For those who like melted service cutout pictures FIRES ORIGINATING IN ELECTRICAL INTAKES Created by MARK HOBBS (Lead Fire Investigation Officer) East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service July 2010
Owain
pity the images don't carry reference numbers!!
Favourite is the one with the caption
"22mm gas pipe running immediately behind distribution board"
Soldered 90 deg bend to ensure disaster, at least the sparky bonded it!
You mean page 48. I also liked the blown incomer on page 37!
At least electrical intakes are no longer in the cupboard below the stairs in modern buildings. It always seemed to me to be a potentially dangerous place to put them.
Lee
In article , Owain writes
I always wondered what an 'electrical intake' was and now I know ;-)
Oh dear - better make sure those terminal screws are properly nipped up.
Yes absolutely. Mine's in the garage, nowhere near anything inflammable.
Like petrol.
Andy
That's why it's a good idea to keep petrol in the bath.
Owain
On Thursday 04 April 2013 23:35 Owain wrote in uk.d-i-y:
Where's the coal go?
That Wylex CU has a very Salvador Dalí look to it!
That makes the coal burn faster though...
En el artículo , Owain escribió:
Interesting read, but chappy needs to get a better camera!
When I read this bit, I immediately thought "storage heaters" because of the high current taken by them, which would cause an iffy connection to overheat:
"However, due to the nature and circumstances of how and when these fires occur (often at night when people are asleep)"
backed up by the photos, many of which show dual-rate meter(s).
indeed, the writer goes on to say later:
"My findings show that properties drawing high loads, especially those with night storage heaters, were particularly susceptible to resistance heating fires in service intakes."
page 15 shows what looks like a naughty take-off before the meter. It might have been that that caused the overheating. What's the circular metal-faced gizmo to the right that the take-off goes to?
Some uh, "creative" earthing going on on page 24.
The gas pipe on page 48 is a scream.
base of a Sangamo timeclock for E7 switching, timeclock motor powered by the unmetered (and not fused down) supply.
Owain
More to the point, needs to learn what an aspect ratio is, and why preserving it as you past images into word is a "good idea"!
Looks like the standard design of house-service cutout, with ferrule-cap fu ses, is not fit for purpose, they were originally intended for a maximum fu se rating of 60A but were later uprated to 100A when storage heaters came i n. Suppliers should work together with manufacturers to produce a more oust design, using tagged fuses, as are already standard for ratings above 100A , or the continental 'NH' fuses, which would probably be cheaper.
In article , Owain writes
Ta. Mechanics and dial missing.
Rather a shoddy install, no fusing on the wires to the timeclock. If the motor in it developed a short, which is gonna go first? The wires of the 100A fuse? :-)
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