replying to John Rumm, Yam man wrote: Thanks John for reply we had friend of friend who is sparx and he checked all my work that I had disconnected earlier and confirmed no problems and reconnected all up and confirmed you're earlier suggestions off faulty rcd recommended replacement. But that is as far as he will go as friends favours. £20 to fit it if I get the rcd on Tuesday am. Hopefully this will be the problem solved. Thanks for all help suggestions and advise I will let you know if this is solved.
replying to John Rumm, Yam man wrote: How I wired junction box supply from 1 going to next light on circuit and 1 cable leading off to 3 amp fused switch. That's all look ok
(Perhaps a couple of cable clips to keep the wires in place since a JB like that does not have any grips to stop the wires getting pulled out if someone were to trip on them in the loft).
replying to John Rumm, Yam man wrote: Clips now fitted again they were removed so sparky could see were all went and what I'd done easier. Cheers again John will update when rcd changed if it cures our faults.
replying to Andy Burns, Yam man wrote: You're opinion please the busbar you mention is it the copper metal thing at the bottom of the mcbs? so licking that clean ain't a good idea??:-) only jesting I thank yous all for the help yous have giving me. Im not stupid with electrics I'm really careful and little afraid. The busbar was never covered it's like that always (needs cover?) The earth wire previously stated isn't connected to nothing I removed and pushed back into wall behind bathroom sink where it has been for over 6 years pic of it Inc. We have 4 main earth wires coming from cu can you tell me on tt system were these would go? 1 goes to gas pipe just 1 n half foot away from my gas meter I think? We're would other 3 go to? Don't worry I'm not going hunting for them or anything just trying to educate myself (and others reading) a little further on this type of system. John explained how to test cu I'm not confident in my abilities to try that hence why I didn't do it. Great forum some great help thanks to all .
the busbar doesn't have to have a shield, though they are available for some CUs (e.g. MK and BG) I was more suggesting you should turn the main switch (or the RCD in your case) off before removing the cover.
Even if the RCD wasn't suspected to be faulty, a 100mA delayed trip doesn't give very good protection from shocks.
Any of the common terminal strips (earth and neutral) and also the strips of "fingers" that connect to the base of each of the MCBs are bus bars.
Some CUs include a cover for the live bar for some extra protection. However you always need to take care when a CU is open, since even when "off" there are some live bits.
That was likely a supplementary bonding wire. It does not need to connect back to the CU, but would usually connect to all the bits of metalwork in the bathroom, that would be capable of bringing a voltage (or even 0V or an earth reference) into the room.
See:
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1 will hopefully be the connection to you main earth - which is likely to be an earth stake or spike.
The others are typically main bonding conductors. You would expect one to go to each metallic service where it enters the house, so gas, and water typically.
If you had oil heating for example, then the incoming oil pipe. If the building had a steel frame, then perhaps that.
(sometimes you also see supplementary bonding conductors brought back to the CU - this is not necessary, but its clear that some electricians have not always understood the practice properly).
replying to John Rumm, Yam man wrote: I've read lots on earth rods etc and still have yet to find 1 for my property have found all 3 of my neighbors rods and connections but only visible earth connection I see for mine is the bonding to the mains gas as stated earlier. Is it possible in this tt system to have no earth rod or anyway sparx can tell me if I have or not? Neighbours all are in between paving slabs.
Your house appears to have been re-wired relatively recently (all brown/blue cables and no red/black in CU) so you'd think the spark that did that would have made sure it had an earth rod.
There was a time where using an incoming metal piped service was considered acceptable as a main earth connection. Needless to say its deprecated these days - especially with gas pipes as they frequently get replaced with plastic.
The consumer unit and the wiring looks fairly new (its modern colours for starters). By rights the earthing should have been tested at the time that work was done. Its possible there is a rod that you have not yet found, or may be that your gas pipe connection is all you have. You electrician will have the kit necessary to test it. If you can't find a rod, then it would be prudent to fit one, although it does not mean you are in any immediate danger since gas pipes if all still made from metal will probably function as well as a typical earth rod (even if you have no guarantee they will continue to do so into the future).
replying to John Rumm, Yam man wrote: Hi thanks for that it seems as though I have only earth to the mains gas as can't find anything else any were in or around property. All our pipework in this house is copper, steel or lead with a big metal bath. Old big property newest part of it is the rewire awhile before I took over it 9-10 years ago
replying to Yam man, Yam man wrote: Thanks for all help guys it turned out to be an unrelated to my work or the red. You were correct 1st John it was a neutral and earth short. It was on the other side of my loft on a lighting cable the previous owner had screwed the light rose to ceiling going through cable in process. When I've disturbed cables it's contacted and bingo problem solved.
(reminds me of ages ago when I rewired a neighbours place... he assured me he could put the boarding back in the loft. Got a call later - lights not working upstairs. You can guess what happened - he screwed a loft board down straight through a new cable)
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