today we're going to look at some updates from the fortress dual rcd consumer unit from BG
we'll find out
yeah well we've looked at this product probably a year ago it was actually on the channel
and we like it when brands we work with come back with improvements based on the feedback they've
had from comments from from viewers and installers out there who fit the product yeah because we went
through the journey of looking at this consuming it as well as installing it on site and we're
going to see if they've implemented some of those improvements and we're going to recap some of the
great features that this consume unit has and the first one being it no longer goes to 10.
oh it goes to 11 gary so why is that better well it's one more than ten it's one more than ten so
when we say eleven it's now an eleven way for the breakers yes but it's fitted pre-fitted with ten
it is yes but it's actually pre-fitted with eleven because there's one in there for the surge which
has also been added but really sneaking in there but there is a spare way so let's uh let's dive in
obviously the first thing we like about this range is it is a single screwdriver for all screws it
is and we're using our slotted posie there because that's the one we're going to use for the breakers
the screws themselves and comes have a quick look on the back captive ah held
with those washers so they are not going to come out you won't need to replace them with
the wood screw okay and the first thing is this unit you know combined with the lid and itself is
a substantial unit solid welded corners it's not going anywhere and I guess that first improvement
they've made Gary that a lot of people said was that when it's fully loaded up the din rail tends
to be a little bit springy right okay but behind here okay don't lift it up let's have a look
so lean in there let's just have a little look yeah behind there is the um reinforced the the
din rail behind it so that's not going anywhere when you're tightening those wires so as i look
at it here we've seen fixed here we've fixed that and we've also got a center fix in there
that means that if we press against the center of that we're not going to get any flexing in there
two additional fixings in there right okay so one wasn't enough for two no more metal um so
we like that yeah we do and we like the fact that it's that one screwdriver okay so we've
used a slotted pozi drive to get the lid off but all the screws within there also use the same screwdriver
and we'd expect them to be torqued up at the end yeah the rcds shall we start with the rcds
by having a look at those because we've got to confirm they are what type uh yeah the type a
so let's see if we've got some type a rcds in here that's good but then the other major improvements
on the last version this consumer would have been 63A right and that's now 100A and
this one would have been 63A and it's now 80A. okay that's considering more than the 100A amps offered
by the incoming fusion and domestic dwelling yeah so that makes life a lot easier for those
split load installations and obviously that division of circuits between those rcds so
that's a that's a big a big step forward and we've got a 40 amp breaker there we've got four
32As yes two 16As and three sixes and then you said there's also a spare way yeah spare way at the end
and then obviously now got the standard surge kit fitted in there as well with the breaker for that
okay and that's a type 2 spd as well yeah now one thing you did like on the previous version of this
there are lots of things I liked which one you're going for the high integrity board yes so we've
got obviously the spd there on the non-rcd side but you could actually adjust that especially your
spare way and your bus bar kit you can actually adjust it to have a high integrity circuit say
for steel armored feet and a sub board maybe in a garage et cetera yeah it's on that yeah so it
is possible even just yeah shuffle the surge along and make room for that additional breaker in there
yeah it's good so um that's good backed out screws i love a battery tower screw and they're
not just backed out they are huge no problem to get a 16 million any of those yeah so they are
also a little bit of loctite on there so they're not going to fall out in transportation and you
look at the neutral bar there gordon exactly the same as before we've got eight terminations there
on the right hand side and six on the left which is considerably more than you've got for your
configuration as it is now so there's some spare ones there as well yeah so you could change that
configuration if you wanted to and there's even that little spirit level gary well when we mention
spirit level at efix there's another words that accompany that normally wonky joe wonky joe so
Joe can't always get things on the wall absolutely level first time so we've got a nice little spirit
level down there to help wonky joe yeah we like that so that's that a few other bits that come
in the uh we saw the accessory pack yes we've got our bus bar that we can configure to length
little bracket there that i like which is obviously replacing the grommeted area for that
one so that fits in the back fits in that square that we've got in the back there yeah but if you
were to take out either the round knockouts at the back and it has got a lot of knockouts all around
the actual enclosure they even provide you with a grommet strip which saves you looking around
in the van for it yeah generous length for that a couple of blank ways to uh if you obviously only
got one unused way as it comes but if you wanted to remove some circuit breakers you're not used
to keep on the van then you can do that and then a good uh shield to go over that bus bar as well
lots of room at the top lots of entries where you'd expect to see them and your but where do
i like my room to be you like a little bit of room down this side yeah down this side here
we'll bring the camera in a minute and i love the fact that you've got loads of room here okay when
i dress mine i tend to dress them down behind the din rail and back up i know other people dress
them in other ways so let's have a little look at that so this big gap here is fantastic so it gives
you a chance to bring your towels around into the top of the main switch but like i just said there
is a huge gap under there in order if you wanted to dress your cables that way likewise some people
like to dress them at the top here as well there we go and then yeah you've got your usual arrays
of stickers and they're sort of yeah they're not some yeah they're not the ones that are going to
take up all your fingerprints on there so you get uh evidence that you've been to the uh the project
and obviously instructions with all the talk all important torque settings in there and even tells
you the amount of insulation to remove off the conductors depending on whether you're
going to neutral earth or into the top of the devices themselves yeah so i think yeah some
great improvements based on the feedback from from obviously installers out there bj also do a full
uh rcbo version we've looked at in a separate video i'll put an eye somewhere above the head
or in the description below but i guess obviously we want other people's comments we certainly do
want your feedback and the reason i wanted to look at this one again is i've done a deep dive
social media posts in looking at consumer units on instagram and the amount of people fit in dual rcd
boards and i wanted to have a look at this one and see those improvements and all the things i
love the original time that we reviewed it on the channel and they're all still in there with those
improvements they're made and we like that however with efix we love your comments is there some more
improvements that you'd like to see within this board is this a board you regularly fit and you
love the board okay we'd like that feedback and so would bj if there's any other comments
we'll try and get back to as many as we can if you're buying on the ways this wins goes to 11.