Consumer Unit 10 way henley block box

Hi,

RS own brand are pretty OK for a decent price.

No you cannot ever common the neutrals, because it will really mess up if you have or later have some RCBOs in your new box which need the neutral fed through.

You can common the CPCs though.

HTH

Tim

That's a neat photo, but I'm a bit confused by it. Where are the incoming tails, and what's the big white strip at the top right corner of the lower box, the one with all the black wires?

No mine - it's Andrew Gabriel's

The bottom box is a standard CU - the white blob is the neutral commoning bar. I just said you can't do that *after* the CU - but of course, the CU has to have one ;->

The bit the OP is interested in is the top box - used to extend the old wiring.

The incoming tails are via rear entry into the CU. You can see the neutral one going into the main switch.

The "big white strip" is the neutral bus bar of the CU.

The use of RCBOs in that CU nicely illustrates one of the reasons for not doing it prior to the CU as well (not to mention the confusion you might created for future maintainers!)

prior?

looking from the circuits direction ;-)

(i.e. outside of the CU for the avoidance of doubt)

Sorry John - lost me. (Might be the trauma of trying to use Southeastern trains this week or the kids all being ill)...

My "after" meaning the DIN box on top. I initially read your "prior" as meaning supply side of the CU - but you mean the same as me, don't you - the supply side?

Maybe we should say load side and supply side - it's getting like 2 blokes facing each other talking about left and right ;->>

FFS my addled brain - ^^^ Load side

Doh.....need to reboot brain :-)

I blame the weather!

Those Wylex units are quite nice. Look at TLC too, as they have it with 15 outgoing ways and two RCDs. They're very cheap for the MCBs too.

Yup I mean load side... You don't want to be commoning neutrals outside of the CU on the load side.

My brain should have deleted that line: of course it would have added confusion to common neutrals after the CU, and added danger, i want nice straight wires going up to the henley block-ish box. [g]

Yup, basically if you have as many wires into you junction boxes as you have out, and hence as many coming into the CU, then you should be fine. If you start trying to "optimise" things then they will likely bite you later!