Home electrical safety devices

[stuffies]

Hello all. Recently we had our very old Heinemann ELCB replaced with an RCCB without overload protection. The lack of overload protection made me wonder if we really have all the needed electrical safety devices.

I'm not an electrician and I'm working from the assumption that everything I thought I knew about electricity is wrong. I am a total noob when it comes to electricity. I have a few questions I'm hoping you'll be able to answer.


The installation...

We have 3-phase power.

We don't have access to the municipal meter box on the sidewalk. Its post-paid power.

Here is our own meter box on the outside of the house. There used to be a switch/breaker in that opening below the round window, but was replaced by the switchover device on the left we had installed to connect the generator.




Here is the distribution board and the newly installed RCCB.



Here is the old ELCB we had replaced. Pressing the test-button didn't trip the switch. Electrician confirmed the device is faulty. I couldn't find out if it had built-in overload protection.



My questions...

(I love full detailed explanations, so please don't hesitate to elaborate)

1) I understand the new RCCB won't protect against short-circuits (live wire touching neutral) or any other situation where too much power flows through (unless the difference between the live and neutral is 30 milliAmps or greater), correct?

2) The switches labeled "plugs", "ligte", etc are the miniature circuit breakers (MCB's) and they're supposed to trip if too much power flows through the circuit, correct?

3) What are those numbers printed on what I assume are the MCB's?

4) Should I have a circuit breaker (that trips if too much power flows through) re-installed in the meter-box on the outside of the house?

5) Should the municipal meter box on the sidewalk have a circuit breaker with overload protection?

6) I record our municipal meter readings every month (read at the municipal meter box on the sidewalk). There are 3 meters (since we have 3-phase power). One meter always has a low monthly usage, the other one a higher usage and the last one the highest usage. Since the new RCCB was installed it seems the highest-usage-meter now has the second highest usage, while the previous second-highest-usage-meter now has the highest usage. I assume this could be because the wires in the distribution board might not have been connected to the new RCCB exactly the same way they were connected to the old ELCB. Should I be worried?

7) Can you see anything missing/wrong safety-wise?

Thanks in advance.

[Leecatt]

As indicated on the new earth leakage unit there needs to be a circuit breaker added and it must be on the load side of the earth leakage. (6.8.1)
If the is no space available for an extra circuit breaker then a new earth leakage with integrated protection must be used

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

[Isetech]

I still have one of those old Dymo label printers

[Isetech]

If you want people to comment on the installation, you would need to supply a lot more details, looking at those pics are liking asking a mechanic to comment on an engine with the bonnet closed.

[Alfred M]

Like Leecatt said you need a RCD with overload protection or a seperate main switch at point of supply disconnecting phases and neutral.Are you using a 3 phase generator? Is the changeover switch a 4 pole if you are using a 3 ph generator. Reason for different readings on kwh meters loads between phases are not balanced.

[GCE]

My questions...

1) I understand the new RCCB won't protect against short-circuits (live wire touching neutral) or any other situation where too much power flows through (unless the difference between the live and neutral is 30 milliAmps or greater), correct?

That is correct - the RCCB that is installed is an isolator type and will only trip on leakage to earth.

2) The switches labeled "plugs", "ligte", etc are the miniature circuit breakers (MCB's) and they're supposed to trip if too much power flows through the circuit, correct?

Correct

3) What are those numbers printed on what I assume are the MCB's?

If you are referring to the 10 on the Circuit breaker for lights - That is the max amount of current that cab flow , being 10Amps

4) Should I have a circuit breaker (that trips if too much power flows through) re-installed in the meter-box on the outside of the house?

There should be a C/Breaker in your meter box to protect the change over switch and wiring - It needs to be rated correctly

5) Should the municipal meter box on the sidewalk have a circuit breaker with overload protection?

Generally I would expect the meter box to have protection or it could be on a pole - Depends on the set up

6) I record our municipal meter readings every month (read at the municipal meter box on the sidewalk). There are 3 meters (since we have 3-phase power). One meter always has a low monthly usage, the other one a higher usage and the last one the highest usage. Since the new RCCB was installed it seems the highest-usage-meter now has the second highest usage, while the previous second-highest-usage-meter now has the highest usage. I assume this could be because the wires in the distribution board might not have been connected to the new RCCB exactly the same way they were connected to the old ELCB. Should I be worried?

It sounds like the phases were swopped around on the installing of the new ELU - It should not be a problem if your equipment is all single phase .If you have 3 phase motors then the motors could be going the wrong way.
With that said , it could also have been changed around twice , meaning that the direction could still be correct

7) Can you see anything missing/wrong safety-wise?

As mentioned previously , difficult to comment when you cannot see everything

[Dave A]

7) Can you see anything missing/wrong safety-wise?

There is a 45 amp circuit breaker marked as a PLUGS circuit which merits closer investigation.

[Isetech]

There is enough evidence in the photos to open a full investigation.

[stuffies]

Thank you everyone! My dayjob and loadshedding kept me from replying sooner.

All of you basically confirmed my suspicions that all is not right. In particular, there is a lack of overload protection. I don't really trust the MCB's tripping-ability any more, since they are as old as the previous ELCB (at least 40 years old), which was old enough to not work correctly anymore. So the MCB's may or may not work.

So as a minimum (as I suspected) it appears the MCB's need replacement and a circuit breaker needs to be installed in the meterbox (our own, not the municipal box). A proper investigation will probably reveal more.

[stuffies]

As indicated on the new earth leakage unit there needs to be a circuit breaker added and it must be on the load side of the earth leakage. (6.8.1)
If the is no space available for an extra circuit breaker then a new earth leakage with integrated protection must be used

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

Thankyou. The "6.8.1" seems to refer to a regulation? Where can I read more on this?

[Leecatt]

6.8.1 Circuit-breakers used as main or local switch-disconnectors
A circuit-breaker that is used as a main or local switch-disconnector (see 6.9.4) shall comply with the relevant requirements of a standard given in clause 4 for switch-disconnectors, or, alternatively, a switch-disconnector shall be positioned on the supply side of the circuit-breaker.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

[BobZA]

Why does he need to add a circuit breaker ? He replaced the old RCCB with a new RCCB ... and the RCCB acts as the local switch disconnector

[Leecatt]

I'm not familiar with the term RCCB. If an RCCB is an earth leakage disconnector with an integrated circuit breaker, then that will suffice.
If it is an earth leakage disconnector with no integrated circuit breaker, then a circuit breaker must be installed on the load side of the earth leakage disconnector.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

[Alfred M]

Why does he need to add a circuit breaker ? He replaced the old RCCB with a new RCCB ... and the RCCB acts as the local switch disconnector

Yes he needs to add a 63a mcb before the RCD as this unit does not have overload protection if he had installed a RCD with oveload protection then it can be used as a main switch at the moment there is no overoad current protecting the 16mm incoming cable except for the council kiosk.

[Alfred M]

If you want to use Lear as jou have then the unit you need is the one in the picture. I am not very fond of the Lear units they are difficult to reset.