Connecting an Electricity Meter to a LIVE Service Cut-out
In this video im moving and connecting an electrical meter to a live domestic service head as the DNO and energy company refused to do it!
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The works carried out in the video and the opinions shared are my own, and not representative of the associates and companies in the video.
This content is purely for entertainment purposes and is in no way a "how to", tutorial or educational video.
Please consult an electrician when dealing with any electrical installations.
#electricianlife #electrical #electricalengineering
Such a quality video! Looking forward to the earth rod install!
Awesome and engaging video Mike. Not to mention insanely well shot 🎥
Thank God a sparky who trims the tail when they put bends in them , I've been convinced for years I was the odd ball , because I've always done done it, because I had good sparks that trained me, I give you 5 stars, in fact I would say your one of the best sparks on KZhead
Amazing, I was wondering how this might be done just the other day. Thanks for the upload, look forward to the TT electrode installation.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Great work mate, very competent electrician
Your videos have come a long way Mike 👏 I havent messed with much TT either but I always thought they had to have a 100mA time delay up front and then 30mA covering everything else. None the less looking forward to getting educated with the next vid 👌👌👌
100ma time delay rcds are required to provide fault protection whilst keeping selectivity with other circuits. These days with metal distribution boards as Mike has touched on, with tails clamps the incoming tails can be considered appropriately protected from fault protection and apart from spd conductors (which in my view require fault protection) all over wiring should be protected via rcd to achieve relevant diss notion times.
Great tip on the bend first then trim! Not that I'll ever be installing 16mm2 cabling but I enjoyed the little bit of learning something new.
Those were 25mm2
Nice thoughtful work!
Quality content as usual Mike.
Great work mate, very interesting video 👍
As always quality video Mikey 👌
Awesome video. Enjoyed the journey.
Signed up Tado. Great shout mate and awesome to hear they are supporting you! Promise not to clip the video and share it out if context as Mike helps us all bypass our meter 🤣. Top job.
Tado are on last legs. They haven't improved the product in years.
Excellent Video Mike Best Wishes from a retired time served sparks
Top content .... your video is really helpful for a sparky like myself. keep making such videoes....SUBSCRIBED
You got to just love When you're their only hope no matter which side of the pond Iran LOL
Cool video, thanks for that. Nice to see it from a different view point outside the realms of the DNO. I had our meter replaced about 6 years back, and the guy that came got dressed into a fully cloth suit (that looked like the outer gloves you had) and what looked like rubber gloves red inside, and black on the outside. No cloth outer gloves were used from what I remember, but he did wear a fold down mask. To be stood behind him watching as he got dressed up for this, me thinking... hang on... don't I need some kind of protection here lol. Thankfully, the fuse was pulled and replaced within minutes and he got undressed again.
There's only one true gripe I have with customers when I'm working, and that is when they stand directly behind me watching like a hawk
@@0liver0verson9 You'd hate me then. I'll even ask if you need any help or want to borrow some of my tools. 👌
@@dataterminal oh god no haha
Great upload love a Green Street Cabinet install like this all you need now is some local youths to come round and spray paint graffiti on it and the jobs a good one!
Decent vid, thanks!
Tbh not a bad effort, I used to train and asess MOCOPA for British Gas and a bunch more and apart from some anal Nuances you did a great job. The main considerations are first and foremost correct polarity, then tight connections (loose wires cause fires) , no copper showing, no extreme bends in cables job done.
@@residualcurrent don't sweat it ,those of us that subscribe know how committed you are to quality workmanship 👍👍👍
Nice work king
Worked for BG on metering for 10years. Thats a smet1 smart meter. The extra bit connected by the wire is the coms hub. Seriously doubt BG would authorise the move but maybe the supplier has been changed to a smaller less anal supplier. Looks like you’ve done a better job than some meter fitters. Couple of things, theres a marker on the side of the isolator to make sure enough is stripped back. With multistrand meter tails I like to get some pliers on the copper and unwind/flatten the end thats being terminated. We were always told to try and go into the isolator on the topside, purely because if the cables became loose they wouldn’t be able to drop out exposing live conductors (the chances of that happening are slim to none with double screw terminals but stranger things happen).
