Ohme home charger tripping

Jomarkh said:
I thought the regs had changed and you can mix RCD, MCB's and RCBO's as long as they fit correctly with no gaps.
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Not as far as I'm aware, its a pretty hot topic on some other forums. Here's what was said elsewhere:-

Mixing of brands of devices within a consumer unit breaks the product safety standards requirements and the product safety legislation.

Therefore your 'xyz' branded consumer unit with some 'xyz' brand devices and some from 'abc' company will no longer comply with the legislation.

The person who did the modifications will be the manufacturer of the assembly in the eyes of the law and will be legally responsible for any incidents or damage etc arising from the assembly.

The breach is under H&S legislation, therefore in UK law, the burden of proof is reversed.

It is down to the legal person (natural person, or legal entity) that created the assembly to prove that the item was safe and could not have caused the issues.

The mixing and matching aspect was only brought into BS7671 recently because sparks were not following the legislation and standards which were in place since 1975.

The issues with consumer unit fires came to light and manufacturers pushed for more regulation, hence the entries in BS7671.
 
This is what the IET states in one of their ‘mythbusters’…

“In summary, can you mix devices in distribution boards (including consumer units)? Yes, you can. But you need to seek assurance from the manufacturer of the original assembly that the devices will be compatible, or conduct your own study to ensure the requirements are met. In the words of BEAMA, ‘The installer has responsibility to act “with due care”. If this is not done then there is a probability that, in the event of death, injury, fire or other damage, the installer would be accountable under Health and Safety legislation.”
 
Diggsy said:
This is what the IET states in one of their ‘mythbusters’…

“In summary, can you mix devices in distribution boards (including consumer units)? Yes, you can. But you need to seek assurance from the manufacturer of the original assembly that the devices will be compatible, or conduct your own study to ensure the requirements are met. In the words of BEAMA, ‘The installer has responsibility to act “with due care”. If this is not done then there is a probability that, in the event of death, injury, fire or other damage, the installer would be accountable under Health and Safety legislation.”
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All manufacturers will simply tell you to install their own brand. So you will never get approval for a rival brand.

Are MG going to tell you it’s safe to fit VW parts, just cause you managed to get them to fit, I don’t think so.
 
So it sounds like this is all about liability - same spec components most likely can be used from different makes without any issue but now the lawyers will come in and make you liable if anything does go wrong.

Would love to know if there's any hard evidence of problems mixing and matching.
 
tsedge said:
So it sounds like this is all about liability - same spec components most likely can be used from different makes without any issue but now the lawyers will come in and make you liable if anything does go wrong.
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Agreed and thats my stance too, I had quite a battering for this view on an electrical forum, the guys really got on their high horses about it, absolutely heanous crime in their view :)

tsedge said:
Would love to know if there's any hard evidence of problems mixing and matching.
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I couldn't find any.
 
johnb80 said:
Agreed and thats my stance too, I had quite a battering for this view on an electrical forum, the guys really got on their high horses about it, absolutely heanous crime in their view :)


I couldn't find any.
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It is a bit weird to me. The principle of same spec replacements from different makes is so normal in the electronics world where you'd think the minor differences would matter most... but in macro old school power land, nobody wants to go there.

Granted the risks are bigger but i'd have thought it was easy to test combinations as part of the qualification process.
 
tsedge said:
It is a bit weird to me. The principle of same spec replacements from different makes is so normal in the electronics world where you'd think the minor differences would matter most... but in macro old school power land, nobody wants to go there.

Granted the risks are bigger but i'd have thought it was easy to test combinations as part of the qualification process.
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I agree, in my view, it's just the same as using NGK / Champion / Motocraft spark plugs in a Ford engine, as long as the specs are the same why does it matter? It's an absolute jobsworths situation but they can and do fail electrical inspections if MCB's are mixed.
 
Here in France, and I guess in Blighty there any many different brands of Rcd,s ,disjonteurs etc and although the combs which connect them together are pretty standard in length and spacing, each manufacturer makes their own equipment different depths so joining or putting in rivals equipment very difficult or even dangerous, even putting in a updated newer version of the same marques equipment is not possible, when the older but still legal and functional version has somehow disappeared off the shelves. The newer stuff has fancy acronyms and promotional blurb, a higher price tag but essentially has exactly the same properties, apart from fitting into an existing row, unless of course you buy a complete row, which is what would happen if you call in a sparky or even ask for advice, I do not think anyone is going to go off piste on this ?
 
BrianC said:
All manufacturers will simply tell you to install their own brand. So you will never get approval for a rival brand.

Are MG going to tell you it’s safe to fit VW parts, just cause you managed to get them to fit, I don’t think so.
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Agreed, however there is no way any company would be allowed to ‘lock’ this type of system down to only utilise their own brand when there are a vast number of alternatives available. The anti-competition crowd would be all over them if they did…
 
Diggsy said:
Agreed, however there is no way any company would be allowed to ‘lock’ this type of system down to only utilise their own brand when there are a vast number of alternatives available. The anti-competition crowd would be all over them if they did…
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An MCB is triggered by heat. If it is attached to a different size bus bar and the sides touching differently designed components this could affect its trip point. That is the technical arguement.
 
Diggsy said:
Agreed, however there is no way any company would be allowed to ‘lock’ this type of system down to only utilise their own brand when there are a vast number of alternatives available. The anti-competition crowd would be all over them if they did…
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So do you think VW would honour their warranty if you used a FRAM oil filter instead of the OE Mahle one?

BrianC said:
An MCB is triggered by heat. If it is attached to a different size bus bar and the sides touching differently designed components this could affect its trip point. That is the technical arguement.
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Thats exactly the points raised elsewhere.
 
johnb80 said:
Youre also not supposed to mix different makes withing the CU, theres a 6 amp MCB in there too, it should be changed for a Fusebox make.
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johnb80 said:
Youre also not supposed to mix different makes withing the CU, theres a 6 amp MCB in there too, it should be changed for a Fusebox
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Last edited:
johnb80 said:
Not as far as I'm aware, its a pretty hot topic on some other forums. Here's what was said elsewhere:-

Mixing of brands of devices within a consumer unit breaks the product safety standards requirements and the product safety legislation.

Therefore your 'xyz' branded consumer unit with some 'xyz' brand devices and some from 'abc' company will no longer comply with the legislation.

The person who did the modifications will be the manufacturer of the assembly in the eyes of the law and will be legally responsible for any incidents or damage etc arising from the assembly.

The breach is under H&S legislation, therefore in UK law, the burden of proof is reversed.

It is down to the legal person (natural person, or legal entity) that created the assembly to prove that the item was safe and could not have caused the issues.

The mixing and matching aspect was only brought into BS7671 recently because sparks were not following the legislation and standards which were in place since 1975.

The issues with consumer unit fires came to light and manufacturers pushed for more regulation, hence the entries in BS7671.
Click to expand...
 
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