Thanks.
Would I have been able to smell burning? I didn't btw but just thought I'd ask.
Could a live to neutral/ earth fault arise in the connector block? I've left the block as a strip of 3 and wrapped that in insulating tape. Are you saying the current may have "jump" between wires? Perhaps wrapping each connector individually may be better?
Cheers, Matt
It can happen if you are near a substation. Obviously, closer to 2kA is more normal, although a faulty MCB could also damage itself on a lower fault current.
Christian.
No problem. Yes - I can put a piece of wire into a connector strip and use a screwdriver to fix it in place. I am not colour blind nor am I stupid - I refrained from licking the wires to test them. I am NOT and never have been a qualified electrician. I do have a baffling problem and would like some advice.
Thank you very much. How easy was that?
Shit you've got me worried now, my wiring, installed by one of those professional electricicians, is full of connecing blocks and insulating tape. Do I have to condem it all?
Kevin
Well, first (to answer another point) I said non-competent persons were "part" of the reason part P was foisted on us. I am well aware the other part was industry lobbying.
Second, I suggested that making such simple connections shouldn't be hard and demonstrated you are not a "competent person" (ie in the meaning of the act). I would submit that most people would regard a "competent person" as someone who could extend a ring main without problems.
Third, I then went on to suggest drawing up the circuit, checking it thoroughly, checking what you had actually done and perhaps posting some pictures.
I am still not entirely certain how to visualize "Wrapped the connector block in [insulating tape] and then placed that into the chocblock" and be certain I got it right. You might say "simple enough" and so it should be but it aint working, so it clearly isn't! Without certainty about what you have actually done, it's difficult to give advice (not that that will stop anyone).
If you don't want opinions, ng's aren't the place for you :o) but I believe I gave more than just opinions and don't recall telling you not to bother, merely explained why some might get a bit shirty.
The message from The Natural Philosopher contains these words:
I can't help thinking that given the circumstances the first thing to do is get a meter and establish whether there are volts downstream of the closed MCB. A failed MCB would account for all the symptoms.
I don't see why, I believe I asked what he had used it for rather than condemned it!
And folk on this NG wonder why Part P was brought in.
Personally I'm a firm supporter is Part P ... only problem is, it doesnt go far enough !
And MCBs do fail from time to time, even without wiring faults. And the time they tend to fail is often after they have been manually tripped (last straw for a failing retainer). OP could check this by swapping to another, known good, MCB in the consumer unit. But only after he has made sure that there is no short circuit in his new wiring.
Was this a full rewire? if so then you could hardly give him the badge of
*Professional* otherwise there would be no reason to use connector blocks.When I done some contracting work the blokey I worked for stipulated on no account use connector blocks if need be hack the wall/floor away but dont bloody use connector blocks.
Personally, I would, unless the connecting blocks are in an enclosure. Insulation tape will only last a couple of years before getting tired and falling off.
Christian.
If the whole fault is due to not being able to make these connections then I will admit I'm not competent. The point is that it has not been ascertained whether the fault is in the connections. Please be aware that I researched how to make connections and whether the materials I used were suitable.
Last night I couldn't understand how can a simple connection be at fault and reasoned that there must be something else wrong - hence the post. Making connections are not difficult for me. But I had an UNEXPECTED PROBLEM that IMO could happen to any competent person.
The upshot is that you labeled me as incompetent based on a simple question. I take exception to that.
FFS!
The message from "Christian McArdle" contains these words:
The old fashioned canvas backed stuff is obviously made of sterner stuff. When I recently swapped my previous collection of MCBs for a spit load setup I had to track down cross-over between a light circuit neutral and a ring main neutral that had been in place since before I moved here in 1978. Whoever had wired up an outside light had cut into the ring main to get a neutral and had made the junction with a heavy duty choc block wrapped in insulation tape. The tape was still secure.
I no doubt took rather longer to rewire it than the cowboy professional (my predecessor who undertook the original modernisation was a jobbing builder) who did the original shoddy work but ironically I used significantly less wire than he did.
Do you know, I feel like I've come on here and asked whether employing four Bosnian refugees to live under my floor and hold the wires together with their teeth is within regs.....
By ChocBloc I mean the plastic enclosure which holds the connector strip, not the connector strip itself. There is nothing wrong with using them as long as they are accessible. I challenge you to prove me wrong.
The message from "RatRibs73" contains these words:
Well, starting off by using one in the first place is a good start.
Provided their work permits are in order and you pay them the minimum wage, that's fine.
This is what I undesrtand as chocolate block:
I'm still not clear why you didn't use continuous cable runs or failing that, conventional junction boxes.
You would of course need 6 Bosnians for 2 junctions with phase, neutral and cpc.
I think there is a confusion of terms here.
To me (and to most people here I suspect) a Choc[olate]Block is a nylon strip of screwdown connectors, usually white[ish]. It's called a Chocolate Block because it's vaguely the same shape as a strip broken off a bar of chocolate.
I *suspect* (but I'm not quite sure) that you mean a Junction Box when you say ChocBloc. A Junction Box is (usually) a round bakelite type box with terminals inside it.
| |To me (and to most people here I suspect) a Choc[olate]Block is a |nylon strip of screwdown connectors, usually white[ish]. It's called |a Chocolate Block because it's vaguely the same shape as a strip |broken off a bar of chocolate.
A *long* time ago it used to be made from Bakelite which was the colour of chocolate. I think I still have a bit somewhere ;-)
If you are as competernt at making connections as your postings suggest then check the MCB.
When you have done that report back to the jury, presided over by the hanging judge the Duke of Derby.
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