Wouldn't you agree that the Meter's Incoming Line(L) would probably fall off too, towards the gravity ; hence posing the same abovementioned Hazard?
why have 2 hazards when you can have 1?? @@temp06j723-pmeighttq
Amazing video mate once again just learnt loads in 30 mins thanks Mike 🫶🏼
very interesting thanks
Keep it up good job mate I have done that as well before
Great video. It's crazy how different panels are between the UK and US.
US is a joke
Compare a german panel to a panel in the US… and you notice that US electrics are stoneage shitshow electrics!
@@Wintersky136 They say that they went to the moon and back.
Another great video mate. Question. Can the isolater switch have the meter tails go in through the top or bottom going out to the consumer unit? i always though they should go through the top from the meter and coming out from the bottom for the consumer unit. keep the vids coming they're great .
It's essentially a double pole switch, so it can be either top or bottom as long as the tails are adequately supported.
Love seeing this
can you do an updated toolbag tour???
Good video and nice install! I would advise wearing a flash jacket and face visor when working on a cut-out. Also I would imagine the meter, cut-out and isolator were not sealed after?
Some good tips
Be careful with that very initial statement. Often the DNO can put that fuse the wrong way up! Plus, only the customer's supplier should be moving meters. I'm surprised the DNO and the suplier refused to move the service and the meter. The DNO is not known for refusing paid work. That seperate unit is the comms hub.
That is correct it is down to the DNO. However, where was your testing? No testing on cutout or the meter.
Always connect neutral 1st when making it off into live cutout
Really enjoyed that video Mikey. Worth checking that mains iso is wired correct. Some isolators have the supply at the top and the load at the bottom. I am looking forward to the next video for the TT earth rod/spike
I am a spark and I a contractor. I don't under stand why the DNO companies don't licence guys like us to be able yo break seals etc. I am not saying all of the time but in certain situations. Like most if not all responsible contractors we don't really have anything to gain from messing around with meters. So if you did a job and put your licence no on it and then take a photo of your work and submit it you should be good. Any
What would you do if the cut out decided to fall to bits, live and neutral came together and was arcing continuously? With the potential to burn a house down. I wouldn't imagine you having procedures in place to arrange substation access to pull fuses or have digging teams and live cable jointers avaliable to cut the service cable ? Pulling a cut out fuse is easy when everything goes right, DNO's have specific training, ppe and procedures when 🤫it hits the fan.
@@stephenwillis9518 I just can't believe the DNO gave them permission to do it in the first place 🤷♂🤷♂ If something did go wrong - how would that stand up in court ?
@willmitchell255 really think videos like this on KZhead shouldn't be posted purely because it gives other sparks justification to do the same. If something went wrong here, the HSE would have an absolute field day, so many wrong doings that you have to ask yourself why would you want to do it in the first place?
@residualcurrent I agree, meter operators are trained and authorised to do this so why not sparks ? Surely having more training is safer ?
over killed the PPE you forgot a face nappy buddy lol
If you are going to the trouble of double gloves do you not think your flash proof T shirt might need uprated too? 😂
Rcd main switch satisfies fault protection this is determined by the resistance of the earth electrode- 100mA is commonly used however this theoretically could be as high as 500mA. 99.9% of circuits will not comply with the maximum zs of the OCPD as per bs7671 to allow for 0.4s disconnection time. 30mA additional protection counters this and allows for ADS of supply.
Isn't using your cutters on your alan key like that going to dull them?
"meter boy" here to hammer you 😅 Nah, tidier job than the majority of meter fitters manage mate, nice one.
Another interesting video, as always. Could've done with a light shinning in there though as it was a bit dark in there, hindering seeing what's going on. That rope cable you referred to may have been braided VRI singles - not to be disturbed as they can contain asbestos.
VIR cables/singles have vulcanised rubber insulation and I've been told the vulcanisation of the rubber during manufacturing would oxidise bare copper conductors, which is why rubber cables and flex always had tinned conductors until fairly recently. Not sure why some UK manufacturers continued to use tinned copper with PVC, haven't seen that anywhere else. Force of habit maybe.
Tinned copper used on high voltage D.C solar cables
I use it in a lot of marine installations@@tonywebb9909
Rule of thumb keep the tails short on TT system and fix with cleats.
hi, can you mess up with tales after the meter that are going to the house? want to install generator Transfer Switch
Hey mate,where can I get one of those t-shirts? Cheers from Australia.🇦🇺⚡🔌💡
Where I live I am the electric supplier so I fit meters all the time. The DNO come out occasionally to add bits, they swear at me then leave. Happy days.
