by ericmark »
Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:48 am
A hager RCBO is around £23 and a whole metal consumer unit with 10 RCBO and a isolator can be got for £138 so the way forward is likely a new consumer unit, with just two RCD's even cheaper. The cost is getting some one to fit it.
As to the faults, I will guess some one who has lived in the house has at some time used non BS1363 equipment in the sockets, and this has damaged the sockets, most likely is the socket protector that should have been banned as fatefully flawed as a web site of same name has shown. Only cure is all sockets which had socket protectors in need changing as often the pins were not correct size and have weakened the springs which insure good contact or coated the contract area with plastic, I have put many in the bin, not found one marked BS1363 and unless marked BS1363 they should not be put in a 13 amp socket.
The powerline adaptor is another example of some thing that should have been banned, they cause a lot of RF interference and to ensure that the RCD still works with the mixed frequencies they inject into the system you need type F RCD's, you simply can't buy type F RCBO's which is a RCD and MCB combined, in the main we use type AC, although there has been a move to type A, for solar panels you often need type B and for electric car chargers type F, type AC is basic then A, then F then B in how good they are, but a type F will not normally come in a consumer unit and would mean some thing like an extra £80 to be able to safely use powerline adaptors, best place for them is the recycling.
I don't know why they produce test plugs like the one you have I seems to remember the pass mark for a ring final started at 1.5 ohm and has slowly reduced, 1.44, the 1.37 so the units are really only any good for testing radials which used 25 amp or less MCB's they do not really help with a ring final with a 32 amp MCB, but with RCD protection if the socket is 1.7 ohm or lower it is unlikely to be a problem.
As with all domestic there is a compromise between cost and protection, if you have used socket protectors then buying a box of replacement sockets and replacing old is clearly easy enough, but the consumer unit needs more thought. You could get a twin RCD consumer unit and fit type F RCD's but personally I prefer the RCBO route as if a RCD trips you can lose a freezer full of food, so the less which is on each RCD the less likely it is you will lose a freezer full of food, so my house has 14 RCBO's.
Technically I don't think Part P required notification to fit a RCBO instead of a MCB, so law wise I think your allowed to DIY the change, but I would not class it as a DIY job, and swapping the whole consumer unit is notifiable so no real option but use a scheme member electrician, theory you can inform the LABC and DIY but their fees are often more than you would pay an electrician, so in practice it is get a scheme member electrician.
If you get a scheme member electrician you can talk with him to select which compromise, non of the options are perfect, and I was caught out, saw type B on the box for the RCBO's so thought great that covers all, but turned out they were curve B type AC, did not realise until after fitted.
