Consumer unit live parts accessible without use of a tool

[Jim K]

or the old? ones with threaded screw-on lids?

Jim K

[spuorgelgoog]

I'll save my old one for you. It's very solid.

Owain

[John Rumm]

Logic being that the mode of contact makes it very unlikely you can sustain it for adequate time to cause electrocution.

[jgh]

The only times I've ever had a shock from a light fitting it only lasted the time it too for me to fall off the ladder.

JGH

[Andrew Gabriel]

There are lots of dodgy plastic CU's around. Following several house fires which started in plastic CU's installed under the stairs (escape route), there's been some flammability testing of the plastic, which showed many units are not self-extinguishing.

Personally, I prefer metal ones (although if you have a TT supply, a metal case generates extra complications).

[Matty F]

Here on the other side of the world, I have never seen such sockets. But neither have I seen fuses in plugs, or ring mains, or consumer units!

[RobertL]

Some countries do not have a neutral so it make s no difference which way r ound things are wired. Norway, for example, has three phases (no neutral) coming to each house with sockets connected across one pair of the phases ( a different pair in each room to balance the load.

Robert

[Steve Firth]

Doesn't that mean that there's a lovely 415V potential between rooms? ISTR that in data centres where the same technique is used there are strong warnings not to run extension leads between cabinets for that reason.

[unopened]