Could the meter tails and earth have been fitted before offering up the Consumer Unit into the box and fixing in place. Some very good tips in the video thank you.
100% the best . Some others carry out questionable work which is unfortunately taken as gospel. 👍 truly great at his job
I agree with other comments on here regarding moving a 1ph meter dno’s will move 1ph meters providing electrician has a bs7671 test to prove they have done dead tests on all circuits to prove there closed circuits there isn’t a cross polarity or short circuit potential . DNO’s and the one I work for will not move smart meter’s that would be the energy provider’s responsibility to do. Also when ever pulling the main fuse of a cut out you should always do your polarity checks and a efli reading as well. In this case you would use a volt stick first to make sure main fuse is live and a no light on the neutral to prove there is not a cross polarity. Then pull the main fuse test again with a volt stick, neon, test lamps. Then do a loop test efli before you do anything else. One last thing as it has happened before a electrician pulled the main fuse when he shouldn’t moved the meter and went to install the main fuse again and electrician had a flash over due to a phase to phase fault out on the main where a old t joint had a phase to phase fault right next to the new service joint that was next to it. After the dno attended to install the new service a phase to phase fault had developed with in the old t joint! Doing your tests before hand would have shown this resulting in the accident never happening in the first place. With test lamps if you went from the live to neutral on the 1ph head you would have got a blue 415 light on test lamps indicating that there is a phase to phase fault back out on the main.
Bet you felt a g having actual permission to pull the fuse 😂
safe to an extent no eye protection?
The tinning of the copper cable helps with corrosion resistance 👍🏼
Agreed, used to be used more, now mainly just on panel SIS wiring and cases where it's needed.
@@inothome not alllowed on meter tails
@@treehouse7861 You can't use factory tinned wire or do you mean manually soldered ends? I know soldered wire is not good for screw or compression type terminals, but individually tinned strands is used in almost all panel wiring in substations. We call is SIS wire in US. Its copper strands with a very thin coating of tin.
any of it, meter fitter for 10 years, only copper allowed or it gets taken out@@inothome
Why not push the tails through the nut, then the holes in the gromet then screw them into the fuseboard gland?
The old tinned copper tails could potentially have asbestos lining in the rope 🫡🫣 always worth just bracing the cutout with the back of your over hand, chipboards crap at holding screws in 😂 polarity checks maybe 😬
I’ve never heard of VIR tails having ACM’s in them and I’ve been working on them 22 years.
@@ShalomBrother I’ve never heard of a plural having an apostrophe in it and I’ve been working on them 40+ years.
@@alistair1978utube me no understandy
Sorry if i missed it but did you check the polarity? Nor unknown for jointers to get it wrong.
I agree. I’m a jointer, and been called to some pretty sketchy set ups by fellow jointers
Yes, was just about to comment about polarity and an independent earth test to confirm it.
He would have definitely found out when he fitted the neutral from the meter if it was swapped. But yeah, always check first so you don't find out that way.
That t handled boddington is the same size for the isolator
Why I have never heard of this unless the property is condemned & unsafe to enter which the DNO did exactly what it shows in your video. Ok I had a building not condemned but old extension was gutted where our problem was the incoming & meter was in the extension. It was a pain to get a new meter but they did it in the end. They said a charge applied but the DNO was on my side saying the meter was too old/ unsafe so new meter fitted in the box. DNO did not charge as incoming head had issues(wink wink).
Not sure a hex key in the Knipex shears is the best way. Hex bit in a ratchet might be better and won't ruin the cutters.
I would say The Gloves Thing 🤔 seems to be all u tube sparks have them be that putting a socket on or live work ( perhaps skin is not what it used to be 😄) I only put gloves on if I Work on anything over 230V that can't be isolated ( personal thing as I feel it's hard to feel what you need to feel through your hands or I have a built in torque setting 😂) then again I Dont get free gloves or have to try to film at the same time which always brings an extra element of risk to the job as you can't concentrate 100%
Presumably request to remove was refused but they would have installed a new supply but that cost would’ve been horrendous?
