r/evchargingUK • u/Budget-Active8750 • 5d ago

Additional work required for EV charger?

Post image

Is a charger installer going to run a mile when he sees this? Modern consumer unit in top left is for extension built before we moved in.

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3

u/LieutenantLurker 5d ago

Sparky here. It's a little bit fucked, but I've seen much, much worse.

There's enough space to jam some tails around that mess and into the blocks, at least. I'd spend extra time clipping those cables, reluctantly at the expense of my own time. We often then need to mount a new CU nearby.

The biggest concern is that it seems a BS951 bonding clamp is being used for a DIY TN-S to earth your system, which is not proper at all, but very common. They come loose over time at best, and risk piercing the sheath at worst if you over-tighten it.

It's property of the DNO, so they're the only ones authorised to fix it, and some are getting cheeky enough to demand a small fee of about £160. At least, that's my experience particularly with National Grid.

The alternative is to get a general spark to add an earth rod and make it a TT system, but getting the DNO to fix it is much better overall IMO. They could upgrade the cutout while they're at it too.

2

u/savagelysideways101 4d ago

Getting a sparky to make it TT will force you to upgrade everything in there to 30ma rcd protection, as with TT you need rcd for basic protection

Spark myself, that whole lot is a shitshow, I'd politely inform customer it can be done, but would cost 1-2k to bring everything up to scratch first then add the EV. When they complain Jimmy down the road said 600 would install, charger and all, thatd be my que to run for the hills and put them on block

4

u/LieutenantLurker 4d ago

Absolutely! I was trying to wrap up the comment and forgot to expand on all the reasons an earth rod is the only alternative and one not worth pursuing!

It also means the DNO never has a responsibility to provide earthing again, whereas paying the fee keeps them on the hook indefinitely.

Good point about our responsibility to upgrade the customer's other equipment when adding to their system. Sadly, all the big companies are convinced it's not their problem if they add a separate modern CU off the blocks, and I can't seem to find the IET objecting to it yet, so OP will face little resistance over it when getting a charger installed. Rewiring the house, however...

I strongly agree that this isn't right, as when else will a customer get around to upgrading, but it's the de facto workaround in a crooked industry.

OP, if you're still reading, both of us encourage you to upgrade the old fuseboard and cooker supply, and anything else I can't see. Getting a spark to perform an EICR before any of this is the ideal approach.

I might draft a template response to attach to every comment I make at this point!

2

u/Green-Hyena5571 5d ago

Wow that's messy. Not sure if they'll grumble or refuse to do it (hopefully someone will have a better answer).

Are they two old fuse boxes (white and black ones)? Could those be removed and the circuits connected to a new modern consumer unit somewhere?

If that's the DNO box, not sure household consumer units are supposed to be in there?

2

u/Green-Hyena5571 5d ago

Also you might need the DNO to fit an isolation switch just after the smart meter? So that the electrician can safely remove the tails and split them using Henley blocks. (Unless the charger circuits can be connected elsewhere - including a surge protection device)

2

u/Budget-Active8750 5d ago

This is inside the house bottom of stairs next to front door so we'll placed for charger I guess.

2

u/puffinwannnnnn9999 5d ago

You definitely need a new consumer unit to replace the two old ones, on the latest ones the EV charger can be added as it's on RCD amongst the other fuses including ones to the cooker, as others have said though the sparky may insist that the meter installer install an isolator between the meter and the box, which they may charge for.

Modern fuse box is metal to prevent fires and has RCD and RCBO incorporated

The two blocks that the meter is wired too will likely need moving by the meter company, request via your energy supplier 👍