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BigWallop
 
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Default Consumer unit wiring

The consumer unit should have 16mm double insulated tails from the meter,
but yours has only got double insulated on the black phase and the red phase
is open to being more easily damaged and exposing the bare conductor. They
are all 16mm though, so are normal for this type of installation.

The fuse configuration I'd say is back to front, with the heaviest load
appliance (shower) being taken from the furthest point from the supply side
of the bus bar. This can cause lights to dim a bit more than they should
when the shower is switched on and off, and can also cause heating along the
full bus bar because all the heaviest use loads are furthest from the
supply.

Working from the switch, the first white cartridge is lighting and looks to
have a 1mm cable which is normal. The blue cartridge is for a heater of
some sort (water) and looks to have a 2.5mm cable, this to is normal. The
second white fuse is also lighting and looks to have 1mm, which again is
normal and a good idea to separate lighting over two supplies in case one
pops, you have the other as a sort of backup for safety.

The first red holder from the switch looks to be a ring circuit due the two
red 2.5mm cables going to it, which is normal. The second red fuse seems to
be a ring circuit as well, but also has a spur off to somewhere (?) because
it has three red 2.5mm cables connected. The last red connection has a 6mm
cable attached, by the look of it. For a load of around 7 or 8 killowatts
over a short length of cable, then this guage would probably take it without
complaining to much. But I would not chance going any higher in the Watts
rating on this, no matter how short a run this cable is. I'd say it is
safer to go with 10mm on a load over 8 kW and reduce the effect of any
possible heating totally and completely, and also gives a less resistive
path back to earth with the thicker conductor that is already supplied in
it. But then I always err' on the side of caution with these things.

I'd also say the earthing conductor, which currently looks like a 16mm
cable, is also quite normal for this type of installation, but I'd like to
be able to see where it is connected at the other end.

All in all, it is a normal installation for this size of dwelling, but as I
said in the first paragraph, I think it is back to front. Although others
will probably disagree with this idea.


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