I would worry about putting the main fuse in before the ground rod is connected. If the meter contains any filter capacitors from L to G and N to G, you can get half the supply appearing on the ground wire if it is not grounded. I had a small shock due to this effect from a filter in a washing machine. Please be careful!
There is no ground on the meter, or at least I didn't see one on the original installation or on his. But in instances where there are the Y caps, that can give you full line voltage if one fails on the line side.
TT system circuits require 0.2 disconnection time, the circuits should be on RCBOs or use RCD main switch…. You would of had no fault protection 🤷🏻♂️ Good job owning it 👍🏼
Two(2) RCBO installed, insn't?? Watched the next video on TT Electrode Installation?
Used to work with a guy who spent years working on the railways, he told me a horror story about this poor bloke who pulled a 2A fuse in some electrical hut, it was damp, the fuse and carrier was rusted. The resulting arc blew most of his fingers and hand off…
Crikey that’s horrible . I knew someone who hacksawed through a ‘live’ SWA cable - they thought they isolated the cable after testing it with a voltage pen 😖
Dno have their own codes of conduct, when you see a baked in main fuse and they have to pull it revealing the line terminals. The main switch was isolated before we start chatting about under load. Nothing to do with this install
brilliant job from a meter monkey tut tut on the pig tails but good job
great video but i think you might have put your main cpc in the wrong terminal in your earth block as you put it in bonding - when it should go in E
@@residualcurrent fair enough mate, in fairness i wasnt sure myself and i knew you would of had a reason as to why, just wanted to point it out to you just incase :)
Is that a skin on your impact driver? Link?
yeah, i got it of ebay, M12 impact rubber boot is the name
WE NEED A WHATS IN MY TOOLBAG 2023!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thought my screen was dirty bottom right 😅🤦🏻♂️
How do you know if you cut correct length of conductors into top of cutout? You haven't checked impression on end of conductor on bottom screw. Since you have it done first time as you dont work for dno or energy company, you should have double checked by pulling out conductors in cutout after making initial impression by bottom screw. Seen many sparkys tampering with meters and tails and being cocky by only terminating conductors on one screw or 1 and half of other screw. Saying " That should be long enough " if you doing something first time, without double checking, that's cocky.
Don’t think he’s cocky at all, he’s very passionate about the industry and a very smart guy. Criticism is fine but no need for the hate brother ✌️
Most of the terrace houses i work with are tt work with that more than any other earthing arrangement. 9 times out of ten the house dosent even have an earth ot any bonding crazy
We're having our supply unlooped, National Grid can't do it in time so they have a contractor doing it, they can't move the meter so it'll be fun....
Sorry to ask, but what does ‘having our supply unlooped’ mean?
Means it's being tapped outside. Rather than looping in and out of the incomer inside the house.
@@adriantyler277 thank you. so what’s the need/benefit for doing that?
@@puppy1981 A looped supply means that the supply cable from the road serves more than one property, looping from property 1 to property 2 for example, which results in a lower maximum supply current, which can be an issue if you want an EV charger for example. Being unlopped just means you are getting your own supply from the road, or whoever was feeding from your supply if you are first in the chain is.
@@404_-_Not_-_Found thank you!
Normally where I am I usually pay SSE to do this.
Tinning the copper prevents corrosion, that's why they did it.
I thought I'd read that proper qualified electricians were allowed to pull the fuse (though not play withthe meter) now rather than do it illegally which is what they all seemed to do when replacing a consumer unit.
It depends on the DNO but I think all now allow a competent scheme electrician to pull the main fuse but you need to get prior authorisation. I did with SSE. Easy process. Just need Competent Scheme ID and they gave me 5 stick on main fuse seals and a sheet to record my five and then take this back when full for a new sheet and seals. No fee
oven gloves for 230v lol
14:07: TT-System: Incomer -> Meter -> Small enclosure (Mains Switch & RCD 100A, 30mA, A) -> Consumer Unit! Always keep in mind the logics about cascading RCDs!
Spirit level in temp. Board 😅
And that's why he is always going to do a good job.
