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- So today, we're gonna look at a three-phase
distribution board from Contactum.
I've mounted one up here behind me
and we're gonna look at some of its features.
But first of all, I'm gonna pose a question to you.
So when is a three-phase distribution board
not a three-phase distribution board?
It's not a three-phase distribution board
when you convert it to a single-phase consumer unit.
And that's what we're gonna look at first.
So let's delve a little deeper,
as we look at this distribution board,
which is an eight-way distribution board,
meaning that if we convert it
to a single-phase consumer unit,
that will give us 24 ways.
The door itself has the ability to lock it off with a key.
And if we do this, (handle clicks)
oof, one of us at eFIXX loves a mechanism,
so that would make them very happy!
So as I open it up,
I'm now gonna try and prove another point.
I've taken from the world wide web
common dimensions of double-decker consumer units.
They're 20 way, and they take up approximately the same area
as my cardboard cutout.
So we can see that, actually,
the room in which we're gonna have added to this one
with four extra ways,
and the room down the side,
makes this a viable proposition
to a double-decker consumer unit in a domestic dwelling.
Let's pop the cover off
and see how we're gonna convert
this three-phase distribution board
to a single-phase consumer unit.
So with the cover off,
let's look at converting it
from a three-phase distribution board
into a single-phase consumer unit.
My main switch that I've selected for this board
is 125 amps, triple pole and neutral.
And my connections are for my three lines here,
and my neutral here.
The screws are already backed off.
But before I fit it,
I have to remove this plate here.
So let's pop that off.
And then we reinsert it once the main switch is in place.
I take out these bolts,
okay, like so.
And then we just clip it onto the back here.
And then we can do the DIN rail connections
here and here in a minute to lock it off.
So let's locate it in place,
like so.
And then we can look to move that into position.
There we go.
So I'm just gonna hold it with one of those.
And we can now do our tabs at the bottom
onto our DIN rail.
And replace these into place.
Right, like so.
Really important as well
that we get the torque setting of these
back to the required torque settings.
And we'll talk about that in a minute,
and another clever little feature,
which is really simple,
but I think more manufacturers need to do it.
So they're back in place, okay?
We're now gonna look at the conversion kit.
So just hold on.
So this is currently a three-phase distribution board.
I've got a conversion kit,
which is in this little packet here.
It simply is a bar to strap out the three line conductors
and a replacement sticker for the consumer unit
to show now that we're in,
all of them are in the same color,
in other words.
One line and a neutral.
The only important thing is
that you put it in the right place.
Wouldn't want to strap it across the neutral.
And it's gonna be across there, like so.
So your incoming cables would come into the bottom of here.
But your incoming cables only being one line
and one neutral.
Obviously, you wouldn't tighten this up
without the conductor being in.
I'm just putting it in to hold it into place.
So you tighten these three up.
With one line coming in,
it wouldn't matter which of the three holes
you chose to bring your line into.
And then obviously we've got our neutral here
that follows through and comes round to our neutral bars.
Torque settings, really, really important.
The torque settings are in the instructions.
So I get the instructions out, like so.
All of my torque settings are here.
Fantastic, on the instructions.
Likely to come away with me though, isn't it?
So when I finish this installation,
you'd like to think you'd leave them with the customer.
You'd like to think the customer would know
where they are, when you've left them with them.
You come back and do
electrical installation condition report,
add extra circuits,
you're probably looking for that information
when you add new devices in.
Simple solution.
A sticker at the bottom here
tells you all of the torque settings.
The main switch, RCDs, et cetera.
They're all listed down here.
What a clever little idea.
I wish more manufacturers would do that.
So they're on the instructions.
They're on a sticker that'll be permanently
in the board as well.
So let's do those to the required
3.5 newton meters of torque.
So we'd be torquing these up to the required setting
in all three cases for the lines,
which effectively becomes one line.
And we've gotta get our neutral,
like so.
Okay, and now we'd bringing our cables in,
a single neutral, a single line
and then our protective earth,
our earthing conductor.
We've got two sides in which we can go, okay?
In order of which one we pick?
So we pick one side or the other.
So that's it.
As simple as that.
One bar, strapped across all three lines
meaning that this three-phase distribution board
is now a single-phase consumer unit.
So I've started populating
what is my 24 way single-phase consumer unit
with RCBOs.
These RCBOs have a type B circuit breaker
with a 10KA breaking capacity.
An RCD, rated at 30 milliamps
for additional protection
and they are an A type RCD.
But what I couldn't have done
was replace the main switch for an RCD
because in the event of an earth fault
and maybe with a fully-populated board
it would disconnect all 24 circuits at the same time.
Therefore, no selectivity.
Therefore, in this installation,
the RCBO is the correct device to choose.
However, I'm sure throughout this video,
you've been saying,
"Gaz, when am I gonna fit one of these
in a three bed semi in Leamington Spa?"
Well, the answer is,
"You're not going to."
This would be a choice for me
with a large, new build
or maybe a property that's been rapidly extended,
maybe where the control systems for smart technology,
the heating and the electrical systems
are maybe centralized within the building,
and that building is electrically-hungry.
So in other words, maybe electric heating,
EV charging point
and maybe even something like a hot tub,
and the numbers of ways required exceeds
maybe what can be offered by a double-decker consumer unit.
And the other massive advantage of doing this
is the amount of space you will get
within this consumer unit
in order to make those connections.
However, as always, we're interested in your thoughts
and we'd like to hear whether you've before
taken a three-phase distribution board,
convert it to a single-phase consumer unit
or something you might consider doing in the future.
Please leave those comments below
and in a future video,
we're gonna be looking at this board
from its aspects of being a three-phase distribution board.
Till then, we'll see ya.
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