Consumer unit Œ
 

Greetings from New Zealand.

Will some kind soul tell me whether I am correct in guessing that what
is now refured to as a consumer unit is what I knew as a fuse box? If
so, ehen did the name changes.

David
--
David Love
Happiness is a way of seeing good in everything and everybody.

Consumer unit Œ
 

"David Love" wrote in message
...
Greetings from New Zealand.

Will some kind soul tell me whether I am correct in guessing that what
is now refured to as a consumer unit is what I knew as a fuse box?

Correct :-)

If so, ehen did the name changes.

Not sure, but at a guess I would say, when they stopped using fuses and used
MCB's!

Sparks...

Consumer unit Œ
 

Sparks wrote:
"David Love" wrote in message
...
Greetings from New Zealand.

Will some kind soul tell me whether I am correct in guessing that what
is now refured to as a consumer unit is what I knew as a fuse box?

Correct :-)

If so, when did the name change?

Not sure, but at a guess I would say, when they stopped using fuses and used
MCB's!

Sparks...
..
Oh! You mean the main circuit breaker/fuse panel.

Right?

From the Canadian part of North America.

Consumer unit Œ
 

Sparks wrote:

Not sure, but at a guess I would say, when they stopped using fuses and used
MCB's!

Long before that. Circa 1947 would be my guess, when BS 1363 and the
ring circuit first came along. A consumer unit is the combination of a
main switch (or main switch-fuse, as they usually were, pre-war) and a
fuse box. Double-pole fusing was also the norm before WW2, leading to
all kinds of dangers.

--
Andy

Consumer unit Œ
 

In article ,
David Love wrote:
Will some kind soul tell me whether I am correct in guessing that what
is now refured to as a consumer unit is what I knew as a fuse box? If
so, ehen did the name changes.

It changed when fuse boxes were combined with the main switch.

--
*I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Consumer unit Œ
 

Owain wrote:

Such a unit (also incorporating a cooker control switch) was marketed as
a "Kitchen Control Unit" for new post-war housing in 1947, but I don't
see a reference to "consumer unit" as such.

There was an article in a recent /Wiring Matters/ [1] on the origins of
the BS 1363 and ring circuits, etc. This focusses on a report [2]
published in 1944 which established much of the basis for wiring
practices which are still with us sixty years later. The article refers
to the report "mak[ing] proposals for single-pole fusing, a novel
compact design of consumer control unit, the cooker control unit [etc.,
etc.]"

That would put the first use of the term "consumer (control) unit" at
somewhere between 1942 (when the work started) and 1944.

[1]http://www.iee.org/Publish/WireRegs/WiringMatters/Documents/Issue18/2006_18_spring_wiring_matters_bs_1363_plug_and_soc ket.pdf
[2] Post-war building study no. 11 - Electrical installations.

--
Andy

Consumer unit Œ
 

It changed when fuse boxes were combined with the main switch.

At least in a technical context. As far as the average user is concerned, it
changed when MCBs and RCDs replaced the old "fuse box".

Christian.

Consumer unit Œ
 

In article ,
Owain wrote:
Double-pole fusing was also the norm before WW2, leading to
all kinds of dangers.

DP fusing necessary because the supply at that time wasn't reliably tied
to earth.

Giving twice the chance of the wrong one blowing? ;-)

Could have dated from DC days, too.

--
*Reality? Is that where the pizza delivery guy comes from?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Consumer unit Œ
 

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 06:48:31 +1300, David Love wrote:

Greetings from New Zealand.

Will some kind soul tell me whether I am correct in guessing that what
is now refured to as a consumer unit is what I knew as a fuse box? If
so, ehen did the name changes.

David

Fuse Boxes did become Consumer Units but I have no idea when ....Possibly when
an alternative to fuses was found ....Circuit Breakers .


Stuart

Consumer unit Œ
 

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:26:22 +0100 Stuart wrote :
Fuse Boxes did become Consumer Units but I have no idea when ....
Possibly when an alternative to fuses was found ....Circuit Breakers .

No, I think it was when one box with multiple fuses of different values
replaced a collection of miscellaneous switch fuses - one for lighting, one
for power, on for immersion etc. Part of the reason for the latter is that
in the early days you paid different rates for lighting and power so had
two meters.

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

Consumer unit O
 

No, I think it was when one box with multiple fuses of different values
replaced a collection of miscellaneous switch fuses - one for lighting,
one
for power, on for immersion etc.

I have never heard a non-electrician refer to any unit containing only fuses
(rather than MCBs) as a consumer unit. It is invariably a fuse box, whether
it contains one fuse or ten fuses, whether it has an isolator switch or not.
IME, DIN rail = consumer unit, Wylex/MEM = fuse box.

Christian.