Toby wrote:

Iam not sure acutally, I think they are 16mm, but will check, do you
know the normal external diameter of 16mm cables?

about 9.1mm IIRC. (11mm for 25mm^2)

Thanks, I will go and measure tonight, I think it will be 16mm though.

The ones in your picture look like they may be PBJ or VIR rather than
the modern style tails with two layers of insulation.

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ins_Cables#PBJ

The seal on the cut-out is broken, curious me had a peek inside (It has
a hinged cover on it, that hides the fuse) I notice there is a label
inside that states "Use Asbestos Tube When Rewiring"
Does this indicate that it needs replacing by the DNO?

Here are some pictures of it...
http://www.altphuk.co.uk/images/cut-out1.jpg
http://www.altphuk.co.uk/images/cut-out2.jpg
http://www.altphuk.co.uk/images/cut-out3.jpg

Never seen one like that before! Looks fairly ancient as well. That
could well be pre war, and may be quite fragile. Note also that it has
both live and neutral in close proximity - so handle with great care.

Might be worth asking the supplier if they would come and fit a main
switch fro you.

Personally I would add an emergency light in the proximity of the CU
anyway.

I was thinking of putting one of these in the celing, over the front
door, and at the top of the stairs (the front door is very near the
bottom of the stairs)
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/EMAG3MW.html

Yup, very good plan. One by the CU is "handy" but not necessarily life
saving. Ones showing the exit routes however can certainly be in the
latter category. (again depends a bit on the location and the amount
of ambient light about)

The road does have street lighting, but during a power cut, the lot
could go off, so I will install the ones I posted - they are flush
fitting, so shouldn't look too industrial, I chose mainintained
versions, because there were only a few pounds more, and I may use them
as they are (presumably) energy efficiant (8w)

Yup, maintained can be switched manually as well as automatically during
a power fail.

The emergency light by the CU idea can vary in effectiveness - if you
have good street lighting etc, then finding your way to it to fix a
local trip should be ok. Lighting over stairs etc for the more general
case is obviously worth having for both trips and more general power
failures.

While I am doing it, it seems silly not to spend an extra few minutes
taking photos, then writing it up later!

As for Part P....I assume I really do need to do this properly, as it
will be a complete rewire - what is the procedure here, will it cost
me loads to jump through their hoops?!

Depends on your local authority and how they want to play it. In
theory, you submit a building notice ( = £100) and they test/inspect
as required and give you a completion notice at the end. If they do
play it like that, then it is probably not too onerous for a complete
rewire. However you may find they expect you to pay for a third party
test certificate etc at which point it gets very much more expensive
and possibly impossible if you are rewiring piecemeal.

As far as I can tell the number of people who do follow the "correct"
route is a figure tending toward zero. Reading between the lines (and
the facial expressions from my BCO that last time I spoke to him) many
LAs are quite relieved about that!


As the house was a repossession, there is no saying I didn't get it like
this ;-) ...

Indeed.

Next question is regarding RCBO's - the Wylex ones on the TLC site, are
all type C, where as the MK ones are type B - as I understand it, as
they are protected with and RCD (Integral to the RCBO) then they type
doesn't actually matter in this case - is that correct? - I prefer the

No. The type dictates the response curve of the MCB component of the
device and has nothing to do with the RCD function.

As you are probably aware a MCB has two independent trip mechanisms. A
magnetic one actuated by a solenoid that will clear large fault currents
"instantly" (i.e. = 0.1 sec), and a thermal one designed to clear
smaller but sustained overload currents.

The type C device has a less sensitive instant trip. This allows it to
pass higher very short duration currents (like inrush current on motor
or fluorescent light starts, or fault current when a filament lamp
blows) than the type B.

look of the Wylex consumer unit, but am happy to go with the MK if
having a type B is preferable here.

For lighting circuits type Cs can often mitigate against nuisance trips
on bulb blows. However the effectiveness of this will vary a bit
depending on how stiff your supply is, and mains halogens can still take
out a type C.



--
Cheers,

John.

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