Which Type Of Electrical Cut Outs?

[Formaleins]

My ancient Safe T Cut looks like it has packed up eventually, and it is not easy to find a similar one these days, things are modernizing. So, rather than go out and buy a new Safe-T-Cut box (it is a stand alone type with only one main breaker) I am thinking of upgrading my old Square D box of cut outs for something a bit more modern (Even the Thai Spark thought my Square D box was ancient.)

 

What I was thinking of was getting a Schneider or Siemens Consumer unit, fir the main breaker with a 63A RCBO (if that is the correct description) then fill up all of the rest of the circuit slots with MCB's. The main box is a 63A, so I might up that to 100A.

 

Just wondering what anyone might be able to suggest about using all RCBO's instead of MCB's, is it overkill if the main 100A breaker was RCBO?

 

Also, wondering about tripping if I use RCBO's, the old Safe-T-Cut had the rotary knob for different sensitivities, I assume that all RCBO's will be preset to a set leakage?

 

Any thoughts? Tips? Anything to steer clear of?

 

 

Cheers.

[Crossy]

RCBOs will almost invariably be 30mA fixed.

 

If you're replacing an existing box I would go with a single front-end RCBO or MCB / RCD combination.

 

The problem with going for individual RCBOs is that "borrowed" or "shared" neutral lines will give you all sorts of headaches with RCBOs which won't stay switched on.

[Formaleins]

3 minutes ago, Crossy said:

RCBOs will almost invariably be 30mA fixed.

 

If you're replacing an existing box I would go with a single front-end RCBO or MCB / RCD combination.

 

The problem with going for individual RCBOs is that "borrowed" or "shared" neutral lines will give you all sorts of headaches with RCBOs which won't stay switched on.

Cheers for that, yes I do have some borrowed neutrals. So RCBO for the main 63A breaker and all of the rest just use MCB's? - One last thing Crossy, if you could. What are your views on Siemens / Schneider, (I believe Schneider are Square D, and have used their gear for years without a hitch.) I would prefer to stick with Schneider / Square D, but the choices of boxes and breakers is somewhat limited where I am, so, what would you say about Siemens gear, is it as good, is it a SAFE bet?

Safety is my main worry, especially the showers. My Panasonic is fitted with two breakers already in the housing, so the new consumer unit will be backing them up - Do you think iy could be worth using am RCBO on this circuit, as I know it is totally isolated from any cables tagged on and is just the two cables to the boxes.

 

Thanks

 

[Crossy]

Personally I'm not a lover of the Schneider / Square-D kit. Not because it's not quality (it's superb) but because the plug-in system is somewhat limiting and you mostly have to use Schneider components.

 

I'd stick to a DIN based system (ours are ABB) then you can mix and match whatever you want.

  

[Formaleins]

7 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Personally I'm not a lover of the Schneider / Square-D kit. Not because it's not quality (it's superb) but because the plug-in system is somewhat limiting and you mostly have to use Schneider components.

 

I'd stick to a DIN based system (ours are ABB) then you can mix and match whatever you want.

  

Thanks, I noticed all the different mounting set ups when I was looking for spares today, I will look out for ABB, never noticed their kit in Global, maybe need to look further afield.

[sometimewoodworker]

15 hours ago, Formaleins said:

Thanks, I noticed all the different mounting set ups when I was looking for spares today, I will look out for ABB, never noticed their kit in Global, maybe need to look further afield.

ABB isn't unusual but HomePro is an easy source for the enclosures

 

AFIR they are 6, 8, 10, etc the biggest I saw was a 20.

 

 

I'm. Going to Hardwherehouse soon so will take a look.

[bankruatsteve]

DIN rail question:  For a series of MCB's - or whatever - how is Live connected?  I assume some kind of bus, but is that a separate accessory?  IE: with Square-D, the bus is part of the box and connected when the MCB plugs in.  How does that get done with DIN?

[Crossy]

3 hours ago, bankruatsteve said:

DIN rail question:  For a series of MCB's - or whatever - how is Live connected?

Most DIN consumer units come with a copper "comb" bus bar to connect the lives of the breakers.

 

And @sometimewoodworker photo above is an example of what you can do with DIN that would prove impossible with plug-in ????

 

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, Crossy said:

Most DIN consumer units come with a copper "comb" bus bar to connect the lives of the breakers.

 

The bus bar is on top here