Cutout, Meter and Fusebox - Who Owns What?

Overview of a smaller UK domestic electrical installation, covering who owns which piece of equipment and what each item is for.
Who to call if the meter and cutout need relocating, and why never to attempt moving them yourself.

► Support this channel:

► Social Media:

► Contact info, sending stuff in: etc.:

► Website - More on this video and many other subjects

[SteveMonk]

That took me back, when I was an electrician back in the 70s I fitted scores of those Wylex consumer units. Not seen one for years. I find your videos so interesting. Thank you.

[isoguy.]

My nans old cottage in huntingdon (UK) had bare wires running across the beams (assume these were live & neutral/ earth) in her 5' high cellar, these wires were attached to small white insulators about every three feet that had been nailed to the wood beams.
My granddad who was 6' and had a bald head received a number of electric shocks to his head when walking under the beams.
He told me that his father had said the wires sere installed in the late 1930's.
Fortunately this system has now being replaced but the old wires, though disconnected are still there.
Great video and thanks for sharing
👍👍👍

[PurityVendetta]

I recently had the ancient overhead cable and the cable to the service header replaced for free. The overhead cable is fused at the pole but I forgot to ask what the rating is. I imagine it's something around 200 amps as the service header fuse is 100 amp. The guys were really helpful and informative. They seemed rather chuffed that someone was taking an interest in what they do giving me a tour of their vans and equipment and showing me training videos. Good blokes.

[jamielightfoot]

i had a fuseboard which caught a light and was melting from the wall, went outside and pulled the main fuse straight away, none of this nonsense with calling up the DNO because I touched their main cut out fuse. situations like that call for drastic measures as far as I'm concerned, thank you for the video JW. a nice presentation.

[Extras]

Really interesting. Thank you for uploading.

Ps. Congrats on 100k!

[millomweb]

20:49 - having removed the fuseboard cover, you can park the lid upside down using the same screw fitted into the upper screw hole an inch or so above the hole normally used by the lid screw. I can't think of another purpose for this extra screw hole !

[OkenWS]

Also a historic note on those fuses... I think you have covered it before, but if you try and replace the Wylex fuse carrier after a fuse blows, and the fault still exists, the fuse blows quite violently sending little bits and bobs right into the spot where your fingers are on the finger holds. That's why they're all meant to say TURN OFF BEFORE REMOVING FUSES.

[adycee]

Very nostalgic and interesting, remember well the old TN-S supply.

[brandoBL]

Thanks for that explanation. I had often wondered who owned what in this very familiar scenario. The set-up used for the practical demonstration was the icing on the cake. Thanks again!

[jadehorley]

Thank you, I've been without power for 5 days now with 2 kids because everyone I called was refusing responsibility, now I know it's my building manager, I'll be getting them told again. Thank you.

[liververson]

Great video. Love the little details you throw in. No doubt most of us here work in the industry, but we're all learning something from John Ward!

[washfix]

Watching you video on this brings back memories of the old boxes the smell of bakelite was great
how things have got safer but the nostalgia is still alive

[jimful]

John, just brilliant and your dry humor is an added bonus. I always refer to your channel when I am working on electrics - your a star, thank you.

[Splitscreen]

Many thanks for taking the time to produce this. Really appreciated 👍

[Pete-bu]

Excellent production and content as ever. Very informative. Thanks for taking the time to film and share. All the best Pete

[najaB]

Even though this is a demonstration unit and not connected to the supply, seeing you poke around that with a metal screwdriver gives me the heebie-jeebies!

[peterjones]

I remember as a child (65 years ago plus) there was an incoming fuse on both line and neutral. I often worried that the neutral fuse would blow in preference to the line, cutting off the supply to the house but leaving all the line connections live!

[johnkeepin]

Buried incoming cable faults often occur due to deteriorated insulation. Where I live there were quite a few of them in the same local area quite recently. Large chunks of the 3 core aluminium 3 phase cable (to which the single phase connections to individual houses are connected) were dug up and replaced, when the feed from the “local transformer” tripped out with several houses suffering from power cuts. The “local transformer” feed tripped out when the cores were no longer insulated from each other, due to water leaking in from the ground. I think they were between 30 and 40 years old.

[bostedtap]

Informative and explained clearly, interesting on the Yellow 20 amp fuse carrier. Thanks for sharing.
I had my domestic supply changed to 3 phase recently, very interesting watching the DNO connect to the 1960s four core sheathed lead wrapped street supply run in the foot path. Each core was left with its insulation on, and clip on bite connectors used to splice on the feed, then large plastic boot, filled with a two pack sealant. The old single phase cable was cut, potted and left live under the path.

[UberAlphaSirus]

I thought I would add, not to put a bonding clamp on a lead cable or tighten up an existing one, due to risk of blowing things up. The DNO has to come and solder a new tab to it.