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60 to 100amp fuse upgrade
- Thread starter Jibjab
- Start date
Quick update on this that might help others.
1) The fuse case did say 100amp, it was actually 60amp installed
2) It was free and a 5 minute job for the power network to swap to an 80amp fuse
3) 100amp upgrade would have meant extensive ground works for a new cable and at my cost, I didn’t even start to get a quote as 80amp should be appropriate.
4) Despite clearly stating on the Anderson website you have to have a 100amp fuse to an enable an install, there are options if you only have an 80amp after I contacted them. You can have an adaptive fuse, at the customer cost (which I don’t know how much as yet) or to limit the output on the charge unit itself.
Onwards to doing the remote survey and hopefully install now
All a learning curve.
Thanks for all the input, really useful.
1) The fuse case did say 100amp, it was actually 60amp installed
2) It was free and a 5 minute job for the power network to swap to an 80amp fuse
3) 100amp upgrade would have meant extensive ground works for a new cable and at my cost, I didn’t even start to get a quote as 80amp should be appropriate.
4) Despite clearly stating on the Anderson website you have to have a 100amp fuse to an enable an install, there are options if you only have an 80amp after I contacted them. You can have an adaptive fuse, at the customer cost (which I don’t know how much as yet) or to limit the output on the charge unit itself.
Onwards to doing the remote survey and hopefully install now
All a learning curve.
Thanks for all the input, really useful.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
Always useful to stick a label on the fuse carrier stating what fuse is actually fitted. The fuse carriers pretty much always state 100 A, but that's the rating of the fuse carrier itself, not the fuse fitted in it. A label on the carrier stating that an 80 A fuse is fitted will help everyone that comes along later, from the person just doing a periodic EICR to someone carrying out any other notifiable work, as there's always a requirement to note the actual fuse rating on the certification.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
Best request it as a part of the work. Officially, the electrician replacing the consumer unit must, by law, call the DNO (Distribution Network Operator) out to pull the main fuse, to isolate the supply before the consumer unit can be changed, unless there is already an isolation switch fitted in the meter tails (not something that's common on older supplies). That would be a good opportunity for the DNO to swap the fuse if needed, provided that the incoming supply and the local infrastructure can tolerate the increase in demand.
In practice, many electricians routinely break the law and just pull the company fuse, primarily because it's cheaper and quicker for them to do this than wait around for the DNO to come out. DNOs and suppliers have often turned a blind eye to missing seals on main fuses in the past, but that seems to be changing, now that smart meters are getting more common. It's been rumoured that smart meters can now inform a supplier/DNO of any unauthorised power interruption, such as that from someone pulling the fuse when there hasn't been a power outage, and using that information to send someone around to check, and possibly charge the person who's pulled the fuse with the offence of unlawfully interfering with the DNOs property.
Also depends how rural you are..my local sparks stated he was authorised to pull main fuse and is often asked by leccy co to do work for them so they don't have to send anyone out into the wilds to get lost
Downside was that no EV charge installer wanted to come out here and local chappy that did it didn't want to bother with getting licenced to get the discount but happily fitted mine.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
Also depends how rural you are..my local sparks stated he was authorised to pull main fuse and is often asked by leccy co to do work for them so they don't have to send anyone out into the wilds to get lost
Downside was that no EV charge installer wanted to come out here and local chappy that did it didn't want to bother with getting licenced to get the discount but happily fitted mine.
My understanding is that all the "authorisations" that have been given in the past to non-DNO or supplier staff were always on a case-by-case basis (i.e. a phone call had to be made on the day, from the premises, to get consent) and are now no longer available. The same goes for the companies that worked on behalf of the DNO/suppliers to pull fuses to make installations safe, they no longer offer this service.
There probably isn't an electrician in the land that hasn't pulled a main fuse illegally, and many will continue to do so because there often just isn't a quick and practical alternative. Given that the people the DNO/suppliers use for this work aren't fully qualified electricians anyway, their stance on this seems a bit odd, but it's their train set, so ultimately they get to apply the law as they wish.
Sean.
Active Member
Something my guys were muttering about last weekend (whilst pulling DNO fuses!) along the lines of the DNO are a law unto themselves...may actually be true...
To what reg / law are the DNOs governed by in this respect. Serious question.
Glan gluaisne
Active Member
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