, and they find a local electrican, that's acceptable I hope?

 

[pennywise]

Who's used the new Wylex breakers amazing quality, they've gone back a few generations in build quality they are more like old sentry breakers. Might even start using their stuff now!!

 

[skirby]

My electrical wholesaler tells me that Wylex have been taken over and the new Wylex MCBs are actually Siemens.
The new breakers and RCBOs still fit the Wylex boards but apparently Siemens plan to phase them out and they won't fit the new range of consumer units.
I've used Wylex for many years but since the recall episode have gone over to Hagar. Better designed consumer units with more room for RCBOs.

Regarding the recall- it was a pain re-visiting all 8 of my installations and doing all the test sheets etc but Electrium paid out the £75 for each job ok.

 

[robd]

Don't know if I'm repeating what's already been said but I took care of this for our firm, we had about 30 odd properties to do all in one location. If you can get a few done at a time you're laughing, electrium paid £75 per visit and even if you get a large number of faulty breakers it's still only a 10 minute job. Make sure you phone ahead and tell them that the power will be off briefly though

 

[Mrs Murphy]

Hello, l am not an electrician but a home owner (and mother) who almost lost my family over this last weekend due to a house fire. I am writing here because this issue needs to be taken seriously. We had a fire starting in our fuse box. I have had 3 electricians to our home since the fire and all have said the fire looks to be caused by the breakers (these were Crabtree Loadstar) the same ones that were recalled.
I am pregnant and also have 2 year old twins. The fire happened early in the morning (only time l will say this but...luckily l have small children who wake early) - had it happened at night, a few hours earlier l am certain it would have caused fatality. My family survived but please, please take this seriously and follow up and change any breakers you believe to be faulty as this can cause serious fire. I understand its your time and money/ business but life is much more valuable. thank you.

 

[accordfire]

We've had the proverbial * * * K all from Cities, but then we're not exactly talking to them any more, money grabbing vultures.

I'm interested to know, by the way which of us has a trade account with CEF - I have news which *may* worry you a little as it has me.

 

[cbw]

PM inbound!

 

[nickblake]

Mrs Murphy , im sorry to here about your incident as most sparks on here will be ,i can assure you when this recall happend it shot round this forum like a rocket,and i know for a fact that most of the guys on here have done the recall inspections on the boards they have installed using the recalled breakers,this also hi lightes the importance of having smoke detectors ,it should be brought up with electrium the manufacturers of the breakers too so they can investigate www.electrium.co.uk i do know the importance of this as a family lost thier lives in a house fire a few doors away,this was caused by a faulty freezer and they had no smoke detectors

 

[marksparky]

I have a trade account wit cef accordfire, do tell wat news u have heard?

 

[Darkwood]

This post kinda exposes the same company make all the mcb's its not different brands just different stamp names