Who gave you the materials initially was right: you need an RCD isolator on a TT System;
Thé DIY guys will be having a go after seeing this video
don't lick the red part
It’s just plastic
Shame they knocking that down looks a building with great character
A pretty good job. You have obviously done this before or observed others doing it. Only tiny mistake I would say is that you did not plan for the routing of the tails to the meter. If you had positioned the meter a few inches higher you would have had a much neater route for these tails (not looping out into free air) I always found it crazy that there were no torque settings for the terminals in the head nor in the meter. In the meter we had to use as much force as we could on a std screwdriver !!!! Such was the paranoia of loose connection resulting in a fire. Missing Line and neutral identifiers (one each on input to meter, 2 on the outputs) Again crazy I know, especially as you used coloured tails, but thems is the rules 😀 One last thing - I would have wired the isolator so it could not be switched on without cutting the wire. But that's just me.
goodness me meter tails should be flat against back board not them hellish loops you made and as they go into meter should have the anti tamper thimbles you removed with old cables personally i always cleat meter tails over about 30cm so they have strain relief but think thats just what suppliers i work for like to see its semt1 meter the extra bit is its comms hub great video tho buddy and not bad to say you dont fit meters ive seen fitters who do in day in day out do a worse job lol
Made me cry when you used your cutters to turn the Allen key 😢😂
Nice job, probably better than a lot of meter changers I work with. I'm surprised the DNO didn't recommend a face visor though. There was no load, fair enough. But you'd think they wouldn't want any come-back if something still went wrong lol. You can get rubber gloves that don't require the outer leather ones btw, making it a bit easier to work.
Why is this video on here? Only the local supplier are allowed to do this job.
Flexi tails, I see.
I can tell that you're not from my part of the world, the DNO here won't let us touch the main fuse.
Good to see you in HV and over gloves but what about your arch proof clothes and face vizor
He says in the video they told him only gloves were needed.
Yeah don't copy anything I've done but you can buy all the tools I've used in my online shop 😉😉
Surly the glasses will just melt onto your face
We asked supplier to upgrade cut out as it was a mess they gave us the bits said get on with it 😂
Really?! What DNO was that?
U will damage the edges on u brand new knipex shears doin that Deff a code v
Why you wearing gloves? The fingers are cut off so they aren’t protecting anything anyway. I’ve been a electrician for 40 years and I can’t work with gloves. The only time I do wear gloves is if I’m doing HT phasing and it’s required to wear insulating gloves as a safety requirement.
good electrician use stanly knife not cutters stripping meter tails!!!
Not a chance anyone in a position high enough to authorise you to move the meter has given you written permission.
U don’t understand what I mean. I’m not doubting that someone has given you permission. What I’m saying is, the person who has given you permission, isn’t in a position high enough to authorise something like that. And if the wrong person sees this video, someone’s going to be getting their P45. It will be easy to work out where you are as the meter number is clearly visible. I’ve seen it from both sides, 17 years at the DNO and now from the IDNO side. You can get permission for all sorts you know your not supposed to be doing if you ask the wrong (right) person. You made a better job of it than most jointers would make and took a lot more care over what your doing. DNO’s & IDNO’s have slightly different rules and regs depending on which one it is your working for. I’m authorised for a few different ones, and it is overalls zipped upto the neck, visor and LV gloves for any work at a cutout. Weather it’s new, old, loaded, unloaded, dead live etc
@@residualcurrent I don’t have any social media so I won’t be able to, but I’ve got a good idea what I think may have gone on! I’d say someone’s done something they shouldn’t have been doing and neither the dno or the meter operator has wanted to take responsibility for it. I’m not 100%, but I think that type of meter has a little button under the terminal cover and it notifies the owner when the cover has been removed. Out of curiosity, did the permission come from the meter operator?
The other issue that comes to mind is that there are no official seals on the supply now or a record of said installation.
TT rod- not disk. Only querying having seen the video with you and Paul. Nice video- good work!
Also supply operator would not necessarily be the same as the meter operator, so possibly needs two authorisation.
is that really how you put tails in a board? right hand knockout. rough. too many folk trying to be you tubers. amateur
Exactly my thoughts
Not entirely sure this complies as you have no fault protection to the cables from the MCB to the rcd sockets due to exceeded ZS values??
@@residualcurrentahh sorry buddy,👍 I’m guilty of not finishing the whole thing yet. 👍 production looks amazing on this one so far 😊
another cracker of a video 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